RonP

My 84 1/2 4runner which is a 22re now I get a fairly loud ticking/knocking sound which continues after warm-up. It gets louder at higher rpm. The car resides in Baja and the local mechanic who is pretty good thinks it is piston pins and says it will run many years like that. We have replaced the timing chain and adjusted the valves. Any opinions on the reliability. Mostly use the car for running the washboard (40mph), crawling through mountain and desert or sandy dunes on the beaches. Thanks for looking.

millball

What is your oil pressure?
What weight oil do you use?

RonP

millball, the oil is 10/40 and the oil pressure is a little low according to the stock guage. The mechanic took off the oil pump when changing the timing chain and flattened the pump surface with wet and dry on a flat surface to get rid of oil leack.

Laurentian

My '86 was like that on a high mileage original motor. It sounded like a diesel and had a bad rod knock to it. I could of babied it for a while but it was driving me nuts. I beat on it a little just once, high speed dual track fire road driving. Got progressively worst and one day gave a buddy a lift home and on way back got progressively louder, barely made it to a local garage to drop it off. Was toast at that point. If I were you I would start sourcing another motor for a rebuild while the original still runs.

RustBucket

iTrader: (1)

My engine has a bit of a wrist pin tick. Sounded the same since the engine was put together. It is noticeable at cold idle and when the engine is braking at around 1500 rpm to idle. If there is any load on the engine it stops immediately. It is not noticeable at higher rpms. Seems like a rod knock would increase with load and rpms.

Might be worth a second opinion to find out if you need to save for an overhaul or not.

Laurentian

Mine would rattle on decel and when reved unloaded. Very annoying.

RonP

Mine sounds a little like RustBucket's. The sound seems to disappear at higher revs and ran strong all the way down there at 70mph. He diagnosed it with (get this) a piece of garden hose for a stethoscope and narrowed it to #3 cyl and seems pretty sure of himself. I am looking for a replacement engine and tranny or truck. Somewhat of a problem with diagnosis having it in a small, remote Baja village and being in San Diego. At least it won't blow while I'm here. Thanks for the feedback, all of you guys.

stanprophet

Mine does the same thing. It is somewhat common for wrist pin noises in these engines. Wrist pins will sound similar to a rod knock, but they will make the sound twice as fast. The make noise 2 times when reaching TDC and 2 times when they reach BDC. Rod knocks will also be there under a load since it is rotating. Mine is noticeable at cold idle above 1500 rpm, and when the engine is revved with no load. It will also make noise above 2500 rpm under a load. Cruising down the highway at light throttle it will make noise, give it a little throttle and goes away, let off come back.

The mechanic is correct, it could potentially live for a long time. Personally I am going to find a used block and start having the machine work done. Store it on a stand next to my tool box at work so I can start building it. It is annoying as hell to say the least, especially when you work on cars for a living and work at a dealership.

RonP

stanprophet, Now this is sounding familiar! When I get down there in June I will try all the situations you mention and watch for those specific symptoms. All the things you mention sound very familiar. I wish I could go down and start it up this morning. Not being a mechanic myself, I'm not ashamed of a few noises as long as it gets me back off the beach or back down from the mountains. Thanks for the help