The truck: 1992 4Runner 22RE 5-speed manual ( 226,100 miles on original motor; timing chain - but not tensioner - replaced at 202k. Valves were adjusted 3k miles ago. The problem: there is a loud tick coming from the engine at cold starts that lasts until the engine has warmed up. My first assumption was that one of the valves has gone out of adjustment. A mechanic friend counters that a loose valve will tick at any temperature. I am going to change the oil later today. Should I pull the valve cover and check the clearances again? The valves were set to FSM specifications. Any thoughts on this? The truck runs great otherwise.

 

how loud is the ticking?
is it possible for it to be cold start injector..?
i know sometimes injectors can make a ticking noise that almost sounds like a valve

 

Make sure that the valve cover is not too tight. It should be tightened until the rubber just starts to expand in the crush washers. If you tighten them to toyota torque specs they can push the cover down into the rockers. Mine made an intermetent ticking noise on cold starts that I could not find until I pulled the cover and found a shiney metal spot on the valve rocker and the cover. When I put the cover on with a new gasket and rubber washers the noise went away. I can't explain why it would only do this when it was cold but that was what it did.

It would not be a bad idea to pull the cover and have a look to make sure the timing compenents are still in good condition. You could then check the rocker arms to see if there is any evidence of them contacting the cover.

 

I know this isn't any help, but when I read the title It was a good thing I wasn't drinking anything.

On a 22r, ticking under the hood means its running!!

 

Good suggestions. I tried to tighten the valve cover down only enough to secure it when I set the valves in June. I'll back the nuts off a little before firing up the engine cold to see if this is the cause.

 

BTW, I inspected the chain and guides in June. Everything appeared ship-shape, though I can't vouch for the tensioner. Can the tensioner be replaced without removing the chain? The FSM doesn't directly address this question, but it seems implied that during reassembly the tensioner is to be mounted after the the chain and sprockets are in place.

 

I'm guessing its the valve lash adjuster screw on the rockers. They "mushroom" At my local dealership, its about $50 for a set. Could also be the injectors. 22REs are noisy engines, you'll drive yourself nuts trying to fix all the ticking.

I was speaking to a local Toyota mechanic and he was of the opinion that the tensioners very seldom failed.

 

I'm leaning towards a slight exhaust leak, possibly around one of the PAIR ports.
If it were valves, it should get louder as it warms up since the clearances increase with temp.

 

Exhaust leaks I've had only make noise when you're on the pedal. In fact, the engine with no exhaust system doesn't make that much noise at idle at all.

My valve noise doesn't change much based on temp, nor should injectors.

 

You should be able to replace the tensioner without removing the timing chain. Why? You've done all the work to take all that stuff apart on the motor, may as well replace everything! Something else to try, pull one plug at a time and see if the ticking goes away.

 

The timing cover has to come off to replace the tensioner. When going through the trouble of taking the cover off you might as well put new guides, sprockets and a chain while you are in there.

I would put a new valve cover gasket and new rubber crush washers on. If you had the old ones too tight, simply loosening them might not give you clearance on the rockers. The old rubber parts have probably taken a crushed shape.

 

I checked the torque on the valve cover nuts: they are actually too loose. The crush washers were new two adjustments ago; they have yet to be torqued down too tight. The 'ticking' I refer too is the unmistakeable sharp, metallic sound you hear, for example, when a valve has excessive lash. Is it possible that injectors can sound like loose valves?

 

Has anyone actually had a tensioner go bad on them? The mechanic I spoke with seemed to think they very rarely did, and he had owned a couple 4Runners.

 

at 185k my 22r had broken both ds and ps rails completely, but the tensioner seems to be fine.

 

If it doesn't tick then you have problems! ha! I'm no help!

 

ok boys i have no clue if im doing this right. But i have a 1990 toyota 4 runner with a 22re. My problem is that its got a ticking noise, and its not the normal yota ticking its louder... and it idles like ˟˟˟˟t. Suggestions?
Lena

 

Well, first off, we get reprimanded for cursing on this site. No real biggie, but you should try and not do that so much.

Next, you should take some time and familiarize yourself with the online FSM(factory service manual).
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-buchanan/93fsm

Wherein you'll find everything you need to know as far as troubleshooting and repair procedures for your vehicle and it's powerplant.

The first course of action one should take when any engine troubles are suspected is to check the ECM(engine control module, a.k.a. the computer)for DTCs(diagnostic trouble codes). This is a very simple procedure, and can be done by the novice mechanic using a paperclip(or other such jumper wire)to jump(form an electrical connection between)the check connectors marked TE1 and E1 in the diagnostic check connection block located next to the fuse box under the hood(engine bay). Detailed instructions on the procedure and how to decipher the codes(make sense of the flashes put out by the check engine light)are found in the Engine/22RE/MFI System--Diagnostics section here.
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...26diagnosi.pdf

If no codes are present then go to the Engine/22RE/Engine Mechanical--Troubleshooting section found here.
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b.../3troubles.pdf

There you'll find under the symptom heading "Poor idling" a more specific symptom of "Rough idling". To find the cause of the issue go through the list of suspect areas as they are prioritized. You'll find there to be 20 seperate systems or system components that are marked for requiring attention, or that could be causing the trouble. They're listed in numerical order, highest to lowest with regards to their likelyhood, starting with 1(most likely) and going through 20(least likely). At the top of those pages you'll also find the FSM page #s where you can get more information on each of the suspect areas/system components.

Congratulations! You are now a Toyota tech in training!



Need more help? Feel free to start a new thread, or post back in this one. Though the 22RE isn't my specialty, there are others here who are far more experienced with that engine than I. They can usually help solve whatever troubles one has with it.