chrish1

I need anyone's help or thoughts on this issue. I will describe my "issue" with my 4 runner then list what I have done and found. I am at a loss as to what it can be. Thanks in advance for any helpful information.

I have a ticking sound that is the loudest once the rig is warm and has been driven. It is loudest when the rig is in gear but not moving. If i shift it into neutral the sound almost completely goes away, same as if i put it into park. If i start to drive i can hear the sound until i hit about 15 or 20 mph. so either the sound goes away or is drowned out by other noise. The sound almost sounds like a single tap of two pieces of metal per revolution of something. I cannot find anything wrong or broke so far. this is what i have done the last 3 weeks.
I pulled the valve covers off and checked the clearance on all the valve shims. all of them were with in Toyota specs. Then after further searching this site and others. I found others describing this same sound and issue. They all found it was a cracked Flex plate. So this weekend I pulled the transmission out. Flex plate looked perfect. No cracks, no excessive wear on outer gear. All bolt holes looked good. no Egging of any holes. Did visual inspection of torque converter (without removing from transmission) looked perfect. no cracks, no oil drips in Bell housing.
I am at a complete loss.
the sound seems to completely go away at higher rpms or higher speeds (dont know which one is solving the issue.) I have read on here others guys had a bad rod or bearing but wont that sound continue no matter what the rpms are? This seems to be only at idle under load and very low speed, basically with motor just at or above idle.
Any thoughts?...my father-in-law who has been helping me, says put it back together and drive it until it breaks or does not run anymore. I would prefer not to do that. I dont like driving something that could potentially breakdown. If i can figure it out I would prefer to fix it. I have heard other guys say, "turn up the radio" or something like that. I hope someone has some good ideas since i do want to fix or resolve the sound.
The 4 runner if anyone wants to know is
1999 4runner SR5. 4x4 with auto transmission.
has 160,000.
thanks for any help.

Texas_Ace

Get a mechanics stethoscope and start narrowing down where it is coming from. Top end? bottom end? Inside the engine? Outside?

As you close in hopefully you can figure it out. If it is external should not be that hard. If internal then only way to find out would be to pull the oil pan.

MLiebal

I really feel your pain! I am in the same sort of position. 96 3.4 w 300k miles. Loud ticking, very noticeable, with engine rpm. Loudest when under load, but still makes noise at idle, in park/neutral.
I pulled the belts. Still had noise
I did the flex plate inspection. Nothing there.
I pulled valve covers, clearance is in spec (1 out of spec by .001, too loose).
Checked compression warm, all about 140-150. But one cylinder is down to 60 while cold. It picks up warm or with oil added, when cold.
So I may have a scuffed/slapping piston.

You may think this is crazy but I previously had an annoying tick that came and went. It turned out to be the stock muffler. Inner baffle rattle. No kidding, it was loud and sounded like engine tick. Replace the muffler (cat back) and all was good.

I really dont know where to go from here. It really is too loud to just leave. I am running some atf and M Mystery Oil to try to loosen the rings.

Any way to test for scuffed pistons? Will they make noise?

Good luck
Mike

chrish1

I have a question for you with your ticking issue, You said that you did the flex plate inspection. did you just pull the inspection cover and look that way? The only reason i ask is because in doing lots of research on the flex plate I found that most of the time that they start to crack or break is usually around the crankcase bolts and if your just looking thru the inspection plate your view is limited and may or may not be able to see the crack. I am not saying to just pull the transmission on a hunch, because it is very labor intensive. Before I pulled the trany I thought I had narrowed down the sound to the bell housing giving me the final thought that was were the tick was coming from. In my situation I was wrong in finding the noise but maybe you will have better luck. Good luck with your noise I hope you can figure it out. Mine is driving me nuts.

AP4CHE

I have the EXACT same symptoms from my '99. It's been doing that for 5 years and lately I've been "driving it till it breaks". Everything else functions fine and it almost isn't worth the money or time at this point to do anything other than maintain. If you figure out what yours is let me know because it's stumped everyone I've talked to.

