scmedic

My 22re makes a tapping noise that is only apparent after then engine has been warmed up. When the engine is cold it is nice and quiet however after it comes up to temperature, I get a tapping noise that sounds a bit like a loose valve.

I've checked my valve clearances twice, and after reading posts here about over torquing the valve cover, replaced the valve cover gasket and made sure not to overtighten the acorns. The new gasket actually seemed to elminate the tap for a couple of days but now its back

Just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions on what could be causing a tapping noise with these symptoms?

If it is the valve cover gasket - are there any other fixes besides just not overtorquing the nuts? I was thinking if I could put a "taller" valve cover gasket in, I could provide more clearance between the valve cover and rocker arms, however I havn't been able to find any gaskets that fit this description

Any suggestions are appreciated!

fishon1213

If it were the rockers hitting the valve cover it would be pretty evident. You would probably see some wear on the inside of the valve cover and on the top of the rocker. Your valve cover gasket should be a good 3/8" tall, not round like my old one. It might get a little messy but you can loosen the valve cover acorns a bit with the motor running and pull it up a little to rule that out for sure. Make sure your timing is set correctly and check your timing chain guides. Also with the valve cover off look for wear on the cam lobes. Does the truck miss or hiccup when it starts to tap? If its not very loud at all it could be injectors. I assume you've done cap, rotor, plugs and all that crap. If it were a valve issue, eventually one of your spark plugs would probably foul or glaze over. Search for "problematic 22re" and check out my BS thread. Unfortunately I have touched on just about everything in that thread. I change the timing set and am now replacing the head due to a bad valve. Let us know what happens.

scmedic

Thanks for the suggestions - I will give them a try. The engine runs well, has had recent tune up (timing, cap & rotor, etc) and has DOA metal timing chain guides. I'll keep working on it and let you know if I come up with anything.