Mish

3 days old 250 miles on it. I noticed some valve lifter tapping that goes on and off during the engine warm up on idle. It is very distinct and not the injector or exhaust manifold sounds.

Mechanic at Toyota dealership confirmed it, but they are not sure how to deal with it, since they have no manuals for this motor yet.

So much for Toyota's perfection

BT17R

Does the 1GR even have lifters? If it's like Toyota's newer twin-cam multi-valve designs, they're direct actuation and are set toward the looser side of the range from the factory. As the engine breaks in, clearances tend to tighten and valve noise diminish. Give it a few thousand miles and a change to synthetic before having the dealer re-shim the valvetrain. Otherwise, you'll wind up with overly tight (but quiet) clearances. As always, my 2¢.

impulsebrklyn

valve lifter tapping ? sorry dont know what you referring to im not an expert in cars, but i do have the repair manuals for the 4runner from toyota. Im trying to understand what the noise is cause i have a few noises during warm up myself. but from what ive read all are normal except for the belt tensioner which toyota is in the process of fixing.

Chris

Woodbert

Bob,

Did you change to synthetic oil? If so how many miles did you wait for the breakin?

I've got about 3200 miles now.

Thanks.

Mish

Thank you!
Are you sure there are no hydraulics in this motor?
I will wait and see what happens and also I am going to put 10W30 Synthetic oil in a few days. I heard that Toyota's factory oil is very light and might cause some extra noises.

This V6 is a noisy little fellow, but I think I did the right think by going V6, 23 miles per gallon are unbeatable with the V8 and my boat is only 3500LB, so V6 will tow it with no sweat.

99Limited

I had the same problem with my BMW when it was new. The tapping noise only happened on occasion and was pretty inconsistent. It took me months to get it fixed because it never would happen when I was at the dealership. Finally one Saturday I was near the dealership when the engine starting it's tapping routine and was able to get it there for a mechanic to hear it. While he was listening with his mechanic's stethoscope it quit, but it lasted long enough for them to say there was a problem.

BMW uses small hydraulic lifters between the cam and the valve stem, at least on their non-M engines. Toyota probably uses something similar in their engines and it sounds like you may have a lifter failure. If their wasn't some kind of hydraulic lifter involved in the valve train everybody would have to get their valves adjusted periodically because of wear. When's the last time you took your vehicle in for a valve adjustment? Motorcycle engines did/do use direct valve actuation but they use shims to maintain the valve clearance.

BT17R

Woody, I changed to Mobil 1 5W-30 @ 3,000 miles. I haven't run a full tank through yet so can't comment on fuel economy changes. The engine became noticeably quieter even though it isn't especially loud.

The 3,000 mile first change is a switch in my usual schedule. I used to change to synthetic at 500 miles, and never had a problem. But the newer gen engines with the low-tension piston rings might benefit from a longer run-in, especially with an iron block. At least that's the theory on a couple of other Toyota car boards. Even 3,000 miles is ahead of the maintenance schedule, but that (or 6 months) is my limit.

I prolly posted this once, but I've used Mobil 1 for 15 years with good results even in racing conditions with oil temps going toward 300ºF. Ah well, fuels & lubes tend to be personal and no doubt there's better stuff than Mobil 1 out there (Amsoil, Red Line), but you can get it anywhere around here for $3.75/qt. on sale.

Sac State

I'd wait about 5000K miles, or more, before running synthetic. Petroleum based oils help the rings and other inner engine workings seat and break-in correctly. I have read some horror stories of people putting synthetic in their engine before it was 'broken-in'. I am not a mechanic though.

Sac State

I have had good experiences with synthetics, Mercedes, Ford Bronco and BMW, but this was after the 'break-in' period, sans the Mercedes, which comes with synthetic from the factory. Is it worth taking the chance this early in tour engine's life? 3000K miles is not too long to wait.

BT17R

No, I'm not sure and was asking? Yeah, I'm jealous of your fuel economy, but given the way I drive there's no way I'd get near those numbers. I used to change out to synthetic right away, but made a big change to the drill. See my post to Woody above.

