Dear community;
First of all I want to extend my appreciation for all you do, and to Mr. Kilmer for hosting this community on his website.
The problem I want to present to you pertains my 2011 Toyota RAV4 Sport, which presents a gridding noise at low speed movement, and which becomes exacerbated when turning the wheeel and it is especially noticeable in the morning hours when first starting the car, or when the engine is cold.
The noise is only perceptible at low speed, and it seems to be coming from the driver's side rear wheel general direction. I equate the sound to that which is produced when trying to put car on drive while the the handbrake is engaged, you know that metallic grinding type of noise a car would make in this situation.
I have included a link to a YouTube video with my attempt to capture the sound: https://youtu.be/inLabWzEwAA
Thanks!
I am no mechanic.
I think the possibilities are a sticky brake caliper (easily solved with a little lube), a bearing going out, warped rotor (very unlikely because you would always notice it and the ride would be wobbly), or this is early signs of your differential going out.
A point of maintenance many people overlook on their cars is to monitor the condition of and replace the oil in the rear differential. If badly neglected the entire differential can start to degrade.
Check out these 2 videos by scotty for more. The first one mainly shows you what the rear diff is and where the drain plug is on most where you could easily check the condition of the fluid at home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X_ZQdHTLZo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQtfBpEo-hs
I think it’s the calliper too.
I have an '09 Rav 4 sport with 167,000 miles and had issues in the past with the e-brake sticking. You could try turning the adjustment wheel back a bit on the brake shoes for the e-brake and see if that helps. I've never had any issues with the caliper and pads sticking on this model.
Forgot to mention. The car is not the 4WD version, so therefore it lacks a differential. I suppose we can rule that one out. At this point, I am assuming a thorough brake job is going to be the way to go.
Maybe it's my speakers, but I can't hear the sound very well.
I would recommend a brake inspection as others have mentioned, and checking the wheel bearings while you're down there is really easy too. It only takes a few minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbsUTESwOMY
