animal_ae86

What up YT,

Long time lurker, first time signing up and posting. I have a 95 4X2 with a little bit of noise from the motor. I'm not great at all at diagnosing engine problems and I have a hard time with trusting mechanics. I have a slight knock sound and it sounds like valve ticking. I was told that I need to do a whole rebuild for 1700 bucks, but when I drive the truck, it still feels like it has a ton of power. So I'm offering a free meal to anyone who has knowledge of the 3.0 and can help me figure out what's wrong and what I need to fix. I'm located in the SGV area close to El Monte. The motor has 15xk miles and I changed the timing belt, water pump, hydraulic tensioner, power steering pump, spark plugs and wires 2k ago. I know I still need to install a new heater core and ac compressor, and want to do everything at once. Thanks in advance YT!

RJR

Is the "knock" the same as the "tick"? If you have two sounds, one of them being a low frequency knock that is different from the valve ticking, then that is probably a rod bearing and a rebuild is in your future. On the other hand, if "knock" and "tick" are the same thing in your description, read on.

Does the valve tick all the time, or just when it's cold? If the latter, I wouldn't worry about it. It just means the valve has a little extra clearance, which is better than too little clearance, which can result in burned valves.

If it's clattering badly all the time, you may want to adjust the valves. That's supposed to be done every 70K miles anyway, but seldom happens because the process, while not highly technical, is something of a pain. Do a search on this forum for what's involved.

Do a compression test. Also, how much, if any, oil does it use? Assuming there's not a real "knock", if it's good in both of those areas it doesn't need a rebuild.

animal_ae86

The ticking is a constant, from cold start 'til running all day. The knock usually comes in after it's been warm and driving for about a hour. When I was DD the truck, I'd have to put in a quart every 2-3 weeks, but there was never a drop on my drive way. I'll try to get a video up of the noise and get a compression/leak down test done. Thanks for the advice RJR. Let me know how you want that free meal!

RJR

Don't worry about the meal - I eat too much anyway! This forum is for helping each other 'cause we're all in this together. Take what you need, give back what you can.

animal_ae86

Good Stuff, Thank you Sir! I'll post updates.