I've just noticed this sound on cold start ups. Cold as in sat all night and first start up of day. My 22re is a fresh rebuild with 2200 miles on it. Brand new timing set. I'm pretty positive it's timing chain slapping. It only does 1 or 2 slaps and instantly goes away. In fact you can only hear it if you're outside of vehicle and someone else starts it..

So my question, is this normal? My best guess would be that the tensioner only works with oil pressure. Causing slack in chain when engine has sat all night. Am I correct?

Next question, should I worry about this?

 

Pretty normal. Mine makes a few louder than normal ticks for the first 2 seconds while oil pressure builds. Than it's good.

I'd start being concerned if it always made the abnormal sounds. Keep in mind 22 valves are not quiet.

 

I'm not sure on exact mileage to recheck clearance. I think 500 miles after rebuild the valves need to be clearance again. .008 for intake and .012 for exhaust valves

 

Thanks for reply. And yeah I've checked valve clearances every 500 miles since rebuild, so I know their good.

 

It does sound like it could be somewhat normal if it only lasts for a second or two as the truck builds oil pressure. Personally, I have noticed it more on my trucks when the engine is warm and the oil is thinner. You can try using an oil pressure gauge and see where the pressure is at when it makes the noise.

Are you using regular 10w-30 oil? You also might try a genuine Toyota oil filter as they are suppose to have better anti-drainback valves.

 

I've actually never listened for it on warm starts. I'll check that out tonight.

And yes 10w30. Next oil change I'll try out a Toyota filter to see if that helps.

 

I shortened my cold start noise by trying different Toyota and aftermarket filters and it has worked to some extent. Not all Toyota branded filters are created equal when it comes to filter media and anti-drainback design. So far the Toyota 90915-YZZD1 oil filters have worked the best for me.

These 22r-re's really do seem to like thicker conventional oils around 15w40 - 20w50.
I used conventional 10w30 oil but switched to 15w40 after reading several posts on different websites about long time 22r-re owners that used and liked conventional 20w50 in their engines. That seems to have helped lower the cold start noise as well as lowering the noise from the cam, rockers, and valves at about all rpm's when warm. I plan on going with 20w50 next time because like it or not oil will get slightly broken down with use resulting in a slightly thinner consistency before a 3,000 mile interchange period, some faster than others.
I won't be going back to 10w30-10w40 unless the weather is next to freezing point for quite a while.