Hi all - I'm looking for some feedback on a cylinder head replacement I did on my 5VF-ZE engine in my 1997 Runner. I replaced the cylinder heads with remanufactured heads from Autozone (NuTech) a few months ago. I would never recommend reman CHs from them, but that's another story.

After getting the new ones in and replacing the timing belt, fuel pump, etc. I was hearing some ticking/knocking that suggested either a valve adjustment is needed or a sudden issue with the flex plate? I drove the engine with the ticking noise for about a month and now the engine is running pretty rough. No codes are present at the moment.

Does anyone think that a poorly adjusted valve clearance could cause the engine to suddenly run rough without a code? I adjusted the valve bucket to cam lobe clearances according to spec since NuTech didn't do it.