Question probably gets asked quite a bit, and probably pretty hard to answer, but just curious if anyone can give me a bit of assurance my Toy isn't going to die.

Last night I was driving home, had to make a rather sudden acceleration and noticed that my RPMs reved pretty high. Ever since then, I've noticed a clicking noise from under the hood. I can't hear it unless the engine RPMs are up. I popped the hood and reved the motor a bit and it sounded like the noise was coming directly from the engine itself. I consulted a tech and he said it could possibly be lifters or rod bearing.

He said if it was a rod bearing, there would be a noticeable thud/thunk. My only concern is that the noise sounds a bit lower down than the lifters. Would a fast acceleration have any impact on lifters.

Figure I would change the oil tomorrow as its near that time anyway.

Anymore suggestions?

 

Any ideas?

 

Your going to have to be more specific. What engine is it? If its a 3VZE it does not have lifters but the valve train can make a clicking sound. This usually does not come on suddenly though.

Try to describe the click and the general area its coming from. Get a stethoscope and poke around the engine while its running. BE CAREFUL not to get it cought in any belts or pullys. Does it make the noise under deceleration as well as acceleration? Does it do it when it cold as well as hot? An audio file would be best in helping us help you figure it out. If you have a way to make one that would be great.

Some things that I would check if I hear a "clicking" would be injectors, valve lash, exhaust manifold leaks. As your tech said, if it was a rod you it would not be a light click, but then again I have heard people describe a rod knock as a clicking sound.

 

I'd check the valve lash first. That will definitely give you a tick.

Next, there isn't a whole lot you could probably do without tearing the engine down even if you find the problem. I'd do as suggested above and get a stethoscope from Harbor Freight and poke around to get the general vacinity of the noise then decide what you want to do about it.

It's also possible that it has been there for a while but you never noticed it until you did something that made you worry about the engine. Then after you were paying attention it jumped out at you.

These are all noisy engines.

 

i noticed this about a month ago when i was adjusting my engine idle. my friend who was a mechanic said that if it's a ticking sound that is constant then it's the fuel injectors. kinda scared me when i hadn't ever noticed the sound but the fuel injectors make sense. mine was a ticking though not a clicking lol

 

Thanks for the pointers guys. Not much of a mechanic myself, but buddy is a tech at Porsche so he'll have a stethoscope to diagnose it.

I changed the oil today and the click does not sound as loud. Its also more sporadic.

Couldnt tell you what the engine model was. All I know is its the V6 in a 1994.

What are the chances of this being a serious issue that would require lots and lots of money? Please say no

 

it's a 3.0 liter v6 named "3vze"

 

Ouch. Can already hear my wallet screaming.

 

Put the stethoscope on the injectors . . . . . oh, put some earplugs in first. In retrospect, as a 16 year owner of my truck, I wasted too much money on valve adjustments when I should have been paying attention to why my injectors were making so much noise. YotaTech Rocks! The stealerships will never get my money again!!!

 

3vze engines naturally have noisy injectors. If the noise is coming from within the cabin, try to see if the noise is by your pedals.

The problem is likely a firwall gasket that surrounds the steering rod. It has been mentioned several times in other threads. Just do a quick search, and I'm sure you'll find it.

Easy $12 fix from the dealer. Worked for me! Good Luck.

 

I definately appreciate the help here. My friend will be able to put it in the shop Saturday to take a look at it, so I'll let you guys know what he discovers after that. The more ideas here results in the less screwing around in the shop.

@jp123, I am 90% positive that the noise is coming from the engine itself. Its definately louder the close you get to the block.

Again, huge thanks. Can anyone point me in the direction of the owner here? My specialty is site design and I work with vBulletin on a daily basis, so might be able to return some of the favor.

 

BTW, here is Betty.







Gets her name from Spiderbait - Black Betty.

 

I was finally able to get it into the shop to have it looked at. Even with the stethoscope, it was hard to determine exactly where the noise was coming from. Two mechanics looked at it and both said they were 70% sure it was a connecting rod.

Anyway, I was able to take a short audio clip. Hopefully someone a little more friendly with Toys can give me some more insight.

http://www.modtheater.com/Audio.wma

Let me know if you can't listen to it.

If it is a connecting rod, about how much hours are we looking at to drop the engine and replace it? I know its hard to estimate cost, but are we talking 3 or 4 digit figures?

 

Wow, an audio clip is worth a thousand words for sure.

For what you'd pay to get one rod changed out you could probably have a rebuilt engine put in I bet.

Not to mention that if one has gone bad and you get it fixed, how long before another?

You have a beautiful truck for sure, I would definitely look into getting another engine for it. It's worth it.

 

how high did you rev that baby? that definately sounds like a bottom end problem. good luck bro

 

Its an auto, so I don't know how it over reved. It was a decent acceleration, but nothing insane.

Bout how much am I going to pay a mechanic to rebuild a 3vze?

 

Geez! That noise made my teeth hurt!

I was expecting to tell you, "yeah, that's normal" or "sounds like mine", but ugh...I dunno.

Most shops don't rebuild yours, they put another rebuilt in yours that's already built. Mine, 22re, was like 2000.00, installed. I'm sure the 3vze's cost more. If you get one, go to a place with a good warranty.

You said new oil helped the sound. Try putting in synthetic, if you haven't already. It should cut the noise even more.