What's causing the whining noise in my Landcruiser?

I recently purchased a 3.0-litre Toyota Landcruiser in Northern Ireland and have noticed some rust in the chassis and exhaust, but more worrying is a whining noise it has developed in first, second and third gears at around 2,000rpm - the noise dissipates at about 2,300rpm. Have you any idea what the problem could be? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Neville Case (Wicklow)

Jul 2011 Filed under: fault

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Expert answer

Hi Neville,

While the Landcruiser is generally quite robust many large four-wheel drives give trouble with their gearboxes. They're more complicated than your average car's. It's not possible to diagnose your particular problem through email, but it could be as simple as a bearing in the gearbox. I'm afraid you need to bring the car to a mechanic to have it looked at before you'll know what the problem is.

Good luck with it.

Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Adviser
@Shane_O_D