Brazos

I have been looking at Toyota trucks in the '85-'95 year range. I looked at a clean 1993 this afternoon I am considering buying tomorrow. When the truck starts up there is a noticable knocking sound for 2-3 seconds and then it goes away. The owner of the truck said that is normal for 22R (or 22RE, not sure which other than a EFI 4 cyl). The owner of the truck is an older man who is the original owner. He seemed very honest but want to make sure it is not a major issue he is hiding before I plunk down the cash. The truck also has a noticable exhaust leak. At a 184K miles I might as well replace the whole exhaust system. Any rough figures on what that would cost?

Thanks,

Brazos

myyota

My 86 4Runner with a 22RE does not knock when its started, so i would say its not normal. Did you check the oil to make sure it was full ?.

Brazos

I did not check the oil. He said it did not burn (& no leaks) a drop of oil and he kept it changed. Before I started the truck he warned me that the knocking sound I was about to hear was normal for that type of Toyota motor. Like I said it went away quickly (2 seconds?). It's just not a sound I am accustomed to hearing so I thought I would post something about it. I don't have much time on this one as it is a clean truck and I am leaving town for a week+.

Swimmerboy2112

iTrader: (2)

My 86' 22RE occasionally does that only on cold start ups its very brief though maybe only 1/2 second. It never bothered me, figured it was normal. Then again i have 253K on my engine lol

4runner589

i also have the same knock and about the same amount of time on my 22re and it only has a few thousand miles on a rebuild so i would say it shouldnt hurt. but would definitly cover all the bases one checking fluids and compression if allowed

xxxtreme22r

mine used to knock on startup too, thought it was the timing chain and worn out tensioner. So start there. But that did not fix it for me. 6,000 miles and about 1 year later I spun a rod bearing. Put it this way, my engine does not knock on startup any more. I had about 172,000 miles on mine.

Brazos

"The noise is only for about 2-3 second at start up, and goes away completely at idle, which I understand is usually what happens due to the oil pressure building, causing the tensioner to take up some of the chain slack"

I stole this quote off anothe thread. This is exactly what the man told me. Is this common? He told me the only thing he has done to the truck is change the timing chain at around 80K miles. It has 184K miles now.

xxxtreme22r

my rebuilt motor does not do this with 6500 miles on it. i say it's not normal. 100K on the timing chain, depending on what brand he used, might be time for another one. Especially if he did not change the tensioner.

Swimmerboy2112

iTrader: (2)

I gotta get to changing my timing chain… ugh

xxxtreme22r

things like this I always scare people, only because I thought the same thing with the startup knock changed the chain tensioner, gears all that and did not do anything.

subsequently spun that bearing.

have you had the engine above say 4000-4500 rpm does it knock then as well? or at a higher rpm coming off the throttle? if not then it's most likely the chain. If it does, it might be time for a rebuild.

Brazos

I don't remeber getting it up above 4500RPM. How much does it cost to install a new timing chain? Is this something you can do yourself w/o many issues (I am fairly mechanically inclined)? Just trying to elvauate whether or not I should buy this truck. Right now I know it needs new tires, has an exhaust leak, maybe a timing chain. Just adding up the cost and trying to decide whether to talk or walk. I am just hoping it will be reliable for another 50K. I am about to be laid off and loosing my company truck. This truck is 4wd and I want to hold on to after I get back on my feet. I just need it to run for the time being. Thanks for all the help.

xxxtreme22r

most shops will charge you alot because they are most likely gonna remove the head to do the chain (most likely over $1000), but for an experienced guy, removing the head is not really necessary. If your able to do it yourself and not remove the head your looking at the cost of a timing chain kit. which is $56.00 plus shipping from engnbldr.com with the steel rail.

I would walk if your not comfortable doing it yourself. I had my custom exhaust done here with 2.225" piping from my head all the way back to the muffler for $150 not including the cost of the $20 muffler I used.

99blackSE

iTrader: (1)

That's not what I want to hear . Mine has this knock sound too for a split second upon a cold start up and when letting off the throttle at around 2000-2500 rpm. Hopefully she lasts for another 2 years or so, that's all I'll need out of her.

If that fails I guess I'll have to buy the 22R-E out of my friends '85 Celica.

xxxtreme22r

sorry man, just letting you know of my experience with what I thought was originally a timing chain. Kinda hard to diagnose because both will act very similar.

Swimmerboy2112

iTrader: (2)

Just went and started my truck a few times, there is no knock, i guess i was over-thinking things lol that's a bit of relief

94toy22re

i have replaced my timing chain twice within 5,000 miles because of a WARM start knock like sound. the first time i used the eb kit the 2nd i bought a toyota chain, tensioner, oil pump and kept the eb metal guides. Is the metal guides making the noise?

xxxtreme22r

metal guide kit from EB here, probably about 10K on mine forget. rebuild has 6500 on it. no knocking here.

whatsyurprob

They knock. Mine has from day one and I now have 173k on it. Just stay on the fluids (OIL). It will run forever.

98_3RZ

mine just rolled over to 150k last week, and it has knocked on start up since 95k, but as most have said, it only knocks for about 1-2 seconds. or 3-5 if its on an incline like my driveway. i wouldn't worry about it

yeehaw1

Yeehaw don't knock, but it's got the most annoying clicking noise, everybody tells it's the injectors, but they usually comment on the exhaust leak first.