My 2010 toyota rav4 (20,000miles) is now experiencing excessive vibration and noise EXCEPT WHEN ACCELERATING, as in going up a hill or passing cars. I now suspct a fault in the exhaust system. I'm in the middle of a trip.Tires, wheels,balance-fine.Engine - fine. Find no reports of this problem. Please advise.
Hello and thank you for choosing just answer.
In order to better assist you I will need a little bit more information.
When you drive your vehicle, does it drive normally? Do you feel the engine running rough?
Is your check engine light on?
Your vehicle is under warranty and if you can stop by any toyota dealership for warranty repair.
If your vehicle runs good and no check engine light then most likely it's the big muffler which is common for the welds in this muffler to come apart and cause an excessive vibration and noise, usually the welds break at the top of the muffler and you can't see it broken unless you have the vehicle lifted up and inspect the top part of the muffler.
Runs fine except for the problems as stated. no engine check light. Strange that noise does not occur when accelerating. I would expect a muffler fault would result in constant noise, irrespective of accelerating or decelerating?
What I have noted from my experience is that the welds come off but the muffler is not leaking, so the muffler would rattle at low rpm.
This is the first thing I would check, Since I don't have the vehicle in front of me I cannot tell you exactly what's going since I can't hear the noise and vibration. But let me ask you a few questions to try to be more accurate about my diagnosis.
What would you describe the noise when the vehicle is idling and vibrating? Also if you increase the rpm slightly does the vibration\noise go away? Would you describe more as vibration or noise?
It might also be just a dirty throttle body which Is not common because of the mileage and age of the vehicle but it also could be a possibility, If your throttle body is dirty it will cause a very low idle which will cause a vibration at idle especially when your foot is on the brake and vehicle is not moving in drive.
You mentioned that you are on a trip, do you think you can find a toyota dealership at your current location?
Understand the difficulty without hearing th problem. No noise nor vibe when idling. I'm thinking source is in exhaust system. Your possibility "fits." I'll find a dealer and bring it to service dept. Agree it is unlikely to be dirty throttle. will feedback after dealer visit. Thanks.
Thank you for understanding.
I lean most towards the big muffler in the back(under the area where the rear doors are more towards the passenger side). It's known to have problems with the welds and make noises that match your description.
Don't rate my answer yet, Visit the dealership and let me know if it was the muffler or something else.
G'day. Well it turned out that one of the lugs on front left wheel was put on badly, stripping threads. Other lugs were loosening. Was not apparent to me when I checked stability of wheel(s) and checking balance while driving hands-free. At first, the dealer mech thought it might be the muffler but once getting up to speed on road tet he said it felt like front left wheel was coming off. That was my initial fear! But then I discounted it. Thankfully we did not have a disaster en route to Chicago from Atlanta. Cannot fault you because I misdirected you with my dismissal of a wheel problem. Thanks for giving it your attention. Dan O
I apologize for not remembering this, Actually this is another common problem with your model of RAV4, It's actually the stud that gets loose and I have seen cases where they stretch and break, Unknown reasons so far and no explanation from toyota.
I'm glad you solved your problem and have a wonderful trip. Please let me know if you have any other questions and thank you again for choosing just answer for your toyota questions.