New Owner - Wind Noise

[chicago1]

Hi Everyone,

I just purchased a 2011 Sienna SE and really enjoying the vehicle thus far, except for the wind noise I've discovered. I normally drive with the radio off, and have noticed at around 40 mph and higher, I hear wind noise on the drivers side of the cabin.

Have other owners experienced this or is this normal?

Thanks!

[Biggoldfish]

There will always be wind noise when driving at high speeds. You could check if yoru rubber seals are seating correctly against the frame and door. Do you have your windows up fully? Have you checked your rearmost window? Do you have your vents set at dashboard or window vent? Is your a/c system set to recirculating or fresh air? All these contribute to wind noise.

[skinny2]

Do you have the roof-bars installed? I took mine off and the wind noise improved, particularly with sunroofs open. In fact you can barely tell when they're open. I've noticed some wind with all the windows closed, but very minor in my book. You could have a bum seal. Sometimes you can tell by looking at the doors seals...in fact my last Tundra has a bum seal from the factory and all I had to do was push it back into the trim piece and all was quiet.

[chicago1]

Thanks guys for the input.

All the windows are closed. The AC is recirculating. I don't have cross bars installed on the roof. I do have the standard bars that run parallel to each other. I think the seals look OK, but then again, I'm not exactly sure what to look for - the interior rubber like weather stripping looks fine.

I think it might be coming from the drivers side mirror, but I'm not sure. The wind noise is not as bad as other cars I've owned - I thought the vehicle would be free of wind noise at 40mph though. It does get annoying and a lot louder though on the expressway when I'm driving in the 65-75mph range.

I need to drive another Sienna at the dealer to ensure what I'm experiencing is normal. I'm pretty sure if I bring it up to the tech, they will dismiss the concern and indicate all is normal.

I'm also surprised that the engine doesn't sound as refined as I would expect from a Toyota. Upon acceleration, usually at the 2rpm-ish range, the engine gets really loud - Sorta sounds like a struggling 4 cylinder. Once I get to speed, everything settles back down and sounds fine.

[Tech1984]

I just checked TSBs for you and there are none. I did have a Venza owner recently with the same concern and it seems to be turbulence moving past the mirror.
Just have all the door and window seals checked, but my bets are they'll be all in tacked.
Did you get the 4 cyl model?

[skinny2]

I suppose it depends what you're used to. The Sienna has very little road noise so you may just be hearing more wind than you're used to. Like you said...drive another to compare. Generally when you have very little road noise the only thing left is wind and engine.

Engine is pretty quiet at cruise speeds. It sounds like dog-@#$3 to me accelerating at anything below 4k rpm but that seems to be typical Toyota these days.

[Biggoldfish]

The a/c will make more noise because it's on recirculating mode because it's taking the air already in the cabin and reusing it instead of getting fresh air. But most likely you're hearing the air turbulence from the mirror. Like skinny said, the Siennas are very well isolated from road noise so other noises will be more pronounced.

[chicago1]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the input. I have the 6 cyl SE model - I didn't even know they came with a 4 cyl option in the SE trim?

I finally got a chance to take the Sienna to the dealer. The good news is that the dealer heard the wind noise. They made some adjustments to the drivers side door but unfortunately the noise is still there. The bad news is the service tech wants to perform some advanced troubleshooting to pinpoint the cause, if any. This really concerns me because I'm afraid the problem will be more pronounced after he's done since the 1st attempt didn't go so well.

I think I'm going to purchase some painters tape and try to determine the source of the problem myself - I think the more information I can provide to the tech, the better off we both will be. I didn't get a chance to drive another Sienna because I had to rush back to work - I'm still going to test drive another one when I get a chance.

What's equally as irritating as the wind noise is the noisy/whiny engine when I'm accelerating. You'd think the van has 100k miles on it. I'm going to see if there are any fixes to the noisy engine as well at my next service visit. The vehicle sounds great when cruising.

I'll update the thread accordingly after my next service visit.

Thanks!

[Biggoldfish]

The engine noise is normal, as is the wind noise. We didn't buy a Mercedes or Lexus, we bought a Toyota. But good luck with the pinpointing.

[chicago1]

Originally Posted by Biggoldfish

The engine noise is normal, as is the wind noise. We didn't buy a Mercedes or Lexus, we bought a Toyota. But good luck with the pinpointing.

Maybe you're right - I might just need to let this go and move on

[Biggoldfish]

Originally Posted by chicago1

Maybe you're right - I might just need to let this go and move on

Chicago, I wasn't ragging on you. I was just stating the facts. You see, we have the 3.5 V6 coupled with a six speed, that'll make a whining noise with the engine and tranny combined. And there are just too many little holes and crevices to make noise. But if you do manage to cut the wind noise, you better patent the solution and sell it to Toyota or sell it yourself. I know I'll buy it!

[Biggoldfish]

WOW!!!! Sorry for the quadruple posts!

[27300man]

Originally Posted by Biggoldfish

The engine noise is normal, as is the wind noise. We didn't buy a Mercedes or Lexus, we bought a Toyota. But good luck with the pinpointing.

I think the noise your talking about is normal. My benz had 0 wind noise and the sienna had it bad. I got used to it.

[naturoses]

Originally Posted by chicago1

Thanks guys for the input.

All the windows are closed. The AC is recirculating. I don't have cross bars installed on the roof. I do have the standard bars that run parallel to each other. I think the seals look OK, but then again, I'm not exactly sure what to look for - the interior rubber like weather stripping looks fine.

I think it might be coming from the drivers side mirror, but I'm not sure. The wind noise is not as bad as other cars I've owned - I thought the vehicle would be free of wind noise at 40mph though. It does get annoying and a lot louder though on the expressway when I'm driving in the 65-75mph range.

I need to drive another Sienna at the dealer to ensure what I'm experiencing is normal. I'm pretty sure if I bring it up to the tech, they will dismiss the concern and indicate all is normal.

I'm also surprised that the engine doesn't sound as refined as I would expect from a Toyota. Upon acceleration, usually at the 2rpm-ish range, the engine gets really loud - Sorta sounds like a struggling 4 cylinder. Once I get to speed, everything settles back down and sounds fine.

I share the same problems/concerns.

Wind Noise: I hear wind sound very strongly blasting at the windshield on the highways starting at around 50 mph. in order to test whether there is a lot of opposite wind, I generally check at the trees or grass. But they seem to be quite still not moving in any direction.

I have cross bars, windows completely closed, AC air NOT recirculating.

Engine Noise: I feel like at 2RPMish the engine is struggling like a 4 cylinder one. BTW, I have 6 cylinder. I did not feel like this in my 2010 Highlander V6. Later, when it reaches the speed it is really really quiet on the highways, much quieter than my Highlander especially when the roads are new and super smooth. In the city, I feel this engine makes little bit more sound in comparison to my 2010 highlander.


Thanks