3.4L Ticking/tapping Noise

[Jubsz]

My 00 Limited has recently started ticking/tapping a bit. I've searched around quite a bit and haven't seemed to find anything that strikes me as my issue. I'm mechanically inclined but I do live in a condo and don't really have a place to work on the truck. It is also my daily driver.

The truck has 225k on the clock. I've owned it for 4 years and about 40k miles. About 18 months ago, it did have the Catalytic converter replaced with an aftermarket unit. It has been maintained well overall but does need a few things currently. I am overdue on timing belt/water pump/valve adjustment and it has a leaking valve cover. It should probably also get spark plugs/tune-up. The plug wires are red so I am assuming non-OEM. I recently added about a quart of oil to it after 4k of driving since changed. It was still on the dipstick but a little bit below the minimum line. I do not think that is low enough for concern of rod knock/damage but figured I'd throw it in there just in case. I've used OEM filters and Mobil 1, as did the previous owner. I am hoping to move to a house with a garage this summer so I've been waiting until I can do it all myself. I do have another vehicle I can drive if need be but it is currently put away for winter and I'd rather keep it that way.

The ticking is not noticeable while driving but is very prominent at lower speeds, especially in parking lots/garages. It is barely noticeable when engine is cold but very noticeable when the engine is warm. It is 100% rpm dependent and seems to be coming from the passenger side cylinder bank but is hard to tell. I know these engines tick a bit so I'm hoping that maybe someone recognizes it immediately.

YouTube

 

[brillo_76]

Almost sounds like a knock too. Could be valves need shims and injectors.

Keep an eye on your oil.

This to check :

1] PVC valve.

2] vacuum lines

3] compression check all 6 cylinders.

See if you can pinpoint the exact location of the tick.


Injectors are known to be noisy too but that sounds me more like a valve ticking.

If all that checks out good.

Try locus or some other name brand injector cleaner. [ doubt it's an injector]

You can also jump a oil grade to like 10w 30 or remove a quart and add locus heavy duty oil stabilizer.

If you add locus and it quiets down some you definitely have some engine wear.

Just a few thoughts.

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[spartacus]

Get under the truck and see if the noise is the flex plate. open the inspection cover and check for hair line cracks.

 

[Jubsz]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm wondering if I should sideline it until I get this figured out. I do have AAA and a good mechanic I could take it to but he usually takes a while to turn things around. My other car is an S2000 and is away for the winter about an hour away. I'd really rather not pull it out in the winter but I may need to at this rate.

Does this sound like rod knock or something else? I'm getting a little nervous that it may be.

 

[brillo_76]

Its really hard to say exactly what it is. I listened to it twice. I can here that tick your talking about. Mostly rods knock is a different sound. Mostly deeper sounding.


You can get a mechanic stethoscope or use a rubber house to your ear and should at least be able to pinpoint the location of that tick. When you have a location narrowed down. It will help you and your mechanic find out the cause.

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[brillo_76]

Here is what a flexplate failing sounds like. Definitely worth having it checked via the inspection cover. It seems to be a higher pitched tick though

YouTube

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[pluton]

The noise on the video is not rod knock. Valve noise is "tick tick tick' but rod noise is 'tock tock tock'.
It is, however, louder than the normal "background" ticking sound that my engine (approx. 175K miles) makes when it's completely warmed up.
Mine's manual trans so I don't know about flex plates.
Definitely investigate it yourself or have it investigated.

 

[Jubsz]

Yea, it started probably about 2 weeks ago. I'd bet I put over 700 miles since it started but I do think it's gotten louder. At first, I wasn't that concerned and I didn't think it sounded like rod knock. I've gotten more anxiety about it as time has gone one. I don't have much experience listening to valve/injector noise but it just seems to be getting louder. I was hoping that I'd make it to the point that I have a garage and in the summer/fall daily my s2000 while tackling all the 4Runner stuff. I might have to bite the bullet and have a mechanic look at it and probably do the deferred maintenance stuff while I'm at it.

 

[T4R2014]

Make sure your spark plugs are tight.

 

[jgue467]

Can you hear it from inside cabin? Check out idle to 1200 rpm change for below if you can hear from cabin.

What would you say is the frequency of oscillation?

In line with RPMS but is it 'fast' like the firing of all cylinders or somewhat slower like one cyclinder or one rotation of belts or a finger tap type speed?

: ^ )))

 

[Riceye]

Make sure your spark plugs are tight.

This.

 

[VernySanders]

Personally I have the same noise I think without hearing this in person and it's part of your evap system. Theres a little ticking noise on one of the evap system components and you can feel it pulse in the small vacuum lines there. It's completely normal. It fluctuates with rpm and is really only audible in park or up to 10mph. Sometimes you can hear it on surface streets. But feel those vacuum lines and I'm willing to bet that it's normal.

 

[VernySanders]

It's a little louder than I was anticipating I didnt notice at first you provided a video. Could this even be a cracked manifold? Sounds like all the crappy fords and chevys that drive by with shotty manifolds

 

[jeredcollins]

I have a little bit of a ticking noise as well. Isn't there some people that mention the master cylinder is often the culprit behind this noise?? Hopefully someone else can chime in.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm wondering if I should sideline it until I get this figured out. I do have AAA and a good mechanic I could take it to but he usually takes a while to turn things around. My other car is an S2000 and is away for the winter about an hour away. I'd really rather not pull it out in the winter but I may need to at this rate.

