# 1996 Toyota Tacoma Cold Weather Strange Noise

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-toyota-tacoma-cold-weather-strange-noise/26360>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** tacoma, steering, toyota, wheels\
**Created:** [February 12, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-toyota-tacoma-cold-weather-strange-noise/26360 "2009-02-12T01:48:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rinohog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@rinohog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rinohog)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-toyota-tacoma-cold-weather-strange-noise/26360/1 "2009-02-12T01:48:09Z")

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At temps below -20 a strange noise seems to be emanating from the dash board behind the steering wheel. If going slow, it sounds like a slight whir/plastic grinding like vrt vrt vrt. If you go faster, it’s as if a belt loses traction and the vrt vrt turns into a high-pitched whirring scream. Bringing the trucks rpm down causes the noise to subside, but it means I have to drive 10 mph some mornings until it warms up. Anyone know what this might be? Thanks!

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**Author:** ![hd72mm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/9fc29f/32.png) [@hd72mm](https://community.cartalk.com/u/hd72mm)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-toyota-tacoma-cold-weather-strange-noise/26360/2 "2009-02-12T01:54:25Z")

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If it has them it maybe spedo or tac cable

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**Author:** ![mr\_josh](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mr_josh/32/3008_2.png) [@mr\_josh](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mr_josh)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-toyota-tacoma-cold-weather-strange-noise/26360/3 "2009-02-12T02:02:32Z")

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Does it still happen if you turn off your heater fan?

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**Author:** ![circuitsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/circuitsmith/32/40376_2.png) [@circuitsmith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/circuitsmith)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 2:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-toyota-tacoma-cold-weather-strange-noise/26360/4 "2009-02-12T02:05:22Z")

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It’s the speedo cable. I’ve never heard of a car with a tach cable. I’ve owned 4 Hondas and they all made that noise in the cold after they passed 100k miles.

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**Author:** ![rinohog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@rinohog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rinohog)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-toyota-tacoma-cold-weather-strange-noise/26360/5 "2009-02-12T18:20:32Z")

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Yeah.

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**Author:** ![rinohog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@rinohog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rinohog)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-toyota-tacoma-cold-weather-strange-noise/26360/6 "2009-02-12T18:26:03Z")

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If you need to have a tachometer to have a tach cable than I don’t have one. If it is just the speedo cable, have I been hurting it by driving it?