MLiebal

Hey CHRISH
I still have slight doubts it could be flex plate. This is my second plate (I had to replace 10k miles ago). The break was across the lightening holes, made a real pretty star shape, lol. I may unbolt the torque converter from the flex plate, slide the converter towards the tranny and run the engine. I have only looked through the access plate to inspect the flex plate. I even doubled my reading glasses to "zoom" into the area.
I'll post results.

chrish1

Good luck with it. If it does turn out to be the flex plate again at only 10k since the last one sounds like there may be something else wrong. I read that if your starter in old that they start throwing the solenoid too far forward and over time it can cause the flex plate to break prematurely, they also said something about if your starter stays on too long when starting that can also cause the same issue. I have no personal experience with this but thought I would share what I read and learned. Good luck.

MLiebal

Thaks for the info!

Still I hope this is the issue. I did locktite on the crank bolts, but not the tc. Alignment seemed good, buttt???
Good luck to you too.

afartinthewind

I have the same symptom but sounds more like a metal on metal rattle. Kinda like my loose heat shield on my old 22rz. Max noise is when im in drive with brake on at a standstill but pop it in N and boom, nothing. Feathers in after about 1/2 second after a complete stop or popping it back into D. Never put a lot of effort into finding it as is doesn't sound like anything major or has yet to get worse.
I should add that it only makes noise when the driveline is under load with zero wheel movement, driving or releasing the brake stops it.

DRCOFFEE

What about a bad spark plug wire? If it arcs to the valve cover it would give you a ticking sound. Or a broken valve spring?

MLiebal

mliebal quick update: still no confirmation of the noise. thought maybe stil the water pump, removed the front cover, noise not coming from there.I got a stethascope, noise is major in the exhaust, louder closer to the engine. Left sid eof engine sounds good, front/ water pump sounds good, right valve cover the noise is present but not real loud. I am not disconnecting the flywheel at this point. I bought the dreaded harbor "fright" leak down tester, as commented here, it did not work right. I now know my piston leaks bad cold, but seals up warm. Air leaked through dip stick cold. At this point, I am going to reshim the valves (one exhaust .0015" too loose).
AFARTIN THE WIND, thanks, but in my case, valves all move and are too close for a broken spring, and as for the spark plug wires my noise is in the exhaust, not on top.


Any progress CHRISH1 on yours?

big1000

hey guys, SAME BOAT. I just bought a 96 4runner with a 2.7L and im getting this annoying ticking. Ive heard an engine knocking and that was a lower pitch and resonated more. this is an annoying ticking that sounds like an exhaust leak but ive searched all over and inspected my manifold for cracks... nothing.

Im actually wondering if it is the same case as mentioned above with the exhaust baffle? this would baffle me (haha) because it really seems to be coming from the engine...

also new plugs/wires/cap/rotor...

big1000

ahhh nuts. i just went and did the dollar bill trick and there is some suction on the exhaust. after the research I've done on this forum I would say that I probably have a burnt exhaust valve. that would explain the sound too.

Does anyone know another explanation for the dollar bill being sucked towards the exhaust pipe other than a burnt valve?

thanks

DRCOFFEE

A broken valve spring?? Pull the valve cover and see whats under there.

big1000

Ok will do. Maybe a compression test first?

I'm hoping it hasn't got too bad yet and maybe this is a result of excessive valve tightening over time. I don't think they have ever been adjusted an this runner has 165k on it.

Ill have to search on how to do the valve adjustment with shims. I have only done valve adjustments on cars with feeler gauges... Are shims much more difficult or time consuming?

big1000

im running a rich mixture of the lucas oil injector treatment now

will update

aowRS

My truck has exhibited the same symptom for the last 200,000 miles. When I come to a full stop, I always click the tranny into N. Every time.

In all the years, the 'noise' has not increased in any way. I'm nearing 300,000 miles...



Andreas

HighLux

Have any of you guys checked the shields on the cat converter? The bolts love to rust off and the shields will dance around under there.

The 3.4 isnt really known to make many noises.

habanero

Ticking. I has it. It's been there for I dunno, mebbe 100,000 miles now on the '96. The 99 doesn't tick, it's almost too quiet, like it's up to something no good.

They happen for a variety o' reasons. Mine is at the rear left of the engine near the top somewhere. That's as best as I could tell and as far as I've gotten with the stethoscope. Someday I'll look at it a little harder, I suppose. Until then I'm going to be more worried if the ticking stops.

HighLux

Oh wow. A ticking noise would drive me crazy. Like the Telltale Heart by Poe.
My 87 is noisier than most 22re's. Drives me crazy...so I tell myself its the hd valvesprings and high lift cam.