HVAC vent whistle (2023)

If my 30K SUV is not whistling, there is no reason for the 80k truck to whistle. I did not pay that much money to listen to the air whistling every day.

 

Some food for thought, maybe when I’m bored I’ll chase the whistle. When I changed out to the TRD Pro trim in my SR5. It consists of removing the vents. I was surprised the seals around the vents are rather very porous, I don’t foresee them making such a great seal and would cause the whistling when the vents are closed are pushing some serious air. The seals seem to be made of foam rather than rubber.

 

Mine does it when it blows on the windshield. I first noticed it when it was in Auto mode and it would start off on the windshield then taper off to the floor or mid vents. But if you manually put it on defrost/windshield then I will notice the whistle.

 

Nothing…said they couldn’t replicate. Useless…absolutely useless.

 

My dealership said the same thing to me. I then grab the service advisor and the tech. Let them sit in my truck and I replicate for them. Now they realize what I was talking about and have the issue documented.

 

Quick update on the wind noise from the interior:
- They traced it to the air vents, easily reproduced
- truck has been in with the Dealer service twice for it
- this last time in with service they stated the Field Tech had them order a part and it is for the front dash
- currently waiting for the part to arrive
- checking in the week ahead

 

Thanks. This is an issue on my 23 ltd. Drives me nuts.

 

Just got my 24 TRD PRO noticed the whistling. Hoping it goes away as everything “wears in” definitely not a great impression. Otherwise drives great.

 

HVAC system is turbo'd as well, quiets after some break in. Try to keep it below 2/3 power until then

 

UPDATE: I found my issue was resolved when I closed the front right driver seat air vent. I closed/opened all the other vents no change. However when I closed the driver front right vent the whistling stopped. Going to bring it up at the first service. Not sure if they will take it seriously but we will see lol.

 

My 2024 limited Sequioa does the same. I also hope it goes away. Although my 2014 tundra has an exhaust and is kind of noisy, the 2014 tundra makes no noise from the ac/heater vents for over 10 years. Whistling on a brand new 24’ for 80k kind of sucks.

 

Yep still there its pretty annoying. Really not sure what in the hell is causing it.

 

You fix yours?

 

Mine comes and goes. I haven’t heard it lately but I’ve been turning up my radio lately.

 

Here's a link of mine doing it this morning. https://photos.app.goo.gl/6VCCKaQRdPZNU7DR7 Hopefully a toyota engineer looking at this forum can help advise if this is "Normal"
I have 300 miles on the ol girl so who knows.

Its not speed dependent and still persists while stopped so definitely something with HVAC.

 

Toyota engineers don't reply on this forum

supposedly there are a few that view it though.

I actually don't blame them though, overall some people are stupid and can't be adult and send nasty messages to them, etc.

 

Yeah I totally understand I put that in the message to make it easier to find lol...sometimes you have to summon them.

 

My rear vents make exactly the same noise. It goes away after a while when the vents are warm enough. Because of this my dealership always say they cannot replicate the issue. Hopefully someone can find a fix.

 

ya, its too bad too. I bet that would be super helpful for them and us to be able to interact, like adults.

maybe someday we can have a small group of us that are vetted and have a private area where that interaction can be discussed.

Hell, I'd contribute a small fee to be included, after 5 tundras and a bunch of tacos, etc and being on these boards since 2000 with a 2000 tundra I got in late 99, I qualify, HAHA.

anyway, good luck with the whistle, I really havent had that one except once when my kids closed the rear seat vents and I didnt know it.

 

when you get the dreaded "can't replicate" from a dealer, most times they can't but this unfortunately is easy out for the lazy dealers as well.

Figure out how to replicate your issue so you can do it on demand or in a certain set of circumstances, then when you can replicate, ask for a tech ride along and show the mechanic yourself.

 

I did show it to the tech and service advisor at the first visit. When I brought my truck in the second time for repairs, they took it in when it’s warm. Even myself cannot replicate the issue because like I said, the noise does go away when the vents become warm enough. It’s a pain in the butt.

 

ya, I had a thing like that with a pulley on my older tundra, would scream when cold but silent when warmed up. I had them leave it outside on a cold day and gave me a loaner. I said, have the tech go out and start it outside, not a porter. he fired it up and was like ya, ok, it's screaming at me, LOL.

get creative, be patient, and it will get worked out.

 

I have only noticed this when its on Auto. I believe its coming from the bottom vents. At least in my case. Once it reaches set temp, the whistle goes away.

 

Auto turns your fan speed down when set temp is reached. The whistle goes away because less air flow in the vents.

 

The first vid sounds similar, nut in real life it sounds more like a tea kettle going off. Still annoying.

Talked with the dealership the other day and they said they are waiting on the Field Engineered to make the next move, ordering the part needed. Been weeks and weeks.

 

Dealership is full of crap, at least mine is. I feel they don’t really want to spend time and effort looking into things like this. They are not allowed to say suck it up to me or this would have been written on my service report. Hope your dealership can find a remedy soon. Keep everyone posted please.

 

Will do. My truck is actually with them since the other day due to another issue.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/dash-lit-up-like-a-christmas-tree.137171/

In the process they touched on the part of the whistle noise on the interior.

 

VermonTundra, I don't think I ever saw an update from you on this, if you had any luck with getting it resolved.

 

Yeah dealer could not replicate my issue and got in another truck on the lot and said it sounds the same. Keep in mind it was also warmed up and around 60F that day. I had this whistling issue again this weekend when it was right at 25-30F.

In short no luck still does it but only when cold.

 

Had 2 separate Toyota dealers look into solving the whistling on my 2023 Tundra TRD Pro, 6k miles....
At the end of it all, the official findings were that Toyota corporate is aware that this is an issue on some Tundras, but does not currently have a recommended solution. And that many customers have the whistling stop by itself after a few months.

Longer story....
Be cautions of letting them dig into it too much if they don't have someone experienced enough. First Toyota dealer said they'd look into it but needed to remove the center console. After 5 visits over 2 weeks I ended up with the following problems after letting them try to fix the whistling noise

• They said they needed to replace an HVAC part and then later a dampener, but the whistle returned after 2 days
• They forgot to reconnect some wiring in the console, so I wasn't able to put the truck in 4H/4L, or any of other drive modes (Sport, etc...)
• They spilled some kind of fluid all over the engine which caused a the engine and cabin to fill with smoke and stink
• The condenser became 10x louder when truck was in idle (engine was off but I-Force was running) (Dealer incorrectly said this was from the LED's)
• The aftermarket alarm causes the horn to honk 5 times every few hours (unless in valet mode) (Yes, they snuck this in the paperwork when I bought the truck)

After all of the above, I went straight to a different Toyota dealer and asked to speak to their master technician. They researched the issue and determined the whistling could not be addressed at this time. Disappointing, but the honesty was appreciated. They were able to fix the condenser that was somehow damaged by the other dealership and address all the other problems except for the alarm since it's considered after market.

They mentioned they don't work on TRD Pro I-Force often, so potentially that was part of the problem with the first dealer. But just be aware that there is no known fix for the whistling as of now, so you might not want to let them dive in if they say they know how to fix it.