06 Tacoma engine noise - thought it was ps. but now???

Schattenjager

Expedition Leader
My '06 4.0 Tacoma has had an RPM relative whine for many months. Even though I am out of state, yesterday I had the power steering pump replaced by a highly recommended diesel shop. Sadly, the new pump still makes noise. The shop changed the fluid from Toyota recommended ATF to something green, per the NAPA pumps recommendation.

I am now concerned that good money was thrown after the wrong issue and have concerns about how a different fluid might affect the rack.

Have any of you had PS problems on the 06 and later Tacoma? The sound migrates around the running engine and is hard to pinpoint. IT only changes with RPM, not steering input nor effort, even at full lock.

Any help / ideas would be appreciated.
 

Watt maker

Active member
Idler pulley bearings or AC compressor clutch bearings. Sadly, I'm going to guess the AC bearings. That's where I'm at with my 2008 4runner. Replaced all the idler pulleys and still have the whine. Closer inspection pin points the sound to the AC compressor. Some day I know it will probably fail at the worst possible time but it has been whining for around 3 years without issue (knocks on wood). I don't plan on replacing until it does fail though.
 

fjtoyman

New member
We chased a similar issue with a 3rd gen 4runner, replacing the idler pulley got rid of a smaller noise, but ultimately it was the a/c bearings. Unfortunately we let it go just a little too long and it completely roached the a/c clutch. Ended up replacing the compressor and the noise was gone. And cold a/c!

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
 

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