Fluttering noise on acceleration

I test drove an 06 SR5 DC 4X4 w 163K miles on it, this afternoon. Very clean truck inside and out, good service history. It drove really well, but every time I stepped on the gas there was a "fluttering" noise, like a soft flapping, coming from the engine. As soon as I let my foot off the gas, the sound stopped immediately.

I would not describe it as a "ticking" noise, it was softer than that.

So far I've read it could be anything from a bad fan belt, to a cracked exhaust manifold. Any additional ideas?

 

Have you seen the steering shaft seal thread?

 

It's the panties dropping for a sexy first gen Tundra.

 

@Tundra2 not yet, I'll check it out now, thanks.

 

I was so moist just driving this thing.

 

I experienced that before. It got worse over time and I realized it was exhaust related. Turned out to be a bad baffle inside the muffler. Probably due to all my short trips driving.

 

exhaust leak or something similar, broken weld in muffler, bad cat, etc.

 

I would probably side with a bad cat. My SC400 has been making a similar fluttering sound on acceleration when it's cold. It failed California smog test, since I cooked them cats last year, it passed with flying colors 3 years ago.

 

Was there ANY chicken wire under the hood?

 

How much? It sounds like an easy fix. So if the price is right…..join the club

 

Very fortunately, no.

 

Sorry, dumb joke.

https://youtu.be/fubtlPHWJJA?si=0Z6vfZsdhj2MuqSk

using a screwdriver like a stethescope works wonders. If you can reach the offending area.

 

It's a bit above average for the West Coast market. Excellent condition overall, though, compared to some of the others I've seen so far.

Interior, exterior, undercarriage, good service history.

The radiator needs to be placed and the timing belt is due in 20K miles. No CEL, currently.

 

Are we related?

 

p/s fluid looks like trash. How’s the brake fluid? Coolant color? Air filter? All these are ways to get the price down more

 

Is that one of those unobtainium master cylinders?

 

According to the Carfax, PS fluid was replaced at a Valvoline oil change station10K miles ago.

Brake Fluid was flushed/filled 50K miles ago at a Mr T dealership. @FishNinja

 

@shifty pointed out the lacerations on the HVAC hose foam sleeve. There's also a slight nick on the passenger side lower coolant hose.

Fan blade broke at some point?

 

I mean sure that’s what carfax says. What do your eyes say??? Lol

 

The PS color is nothing unusual when the original undyed/golden PS fluid is replaced with Dexron 3 red fluid.

If someone could point me to Dexron 3 fluid that’s undyed, post a link. Regular PS fluid isn’t the documented replacement according to the FSM.

 

It’s supposed to be ATF……?

 

]
Correct, DexIII/DexIV is ATF.

This is common when someone initially installs the hose backwards. I can shame two different people on here who've made that mistake.

 

Yep. What @shifty` says. I don’t think you’d hurt the rack by putting in regular PS fluid but I didn’t design it so I don’t know for sure. Maybe the additives in ATF help condition the seals? Just a guess.

 

My 1997 80 series LC took ATF in the PS system.

 

I actually would disagree and would say you’re gonna wind up ruining the seals inside the rack if you continue to use the wrong fluid type.

but I can’t say that from personal experience. Cause I’m too scared to make our ,already mediocre, rack go bye bye

 

ATF and PS are practically the same kind of hydraulic fluid. Both are meant to be low foaming formulations due to the duty required. ATF has detergents and friction modifiers in it specific to ATs, maybe Toyota felt like that would be beneficial to the steering rack in these trucks.

 

my assumption would be that Toyota’s seals and orings in the at and rack maybe the same. Which would be why they would require ATF as opposed to normal PS. Sure both are hydraulic fluids. But like you said. SPECIFIC friction modifiers and detergents would be the primary reason to steer clear of non-recommended fluids.

sure you could get away with it. But at the cost of a rack seal shitting the bed a year or 2 down the road isn’t worth it. IMO

 

Well, here’s another story about why most dealers suck.

They wanted $18.9K for the truck.

For that price I insisted they fix the ticking/ fluttering before we moved forward. The friendly sales kid said they want every customer to be happy and they would have their service department address the tick right away.

A couple hours later I got a call from the owner of the dealership and he said “we don’t have time to look into it and these trucks are in high demand.” Total double talk and he more or less told me to F off.

I passed on the truck on principle, and the outlandish price.

Am I wrong or naive here?

If anyone wants a link, public or private, I’m happy to provide it.

 

I mean, $18.9k in cali is like $9.5k everywhere else right? Sounds fair to me.

 

I wish there was a "thumbs down" button @Mr.bee