I talked to Team Yota. The guy was really helpful and patient. 2500 to pull, rebuild, and reinstall the motor. 24k/24 month warranty.

Put in an email to engnbldr asking if he would listen to it.

Team Yota said that if it was catostrophic and about to explode that it would be really loud. He was diagnosing by phone so he was making any guarantees.

 

And just to be clear, I'm not even close to deciding I need a rebuild yet, just trying to get expert opinions and price out possibilities.

I figure my choices are:
1. Sell the truck and accept a possible loss.
2. Make incremental repairs and see if that does it.
3. Go full rebuild from a pro.
4. Drive it until it explodes.

I am disappointed that such a low mileage truck with good service records may need a rebuild. The only suspicious record is a recent new radiator which could have meant major overheat. I guess I didn't hear the rattle during purchase because I wasn't coasting enough or wasn't used to the sewing machine noise as someone above said.

My intention was to consolidate my current 4x4 vehicle and economy sedan into on DD truck that could wheel and camp on the weekends. For that reason I don't want a major project, as fun and interesting as that may be, especially since I'd rather be out using the vehicle in my free time rather than working on it. In a few years a project will make more sense. I'll report back with any development and will continue to explore advice in this thread.

 

Okay, two updates: 1. Returned adjustment to .008 and .011 and the rhythmic tick that started after the previous adjustment is better.

And Ted (engnbldr) wrote back (I can't believe how friendly and helpful the 22re community is!). Says it sounds like chain slap on the guide due to tensioner problem. I will try to take it into his son for a listen.

 

I got to say, I'm not by any means an expert on these engines. But I've owned two of them... that doesn't sound like rod bearing issues to me. Rods (I think) are a much deeper knock or clunk... less "tinny" or "rattly".

On a side note: $2500 is a great deal. Is that labor only? I have a buddy (not me) who had a pro do his head gasket for $2500... not timing chain or anything else. So a full rebuild for that price is not bad at all.

 

1700 for rebuild.
850 to have them install it.
NW Team Yota
As of today anyway.

We didn't get into details about what the rebuild includes, I'm just getting rough numbers. I don't even know what the issue may be and I may dump or kill the truck instead.

 

Awesome! Man I hope he is right.

 

*Personal Opinion: That's the chain slapping around on something inside the case.
I've heard a rod bearing knock on a 22re and it did not display these same symptoms.
BTW: That chain doesn't look original. Notice that it's not very oil stained like the rest of the engine internals. I would venture a guess that someone replaced the timing chain kit and over-torqued the tensioner body. This distorts the tensioner body and causes tensioner failure.

 

And by no means am I an expert on any engine. I am only relaying my own personal experience. It is extremely hard to diagnose sound over the Internet. I would be more than happy to be wrong.

 

For like $65 you can get a timing chain kit from engnbldr. There are some good write ups on how to do it online. (4crawler had an excellent one). It'll be a fun project for you! Or for whoever does it.

 

Stop guessing where the sound is coming from, and diagnose it proper'. Once you know where the sound is you'll have a better idea of what needs done

best $3 you may ever spend.

For 1500$ labor, there are bound to be a dozen guys that would load up thier crane and come drop a crate in for you.

unitedengine.com, best price I've seen for a remanufactured engine. (sub 1k$)

 

For compairison, this thread has a picture of my timing chain after 205K. Notice how it's oil stained just like the rest of the engine internals. To me your chain looks much cleaner.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...estion-265435/

 

Here is a little update.

I had Tod, who is the son of Ted (EngnBldr), listen to it. (Seem like great guys btw.)

His opinion was that the rattle in question is not a motor noise and is probably a heat shield or something else rattling. He said very specifically "that is not a death rattle".

I've used a mechanic's stethoscope and I don't seem to hear the noise coming from inside of the valve cover. I assume if it were the chain that putting the listening probe on the valve cover would allow me to hear the rattle more clearly. You can't hear it at all that way.

I probed the exhaust and a few heat shields that I could see but didn't find anything that way either.

I will get a friend to help me out so that I can listen from underneath. Since the vehicle has to be in a certain RPM band to trigger the rattle I'll need someone to work the throttle. I will also try to listen as close to where the chain tensioner is as possible.

I've driven the truck 500 miles or more since getting it and the noise hasn't changed. There are no other symptoms that I am aware of. It starts and runs well.

 

Congrats!

 

Okay, new update. I am thinking that this is timing chain noise. I spent more time listening through the probe and am certain that you can hear the noise in the spots marked with a red dot on the attached photo. You can hear it loudly there but not on areas near the top of the chain, say on the valve cover where the 22R-E sticker is, and you can't hear it from the exhaust headers. In fact, I can't seem to find the noise through the probe anywhere but in the vicinity marked by the dots.

What do you guys think?

 

Final update: I'm updating this thread since I've seen so many diagnostic threads that end abruptly with no resolution. This really makes them less helpful for people with similar problems.

The rattle in the original post was indeed the timing chain. New timing set made it to away. It had begun to make light railroad tracks in the cover.

Let's hope I'm good for another 100k miles on this low mileage engine.

Thanks to everyone for their opinions and advice.