Intermittant really loud static coming from speakers

I searched for this topic but didn't find anything. There was one post on reddit with a few comments but no clear resolution.

Last week I went to the gym in my beloved 2023 trd pro. When I popped back into the car, started her up and turned on radio there was this really loud static coming from all speakers including the sub in the back. Didn't matter which station or whether fm/am/xmradio, or whether I adjusted volume.

I made a dealer appt (I'm scared of dealers! Still waiting for a positive experience with one) for tomorrow, but just started up car, turned on radio and the loud static is gone. all is well.

One poster on the reddit forum guessed that maybe ground wire for the radio is loose.
A few others said it was spurious, happened but never came back. One said they disconnected battery hours and it went away. all mitigations sound like placebos to me.

If it's possibly a loose ground wire, where is the ground wire for the radio?

Is this a known issue?

All comments welcome.
Cheers
Randy

 

A bad ground will certainly cause the symptoms you described.

 

It happened to me once. I pulled over, shut it down and restarted. So far so good. Not sure what caused it but I wont go to the dealer if I cant reproduce the problem on a somewhat consistent basis.

 

Yeah, I canceled my appointment. If it doesn't come back before my first service in 2 months I'll have them check it then.

 

I just had this happen in my vehicle. Worked fine in the morning then next use later in day it started and has continued. haven’t had my 4runner for a year yet. I guess Im calling dealer or seeing if it stops on its own.

 

I posted on this in December. It happened once more to me, but I just stopped, turned 4runner off, started it up again and the problem went away. Haven't experienced it since.
weird.

 

It has happened to me twice this summer and hasn't happened since, both times it was when my car was left out in the very hot sun. Turned car off and back in and it was fine. The reason I figured the heat caused it was because I keep my car in a garage and both times it was scorching out.

 

Well it has now stopped! It is very weird!

 

Randy, I have 23 4runner limited and this has happen to me twice in the past 3 months. Very loud static coming from my back. It happen right when I started the car and i threw it in reverse, when I put the car in drive the static noise reduced but was still noticeable. Turned off and on and it's gone, but this is definitely a issue.

 

Yes. So weird. It's never happened since last time I posted.

 

Randy,
We’ve had same issue 10-12 times over 2 years. Happens randomly. We even recorded it but dealership said they had to hear it in person to address it. Finally happened at a time when we could take to dealership. 3 service people heard it, said definitely a problem so we made appointment to leave car. They kept for three days and static did not happen while at dealership and the one technician who needed to hear it before taking car apart to check wiring didn’t hear it so we’re back to square one. They just told us to bring in again when static returns. Don’t hold out a lot of hope it will be resolved since noise happens so randomly. Also, I’m no mechanic but if it was loose wiring wouldn’t it happen all the time? Anyway, don’t hold out a lot of hope it will be fixed…

 

Just happen to me today for the first time. I have a 2022 Limited for about a year now. This morning, when I turned on the radio - loud static. Same thing when I used the navigation system and when I used the phone - all loud static. Happened all the way to work. Turned it off and then back on - and no more static. I made a dealer appointment but after reading all this I am going to cancel unless it comes back. Glad I found this site.

 

Just had this issue today, which prompted me
to hop on the forums to see if anyone else was experiencing the same issue. This has happened a couple times in the short time that we’ve had our car (purchased at the end of October ‘22). Would think that with all the money spent in purchasing this vehicle, these small inconveniences wouldn’t happen. Like you all, I figured bringing it into the dealer wouldn’t be fruitful especially if I wouldn’t be able reproduce the weird sound. However this time, I was able to record the sound, and will make an appointment to see if there’s anything they can figure out. I’ll also bring up that it seems to be an ongoing issue/commonality with the newer 4Runners and let you know what (if anything) happens.

 

Wanted to add the conditions I went through to have this same thing happen to me in hopes of tracking this issue down.

Was waiting for the wife at an appointment and had opened the sunroof and shut off the 4 Runner while checking out the news on my phone.

After about 15 minutes, When she returned. I started up and immediately went to close the sunroof. As soon as started up, I got this loud static noise coming from the speakers. I shut off the vehicle as the radio was unresponsive. I then powered up to close the sunroof and then started up normally. Powered on the radio and all was fine.

I have no mods to the rear or roof rack area. This has not happened in over 3k miles.

 

It happened to me within 60 days after purchasing my new ‘23 Limited. Comes and goes. Recorded it for dealer and they acted like it was the only occurrence ever experienced with a 4 Runner. Left them my car and they had for 10 days trying to recreate. They (Toyota) finally REPLACED the entire system. Then, within 45 days after replacing it happened again - with the new radio/infotainment system! Seems like a systemic flaw somewhere. Regardless, took car back to dealer and worked out a deal to replace the car!

