yotaknows

I just put in a used 86 22re in my 89 4x4. Now this engine has developed a whirring knock noise that gets quieter as the engine warms up. It uses no oil and compression is 180 in all 4 cylinders. I have been told it is piston slap and not to worry, just live with the noise. Anybody have any thoughts? Will it keep running or break on me? thanks for the feedback

Elton

it will break and it wont be good ...i would fix it now before it gets to bad and ends up costing more money

WATRD

If it's really piston slap, it's not worth doing anything about, even if you could figure out what you should do. Somewhere, you will even find a Toyota TSB where they talk about piston slap as being normal and non-harmful.

If you have no other symptoms, it's not worth expensive repairs to try to fix a non-problem.

yotaknows

Thanks for the response..I looked up the TSB...because of finance and what people said, I will live with the noise and hope... What other symptoms should I be aware of?

Elton

you could get a rebuid kit for $233 from www.engnbldr.com thats if you wanna do the work yourself

WATRD

If you are not detecting a loss of power, it's not burning oil and the compression remains strong, just run it. If the piston slap bothers you, just make sure it's warmed up a bit before you drive it.

It may not be "normal", but I don't think it's worth doing much about. A quick web search turned up all kinds of theories about piston slap on various engines, but this quote seemed to summarize things nicely.

yotaknows

Thanks again to all who responded...all info is appreciated...

joeynational

iTrader: (1)

been doing allot of searching so thats why i'm reviving this old thread..LOL

my truck recently developed "piston slap" just outta no where it starts sounding like a damn diesel..it seems as soon as it hits operating temp and the thermostat opens it stops immediately..doesnt come back under any RPM only when the truck is cold

the truck has new top end including all the pumps and what not,had my injectors reconditioned,valves were adjusted 20k ago after the initial adjustment from the top end rebuild

my question is could it be anything but the pistons/wrist pins basically block related..could it be something related to "cold start" wires,components maybe fan clutch I dont know..just seems my symptoms are not like everyone elses on here as once my piston slap is gone it doesnt come back until the truck is cold..Seems like everyone elses comes back under certain RPMS

sticksnstones

thread re revival!
My 22re has done this for some time, especially on mornings under freezing. Start up, idle, 1st gear with light/ no throttle there is no noise and sounds like a healthy 22re. If I get on it before fully warmed up and go above 2000 rpm a very prominent tockitockitockitocki knocking noise. Once warm all sound is gone or typically after getting into third gear. From reading it sounds like this might be piston slap. Not timing chain, not anti drainback startup rattle not valves. Rod knock is there ALL the time. Piston slap supposedly goes away after heat has allowed the piston to slightly expand. After scouring threads, this exact issue was mentioned and unhelpfully replied to on only one other thread. For a long time, I assumed it was the chain tensioner not working properly thus allowing chain slap against guides but that is not the same noise as what i'm experiencing. Tensioner issues would be present at idle. Hope this helps someone in the future. I typically run 5w-40 in the summers and 10w-30 in the winters. Tried the 40 wt in the winter for this noise and didn't seem to make a difference for me, maybe someone else has had success.

Let it warm up.

we can't be the only three people who have experienced this. Anyone still here in toyota pickup land?

Blueman

Wow. Reading this post I had to check the name to see if I had written it in my sleep! My 197,000 mile 22R-E has the very same behavior. I've done lots of searching, and feel confident piston slap is the sound I hear between 2000 and 3000 RPM with light load before the engine warms up. Now I just accept it and avoid light load in that RPM range until the engine warms up -- then it's quiet. Oh, and I run 20W50 High Mileage Castrol and live in the mild SF Bay area climate.

No, sticksnstones, I think there are lots of us with this. Probably many others simply don't notice the sound or think it's valves/camchain.

Oh, and if someone can point me to that aforementioned TSB on this, I'd greatly appreciate a link as I can't find it.

Jimkola

It was a common complaint about the 22R. The piston skirt is just short enough to allow the piston to "rock" forward a little bit at the skirt as the piston is going up. Thicker oil helped a bit, but once the engine warmed up the sound diminished quite a bit. We never saw it cause a mechanical issue, or damage to the block or piston. I don't think anyone ever really came up with a solution to eliminate that I'm aware of.
I'm not aware of a TSB. If something was deemed a characteristic it was rare for a TSB to be generated. But maybe there's something out there I forgot about.

Melrose 4r

same exact conditions with my 22re with about the same mileage. My 97 Corolla did it worse, and i drove it 275k in the winter also.
I’ll be swapping the 22re soon and can’t wait to see what the #3 piston and bore look like.

Blueman

Is #3 the slappiest of the pistons normally?

Melrose 4r

i couldn’t say. But in my case i know it’s #3 because it goes away when i pull that spark plug wire.

Blueman

I thought about doing that test to figure out which cylinder was making the noise, but then I decided it wouldn't change my actions so I leave it as something mysterious. Maybe it can be seen on a borescope inspection next time the plugs are out.

Jimkola

On the 22R engines I’ve seen disassembled you typically saw some light scuffing on the thrust side of the piston skirt. The cylinders walls were fine, cross hatching still clearly evident. Some dealers, early on, tried new pistons(we did) with no luck. Shortly after that Toyota deemed it a characteristic.
You might try and contact a trusted rebuilder and see if they’ve ever found a piston manufacturer that’s successfully addressed it.

Melrose 4r

Did you only see the problem occur on high mileage engines or low mileage also?

Jimkola

It happened to vehicles early on, so low mileage. By the time there were high mileage vehicles it was well known. Some were louder than others, and my only guess as to why might be the way it was broken in, the type of oil used, driver habits, etc. Toyota's machining and consistency was pretty remarkable, so a "bad batch" was rarely speculated.

Blueman

So have any actual engine failures (broken pistons?) been seen due to piston slap, or is it mostly just an annoying sound issue?

Jimkola

No, I never saw a piston failure attributed to the slap.