Hello,
my 2000 Rav4 has 120,000 miles on it- engine timing belt and everything with done at 60,000 miles. About a year after this work, i noticed an engine noise that only shows up when the A/C is on, or the engine is under lots of stress, and only sporadically. It sounds just like a thin metal blade being stuck in a fan- and it’s very loud. It disappears immediately after I let up off the gas, and does not always reappear when I reapply the gas. It is consistent though in that it starts close to the 3000 rpm range. I’ve checked for interference on anything with the belts and cooling fans, but don’t see anything there. Other than the noise, engine has been working great. Also checked the motor mounts, they seem okay. The only conclusion I can draw is that something is interfering with a rotating part, maybe by the flex of the engine under stress, but I can’t point a finger to anything. Anyone out there experience this?
A heat sheild problem would be worth looking into, on busted weld could be your culprit.
If you could get it to happen with the car parked and the hood up with a mechanic watching…
The only heat shield in the engine compartment is at the exhaust manifold- It’s solid from a visual inspection, unless there is something behind it which i cannot see or feel around the egdes to locate a loose seam.
This doesn’t quite match your symptoms, but you might want to check anyway that the wheel well liner hasn’t come loose and started rubbing on the tire once there’s enough airflow in that area.
Update on my car… can’t get it looked at til Friday. The test I did, by turning the key on wait turn it off, then on again, wat then start works sometimes. It started right up the first time but ive been doing that everytime i start it and it doesnt always.the other day when i shifted to reverse sat there for a minute waiting to back up and it sputtered as if almost out of gas. After backing up and trying to drive forward it had almost no power. Oh and i think gas is coming out of my exsaust too. Everytime i start it i smell gas.
Sorry about that comment. Was on another post but my comment showed up here… weird
lion9car,
good thought, I checked that, it’s plastic, and close to the pulleys underneath, but it seems solid, also, pulleys don’t have nibs on them to rub against to the shield to get the type of noise I hear. I’ve been wondering if something inside the engine is close to another part, like the cam gear or flywheel or maybe even timing belt pulley? but I’ve never had one of these engines apart to know if that’s even likely based on tolerances for those parts and what could even be that close to make contact under engine stress. I ruled out the radiator fans since I would think they would kick on and off independent of engine rpm.