Valve noise (V6 SR5)

[Tippy_2009]

I have had my Certified Used 2006 V6 4Runner for just about two months and have come to realize that I have a sharp ticking noise on trhe driver's side of the truck. It's a metallic noise that varies with rpm (and never goes away). It's not so loud that it's like a diesel, but the passenger's side doesn't have this sound.

I have made an appointment with my local dealership, but was wondering if any of you have had to adjust the valves in your truck? Is there even a mileage check for valve clearance?

46000 miles. Thanks (and Hello from a fairly new member!)

John S,

 

[drmorbius]

I have had my Certified Used 2006 V6 4Runner for just about two months and have come to realize that I have a sharp ticking noise on trhe driver's side of the truck. It's a metallic noise that varies with rpm (and never goes away). It's not so loud that it's like a diesel, but the passenger's side doesn't have this sound.

I have made an appointment with my local dealership, but was wondering if any of you have had to adjust the valves in your truck? Is there even a mileage check for valve clearance?

46000 miles. Thanks (and Hello from a fairly new member!)

John S,

This may be the fix for your problem.....
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42542

 

[Tippy_2009]

Thanks

That was a great link, but I don't think that this is it. I think that a purge cylinder would stop ticking as vacuum decreases with rpm, but the ticking that I hear is quite loud and continues faster with the rpm.

Believe me when I say that I wish it were the purge system. I appreciate the response though. I think that the amount of valve lash noise that I am hearing is probably very small, but enough to be quite annoying.

So, no one has had to adjust their valves?

 

[jharris2]

It's probably the well-known valve lifter noise. As far as I can remember, we had one member win an arbitration case against Toyota because theirs was so loud. Otherwise, I'm not aware of anyone adjusting the valves. You can search to check.

 

[Border411]

Isnt this commonplace on all 4.0L v6's? Mine does as well, usually when cold. After a few minutes, it quiets down a fair amount.

 

[Tippy_2009]

Update

Well, I did take it to a dealership, but before I did, I decided to change oil (even though I only have about 1800 miles on since they "supposedly" changed it). I don't know what kinda oil was in there, but it was jet black. I ran the Truck around the block, but it still ticked. When I got the truck there (about 1 hour drive) - don't ya know that the noise was quite a bit less. It had never dissappeared before - even when hot the tick was still there.

"They all do that," I was told. While I consider this response rather a bit of an insult (they never even opened the valve cover to measure the valves), I understand that this type of valve train will make noise.

 

[EH007]

Re: Update

Well, I did take it to a dealership, but before I did, I decided to change oil (even though I only have about 1800 miles on since they "supposedly" changed it). I don't know what kinda oil was in there, but it was jet black. I ran the Truck around the block, but it still ticked. When I got the truck there (about 1 hour drive) - don't ya know that the noise was quite a bit less. It had never dissappeared before - even when hot the tick was still there.

"They all do that," I was told. While I consider this response rather a bit of an insult (they never even opened the valve cover to measure the valves), I understand that this type of valve train will make noise.

Are you absolutely sure that you're hearing a valve tick? The 4Runner V6 has a VSV valve that makes a ticking sound that sounds remarkably like a valve tick. That's probably why the dealer told you that they all do it.

You can try temporarily disconnecting the VSV to see if the tick stops.

 

[Tippy_2009]

Response,

Yes, I did disconnect the VSV to see if the noise stopped and it didn't. When I first got the truck, I came to realize that it was noisy all the time, hot / cold - low rpm and high rpm. The oil that I drained out of the truck was very dark (opaque). Oil that's "time to change" should be at least transluscent even if the colour is dark. I think that since just changing oil seemed to help out (hence when I took it to the dealership, it was fairly quiet) - that either the dealership never changed the oil previously, or that they put in some off brand, wrong viscosity oil.

I have a Mazda Miata with a similar valve train layout, so I knew that truck wouldn't be entirely quiet.

Anyway, thanks for your interest. I'm hoping that it's just me being hypercritical. I was pretty bummed though when they told me that unless something was broken my "Toyota Certified" wouldn't help me out (or even be relevant). Why buy certified then?

John,