I was wondering if anyone else has had this noise.

The other day, I "floored" the gas pedal after getting on the highway to pass a truck. When the engine RPM shot up to it's max (only for a few seconds), I briefly heard a loud scratch noise come from somewhere in front of me. It almost sounded like a starter motor with broken gears, but smoother and higher pitch. I don't usually punch the gas this hard, and only remember hearing this noise once or twice before. Any thoughts? I'm afraid to push the pedal down now as I don't want to cause long-term damage.

Info:
* 2007 Camry Hybrid
* 0w20 synthetic, full with 50% life left.
* 28,000 miles.
* Steering "crunch" TSB performed last year (replaced steering intermediate shaft).

 

You mentioned, smoother and higher pitch. That sounds more like the electric motor at high rpm pulling full amps at full throttle. It has it's own sound, sometimes, as loud as the engine under heavy throttle.

Any questions about the noise I would let a toyota tech give it a drive to make sure it's ok.

 

It was more like a sound that you'd get from quickly rubbing a piece of hard plastic (like acrylic) over something rough, like a file or sandpaper. I can hear the electric motor as the RPM climbs, but once it hits a certain point, a totally new and separate sound is emitted, from somewhere behind the dash. I'm hoping it's just something resonating from the engine vibration. Maybe I'll try to get a sound recording of it.