I have a 95 4runner 3.0 vze. It has started knocking at around 3k rpms. I have no loss of power and when I take my foot off the gas it stops knocking almost immediately. I did notice that I had a trace of water under my oil filler cap, but no water in oil or oil in water. Not sure if I have a valve train problem or something more serious. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Is it possible to post a video? It's almost IMPOSSIBLE to diagnose "knock" sounds from description...

Perhaps you're hearing the PAIR VALVE?

 

mine did that i wasnt sure if it was piston slap or a knocking rod, but it didnt sound good since it was loud enough to hear inside the cab, i now run 15-40 rotella oil instead of 10-30 and it has been quiet ever since. a vid would help though

 

I will try to get one this afternoon. If the rain lets up. Also good idea on the oil. I was running 20-50 but after my last oil change 2 weeks ago I put in 10-30. never occurred to me it could be related. Will still post a video and may try thicker oil and see from there. Side question: can running thicker oil cause issues? 245,000 mi hope for 300k

 

Yeah, video would help.

If it sounds like this (https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...e-help-205097/) I'm truly sorry.

Could it be confused with pinging? What octane gas are you running?

 

was just gonna say... sounds like ping to me.... knocks are usually more noticeable at idle, and when letting OFF the gas... ping usually goes away when letting off....
Could be any number of reasons for pinging... ie: bad gas, improperly set/over advanced timing, excessively high compression due to carbon build up.... just to name a few....