Oh yeah, welcome to YotaTech, more info-lots of laughs.

Mish

Thank you for the welcome and all the info.
I will keep you posted on the noise / break in progress.
Overall this car in much nicer built than some Montero, or Explorer that's for sure.

BT17R

Hey, welcome to you, too.

Toyota had hydraulic lash adjusters on their engines...in the 80's. They've used direct actuation on the newer designs. The valve adjustment interval is usually 60,000 miles.

Speaking of the BMW M-series engines, what made them go kaboom? I heard valve train failure, then special oil requirement, but didn't hear if it's resolved. I hope so, I don't want them laying down oil in front of me on a track. That happened last year, an M3 scattered and things got exciting.

99Limited

I think BMW engineers are still scratching their heads over this one. BMW extended the engine warranty to 100k miles for the time being. In my opinion, 333hp and 8000 rpm out of 3.2 liters for a production engine is a little extreme. Just think what would happen with a missed shift with the engine spinning at redline.

If Toyota engines have direct valve actuation that seems like another good reason to switch to synthetic oil.

Atomicsmurf

I have the same noise. Sounds like the old lifter tap or an exhaust gasket leak. Another chat site talked about the Exhaust manifold (rolled not cast iron) being a little thin and allowing for excess noise.... they also stated that Toyota was looking into a redesign possibly due out in October.
3 dealers in NJ and all pleade ignorant to the issue. They say it sounds fine to them.
Also heard about the belt tensioner being shimmed to reduce a noise. Can't be the same noise...can it? Isn't the tensioner automatic?
Just wish I could talk with the Toyota engineer to clear this up. Anyone got any links inside? ..or must we remain hopeful that some local tech will run this to ground?????

'03 V6 Sport

Mish

I spoke today to very good Toyota Dealer's team leader mechanic and he said that this noise is not a lifter, because our motors do not have hidraulic lifters, we have the everlasting shims. His guess was that is is some accessory sound, inside the engine and that it is ok. I am waiting on the exhaust manifold upgrade, cos ours are rather rattly on accelleration.

Mish

Today I was standing at the light next to another 2003 V6 Sport Edition (ugly plastic trim I tell you...) and this girl's 4Runner was tapping the hell out of itself even worse than mine does. It made me feel little better knowing that this is definitely a "common feature" and I am not alone out there.
Let's give it some time and see if Toyota finds it to be an issue.

Another thing, I had to do some emergency braking 2 times already and both times wheels loked up with no signs of ABS, is it normal?

DaveyTN

I too was worried about the "tapping" sound going on in my 03 V6 4runner. It is especially noisy beside a wall. So, I took my 4runner to the dealership and they couldn't find anything wrong. I had them pull in another brand new V6 into their garage and they started it up. Sure enough, it made the same exact "tapping" sound. Like others have said, it must be a feature of the new V6.

rimpainter.com

The water pump had a plastic impeller on the 95 - 97 M3. This tends to fail right around 60K. I realize that does not cause catostrophic engine failure, but I thought I would mention it because it could if the owner was not paying attention. I think what 99 mentioned, about the M3 running pretty extreme in stock form is a good guess. Then, people get power hungry and add stuff that takes the reliability right out the door. What's really scary is that BMW can pull codes, such as "over rev" from the computer and bust the owner. I think they should just put a chip in their hand or forehead and get it over with.

romus

My Toyota 2003 SR5 4runner doesn’t have the ticking noise you guys describe (a ticking noise, like a bad lifter). The Toyota V6 4runner that I have was made March 2003. Maybe they fixed the problem with the new production.
I’ve seen a lot of early 2003 sport 4 runners with this problem.

Mish

Mine is also 03/2003, so maybe you are not noticing it, or maybe not all of them have it.
Let's wait for Toyota to step up and deal with it. I hope they are not going to act like Mitsubishi and sweep ˟˟˟˟ under the rug for years.

Speaking of Mitsubishi www.deadeclipse.com