Does this sound like rod knock or something else? I'm getting a little nervous that it may be.

Hopefully I can point you in the right direction and ease your concerns.

1. It is NOT rod knock. Rod knock as brillo pointed out is a much deeper and louder noise. The sound is centered in the block and sounds like two large stones pounding together. Not like yours at all.

2. It sounds like to me it's an injector or Fuel Pressure Regulator that is ticking. Toyotas of old are known to have a very loud injector tick you can hear from the engine bay (my 91 was one of them) and is completely harmless if this is the issue. The FPR is located on the fuel rail on the backside of the engine, looks like a circular object with a vacuum hose coming out about 2 inches in diameter. Get yourself a length of vacuum hose about 3 feet long and put one end where you suspect the noise is and the other up to your ear. Poor man's stethoscope (these are also cheap on Amazon if you want to get one) and helps you hammer down the location of the noise. The injectors can be seen under the upper intake manifold.

3. If the sound is coming more from the spark plug area or on the opposite side of the injectors, so near the valve covers, it's possible it's a valve tick. This can be fixed with a valve adjustment but it's a very involved job that takes a lot of patience. Not expensive but you'll have your engine down for 1-3 days depending if you need valve shims special ordered from Toyota. This is not a "must fix" item though, you can switch to a high quality synthetic and it would most likely go away for the short term. Eventually though you'll start to feel your idle grow rough over time. Once again, not a must fix but more of an annoyance.

Hope this helps ya.

 

[Bad Luck]

One other thing to add beyond what people have suggested is it might be a cracked exhaust manifold. Cracked exhaust manifolds typically don't start making noise until they warm up and the crack becomes more open. I highly recommend getting a mechanic's stethoscope. Keep in mind with a mechanic's stethoscope everything will be much much louder than what you hear without them. You can also try taking an inspection mirror and a flashlight and looking for any black spots on your exhaust manifolds. The black spot is where it is cracked if you do find that.

 

[Sarki]

After listening to the video clip you provided and your comment that it is much less noticeable when the engine is cold leads me to think it is valve train noise, most likely lifters that need adjustment.
If it were a loose spark plug I would think the sound would be consistent regardless if the engine is cold, warm or hot.
I agree with previous comments regarding an engine knock being a deeper and different sound.
I also agree it does not sound like a cracked flex plate.
As far as the S2000, regrettably sold mine a few years back. I had purchased it new in 01 and sold it with just barely 24K miles......man I loved that car!

 

[plcfcng]

Valve disk adjustment can be done in car there is a tool that allows you to compress the valve to remove the shim with out dis assembling the head. This a fairly complex job. As you have to measure the gap with the engine cold after removing the valve covers measure each valve, Remove the shim and decide what shim you need each shim is about 8 dollars. So the car is down while you have to wait for the right size shim. When the right shims come install recheck if in spec. reassemble and you should be good to go. If you get the measurement wrong then you have to reorder the shim. Some thing you could do is try changing oil to a oil like 10-30w while this not ideal it may quiet the lifter noise. :lookout:

 

[Jubsz]

I will check spark plugs once I get a non-rainy day where I'm home during daylight. After more driving and pondering, I'm thinking that's not it though. Spark plugs loose sound more tractor like and get significantly louder with higher load. This one does not sound quite like that. I'm thinking that's not it but I'll check. I also grabbed a stethoscope to check around. Valve ticking may still be it but I'm just surprised with how it came on. It had always ticked a little bit but got significantly louder very quickly. I wouldn't have expected tightening valves to behave like that but I could be wrong. I'm also not the kind of guy to fill it with heavier weight oil or marvel mystery to make the noise go away. I want to be able to drive the truck without worrying about it breaking. I won't rule out injectors but I really don't know what they'd sound like. If it were injectors or something in the fuel system, need I worry about a cylinder running lean? Wouldn't a CEL throw for that?

I'm thinking cracked manifold may be more likely than I had expected, especially with what Bad Luck described above. I guess the good news there is that it's not mission critical but will get really annoying over time. The PO did tip me off about an exhaust leak that had been patched or something after I had already signed the paperwork for this thing. Maybe it's finally showing after my 4 year tenure. How bad of a job is it to replace a manifold on these things? I've heard something about the cross-pipe being really difficult because it routes over the trans and needs to drop the trans to get out. Is either of the manifolds in the same category as that?

I called my mechanic today but didn't answer. He may be off still for New Years. I've taken my s2000 in there a few times and the guy knows his stuff, is honest, and does good work. Problem is he isn't always quick to turn things around as most his business is second cars. With this as my daily, it poses a bit of a challenge. I just don't want to take it to a run-of-the-mill shop to do a diagnosis like this. They seem more apt to replacing stuff til the problem goes away as opposed to actually diagnosing the problem. Also, I don't trust a chain store or gas station repair place to change a flex plate/exhaust manifold/valve adjust.

 

[brillo_76]

The tip on the oil was to prove its engine wear. It's not a fix. It's just used to diagnose wear in your valve train. If thicker oil changes the noise. Then you have some wear. Then you drain it out next oil change or sooner and that be that.

I dont recall anyone saying oil additives are cure as that is being silly. However, if your engine is 3/4 gone. You can use these additives to get oil consumption to slow and keep and engine running until its replaced or repaired properly.

I do know some people have done thicker oil or additives to slow their oil leaks down until they have had time replace the leaking seals. That's very common in the rust belt in winter as not everyone can work on their vehicles in garages or inside during the cold freezing weather months.

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