last year when it was SUPER cold out, i noticed a little ticking on my driver's side engine bay. followed the sound til i got to the VSV, put my hand on it and it knocks a little in unison with the ticking sound, so i figured i traced the problem. when it warms up, i either don't hear it at all or it is very quiet. now that it's SUPER cold out again this winter, i'm hearing it clicking loudly again.

1998 4runner w/ 5vz-fe, auto trans, 103K miles

my question(s)... is this going to cause damage to the engine if i don't do anything about it? is there even anything wrong? i'm not throwing any codes, just being a little paranoid about engine noise and wanting to know if it's normal or if something needs fixed or replaced. anyone have a quick "for dummies" explanation of what the VSV does? thank you much

 

The VSV for evap basically pulses on and off when the pressure inside the charcoal canister reaches a certain pressure allowing excess fuel vapor to be burned inside the engine,after its converted back to liquid inside the charcoal canister..This is monitored by the ECM.

There was a post about this with a TSB posted.3rd post:


https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/e...1k-rpms-23903/

 

thanks for that! i bought my 4runner used and know nothing about TSBs, is this something that they will honor this long down the road or is there a window for when/who they will honor a TSB for?

 

3yrs or 36k on most TSB's, although an emissions tsb might be longer...They are intended to help techs diagnose problems.Campains (recalls) are usually no limit on milage/time experation.

 

thank you again sir. i guess i'll give them a call, maybe price the part, worse case i'll just turn the radio up a bit more until i have the funds

 

i had that problem too mine was ticking really loud. does this effect gas milegae if its faulty