Hello Scotty and other DIYers out there. I have a 2008 Toyota Rav4 (4.3 V6) and there is a noise that I can't seem to find the cause of. If I have it in reverse gear, and I accelerate (punch or tap the accelerator), it momentarily makes a grinding or rumble type of noise. I first noticed this with a load of bagged mulch in the cargo area and thought it might have something to do with the weight, but after emptying out the car, I noticed the sound was still present. It makes no noise at all in reverse when only under idle (non-acceleration) power. It also makes no such noise in any forward gear, even when accelerating. A local Toyota dealership here told me that there was nothing they could find and that everything was normal. I don't recall ever hearing this before (I am the only owner) and so I don't think that is "normal". I thought maybe it was wheel bearings, but if it were, I would expect the noise to be constant in both forward and reverse. I thought maybe differential or the transfer case, but I'd like to know if anyone has had a similar issue and if it was caused by either of those before I go tearing apart the whole drive system only to find out it's something more simple and obvious that I just hadn't thought of yet. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks all!
Of course it's not normal to make any noise your transmission is obviously slightly worn internally but since it's only doing it loaded in reverse and not in forward gear I've seen them do that for years and still run down the road. If you check the price of rebuilding one of those trannies you live with the noise as long as it works okay
