I was driving over to Medford OR to get my 87 Runner DEQ'd and on the way and back when ever I was in 3rd, 4th, or 5th gears and accelerating through 2000 RPM there would be this noticable ticking sound. I have heard if for a while, but today was louder than usuall. I told my mechanic about it when I had it in a couple months ago and described as if some one had a tin can with the ends cut off with a metal pipe through it, and then they spun it. So the can would be scraping and clanking on the pipe. Got a mental picture yet?

Today, it sounded much more like the valves to me. Any ideas??

Lets just say it is the valves, then what? What would you do to get rid of the sound. Does it mean my engion is going to explode soon or is it just getting slopy in some tolerences?

Thanks to any one who has the crystal ball for this one

 

The second part is accurate.

 

How do you fix ticking valves then?

 

Well, if they are adjustable, which I think they are on the 22RE, you will need some feeler gauges and basic metric wrenches. It really a pretty easy procedure, but I would recommend getting the FSM. The tricky part is turning the crank to TDC and making sure the adjustment to each of the rocker arms tappets is on the correct stroke of the piston. In a nutshell, the tappets get worn over time so a valve adjustment compensates for that wear.

If you have no idea about the things I just said, you may want to have a shop do it.