By my eye too it seems like it has more play than the specs allow, but I'm going to see if I can find my dial indicator and take some measurements. If I had to guess I'd say that's at least .5mm of play? We'll see...

You want to know why it's out of spec and going to need a new engine? Because not only did I do the timing job 12k miles ago, but this happened a week after I did the valve cover gaskets. That's why I don't gamble in Vegas.

Forgot to mention that the truck has 175k on it and it doesn't look like this engine has ever been worked on, aside from a green coolant change and parts store drivebelt replacements.

Now my question is, what kind of signs/symptoms could this produce during startup/operation?

Okay, well this seems odd. I haven't touched anything since I made the crank play video we all saw. In that video, I was pushing/pulling the crank pulley, which is bolted down tight. I went out today and did the same thing, and I swear it is not moving as much today. Temperature is roughly the same, so what gives?

I found my dial indicator and put it on. If I did this right, it seems that the crank thrust is within spec? I measured .004". Thanks for giving me the specs, HiLife. In this video, I pried the crankshaft between the counterweights and the block to get maximum leverage/play.

Hmm....now what?

YouTube

VIDEO: YouTube

Ok, so to finally answer DieselChessy's question, here's why I tore into the engine. After reading it you'll see why I didn't want to lead people down 100 different paths from cracked flexplates to rod knock to bad AC bearings to improperly adjusted drive belts lol.

One day when I was pulling into my driveway, I heard the noise you'll hear in the video below. Now in this video, you'll see that it starts out in drive/reverse (doesn't matter), and then I shift into Park/Neutral (no noise at all), then back to drive. You can hear that after I shifted into drive the second time, the noise did not present itself much at all until I gave it some gas and then let off.

With a stethescope on the engine, it can be hear the loudest at the very front of the engine, on either bank, where the head meets the block. No noise is heard at the transmission/rear of the engine.

The thing is, I came across a video on YouTube of a guy with a 5VZ Tacoma who has this exact same noise behaving exactly the same way. He claims that it was solved by replacing the AC bearing and tensioner. I replaced those parts, but the noise did not go away nor change in any way. The weird thing is that the noise did seem to go away when EITHER the PS pump OR the AC compressor or both were disconnected.