 

Same issue with my 2023 Limited multiple times. Taking it in next week.

 

I have a 2023 Limited that I have had since mid January - so its been my daily driver for a little over 6 months. This issue has happened twice. Both times it was right when I started up the vehicle and both times it stopped when I turned off the vehicle and restarted it. I thought it was odd because I know that both times the audio system was off before I shut the engine down right before it happened. I am pretty sure that both times it happened I was using the nav system right before shutting the engine down before the loud static issue. Can't be 100% sure I was using the nav system right before it happened the first time - but I am pretty sure I was. First time it happened was only about a month after I got it - and I am almost positive I was messing around with the nav system to learn about it right before it happened the first time. I don't use the nav system that often because I am rarely driving somewhere that I don't know how to get there. I know 100% that the nav system was in use right before it happened the second time - because it happened just about three weeks ago when we were driving to Nashville, TN. I was using the nav system, pulled into a interstate rest stop, and I think I shut the engine off while the nav system was still operating. When I restarted the engine a few minutes later - got the loud static. Shut off the engine, restarted it - and normal audio/nav function again. Have not had the issue again since. Does anyone else think that the issue might be related to using the nav system, shutting the vehicle down down while the nav system was active - then having the issue upon the next engine start? Like I said - I rarely use the nav system - have used it maybe only a couple of times other than when I've had the loud static issue - and I am pretty sure that both times I had the static issue I had shut the engine down while the nav system was still active. Could just be a coincidence. Maybe those who use the nav system a lot wouldn't notice.

 

I wasn’t using my nav system at the time so I think it’s a larger issue but thanks for the input. I will post anything g the sealed does to help the issue.

 

I also looked back through this discussion and it seems like only TRD Pro and Limited owners are seeing this problem. The other premium trims also get a premium sound system with nav system- but they don't get the premium JBL audio with subwoofer and amplifier - only the Limited and Pro trims get that. Issue could be with the JBL speakers, subwoofer, or amplifier - or how the JBL sound system interacts with the nav system?

 

2023 SR5 10 months of ownership and I've never experienced this.

A poll of forum members would be interesting.

 

This happened to me yesterday and went away when I turned off and restarted. Did others only hear the static in the rear speakers? That’s where the sound was coming from for me. Did anyone successfully get this resolved through the dealership? ‘22 Limited.

 

While I have never had this on the 4Runner, I did have this on an aftermarket audio system. The installer, who fixed it, said it was basically an amp "crashing" on startup. Like the blue screen of a PC. Amp was replaced and I never heard it again.

 

Mine did it twice the first month i had it and both times it was parked in the hot sun(maybe coincidence) and its never done it again after a year and a half

 

my 2022 limited stated doing this after about 2 months , ended up getting amplifier ( located under passenger side rear wheel cover on inside of vehicle ) replaced under warranty . Dealer tried to say that after i had it rustproofed oil got on the amp and it overheated . I'm having trouble believing this as there was very little oil on unit . Think it was just a bad amp This is my third 4runner and everyone of them had Krown rustproofing done every year and no issues with anything . The price of the amp from the dealer is around $3000. Canadian .

 

When in doubt remove negative battery cable for a couple minutes and start life fresh again.

 

I am super curious to know if anyone else has “stuff” in the back of their vehicles. I noticed this problem once I began putting gear in the back of mine and have had this happen numerous times. I notice it only happens when I have items that are really close to the side walls and once I move them and restart, the sound will go away. Sounds like some people are able to just shut it off and turn back on but I have not always had that luck. Interesting thread to say the least.

 

Granted, it's been a while since I was heavily into the car audio scene, but back in the day when I used to install professionally, this was almost always attributed to either a wiring short or bad amp. Seeing as how these are all factory setups, my money would be on the factory amp (JBL?) going south.

 

I have a 2023 YTD pro and this exact thing has also happened to me a few times. It’s so random. Basically when it happens, I just turn the truck off and restart it and the radio is back to normal. It’s the weirdest thing. There is no rhyme or reason.

 

Happened to my wife’s 2023 limited the other day. Turned car off and back on, noise was gone. Curious if anything comes form this, reminds me of the three tundras I had that the radio screen would go black and dealer could never replicate.

 

This just happened to our 2023 4Runner (Limited) when we stopped to get gas tonight. First time ever hearing that noise in over 8k miles.