Ok so quick back story. Truck is a 2011 and had full Toyota service record. I bought it with 70k on it and I have done two on time oil changes as well as change every other fluid.

Since I got it the truck has had a whine around 2k rpm more noticeable in lower gears and under load. I did a bunch of research. Apparently it's quite normal for this motor. Maybe not "right" but many claim this.

Now I tried to put it out of my head but it still bothered me a bit. I haven't had time to trace but it does seem louder by driver side. I've read possibly one of the pulleys for the Timing chain system.

Fast forward to yesterday. I do an oil change. Always use Toyota OEM filter and oil.

Oil was black at 5k miles. Concern was there were some metal flakes about size of an ant or a medium grain of sand (3 or so noticeable) and a very small amount of smaller specs. With my old truck at 300k 22RE it was kinda par for the course it was worn out time for a rebuild.

With this now I'm thinking that doesn't seem good. A little more research has pointed that some of these 1GR-FE's have had oil pump failure. This could contribute to the noise I'm hearing, but it could also be causing the Timing Chain System to not get properly lubricated (as well as upper parts of the motor)

I'm checking sound locations today with stethoscope, but want to get some input from anyone that might have experience here. Anyway to check without pulling Timing Cover? If I can determine indeed that the issue is oil pump then I may have to bite the bullet replace oil pump and all the timing guides, chain, idlers, etc. Really don't want to crack this engine with so little miles on it though.

The 1GR-FE engine is noisy; unless yours is making more noise than normal. Some folks here send an oil sample to Blackstone Labs for analysis. Some have posted their reports and they look pretty detailed. You could also install an analog oil pressure gauge so you could monitor oil pressure more accurately to better see if the oil pump is suspect; if there is a fitting on the engine for one.

I’ll be watching this thread. I have a 2023 but that exact noise you describe grates on me, wish I knew exactly what it is.

hard to diagnose without a video or assess how bad it is. the 5th gen 4runner engine kind of sounds broken all the time. metal shavings in the oil that are clearly visible though is likely a problem ...

Ya I need to get a good recording. I keep trying but get important calls, or have some other thing come up and the recording sounds bad. I'll try to get one this week. I also picked up a mechanics stethoscope so will poke around with it and see what I can find.

I did get a kit from blackstone labs and will send some of the oil from the last oil change soon. Intrigued to see what they say.

Just want to add that other than this noise the truck runs like a top. Idle smooth and plenty of power.

Plenty of power? That's pretty subjective. I'd describe it as "adequate" power. Every time I drive my 2016 F150 with the 3.5 Ecoboost (over 200 more lb-ft of torque than the Toyota engine) I realize just how down in power that 4Runner engine is.

You’ll want to catch the oil midstream , like a pee test. Oil analysis is probably the easiest way to start narrowing down where the metal is coming from.

Meaning engine doesn’t feel down on power… I get your point. But to me coming from a 94 22re this thing feels like a beast hahaha. Personally I’m content with the power to weight of this vehicle. If I started adding bumpers winch huge tires I’d probably feel different.

You can always send an oil sample to crackstone crabs for testing but really this engine has been noisy when it was first used in 05.

These 4.0L are noisy. Using 0w-20 oil does not help. My Tacoma has essentially the same engine but is spec for 5w-30 and is much quieter.

03!

They're old. But they're proven to work. We've got a member here with like 360k+ miles on a 4.0L with 10k oil change intervals. Everything but the rear main seal is overbuilt.

Sounds like a diesel.
Howls, whines, clicks, taps, roars.
Hopefully for 400,000 miles.