Valve chatter at start-up

I've recently been having some pretty good valve chatter when I start up my truck. It's a 2009 2.7 in a Reg Cab SR5 5spd. I have about 13000 miles on it. The valve noise is right at start up and continues for about 5 minutes or so. The temp around here has been sub 30's during the day and sub 10's at night. My old gmc would do it for awhile at start up until the oil would get good and circulated/warm; but it was 20 years old and had over 100k miles on it.

Just curious if anyone else has experienced this, and if there is a fix/should I be concerned. Kind of tired of dealing with the dealer since I had to take it there twice just to get my electrical system back up to par... (blew 4 mini fuses under the hood all at the same time while driving in the snow 4x4). But if need be I suppose i can have them take a look.


Also, there has been a noticeable clunk/jerk when the engine catches when it starts up. This also is a bit concerning.


Thanks

-Sean

 

I need to add that it just had a 15k maintenance early. The oil has been changed approx every 4k miles. 4500 first, 8800 second, and just last week @ 13000. The dealership has performed all maintenance on the vehicle.

 

I've noticed that on my 2010 2.7L when its below 30 degrees. Clatters pretty good. I have about 3200 miles on the truck. It should sound real good when its got 30000 on it. Seems to last 2-3 minutes. I'm not sure its valves. If it takes 2-3 minutes or 5 minutes for it to get oil pressure Up top, we got serious issues. I'm thinking piston slap. I let it idle until it goes away before I start driving. Oil level is fine. Much louder than the piston slap in my 140000 mi GMC truck. Rear end clanks like the pinions gonna fall out, and I have a rumble up front that sounds like a wheel bearing. I really wanted to like this truck, but I don't know now. I need to take it to the dealer with a list so that they can tell me its all normal.

 

I also get some kind of chatter after a cold night sitting. Right after starting and for a few minutes. This is audible from the outside, and definetly comes from the engine bay. My guess is that cold, unlubricated, and not heat expanded parts inside the engine are doing the noise. IMO, it is not very something to worry about as long as it goes off when hot.

 

I have a 2009 2.7L with somewhere over 15K miles on it. It's usually pretty warm down here in SC, but when that arctic blast rolled through here a couple of weeks ago, it was down in the teens in the mornings (and it's been in the 20's pretty much ever since). Mine starts right up with no clatter whatsoever. I'm running Mobil-1 0w20 synthetic oil in it, so maybe that's why. You might want to give that a shot and see if it takes care of it.

 

I use mobil1 0-20 also and get the chatter. Maybe you have not noticed it or it does not get cold enough. Here i can get -20 or -30 celcius during winter at night.

 

I just am curious if it's something that is causing wear on the engine? And if it is the lifters/valves or something else.

 

I would definitely notice. I used to have a '96 Mustang Cobra that clattered a second or so at startup and it drove me nuts - although it was considered "normal" for that engine. It never gave me ANY trouble - and when I sold it at just over 100K miles, it was still running flawlessly. Anyway, my Taco does NOT make any noise like that at startup.

-20 or -30 celcius is -4 or -22 Fahrenheit, so no... it definitely does NOT get that cold here in SC. Maybe that's the difference.

 

As far as temps go with mine, I've been noticing it from -15f to mid 20's. So a pretty broad range...doesn't always seem to go away with time... noticed it at a stop light this morning after driving about 20 mins... engine temps were up to norms...

 

mine does it too in the cold mornings...i think its normal..something like the valves seating or some thing like that

 

I have a 2010 2.7, I live in central Ontario -25 -35 srartup is very quiet, 2000 kil, still on the oil installed by factory.

 

I live in the Great White North and valve chatter should be brief, once oil reaches the head under pressure the valve chatter should stop. It helps if the oil is warm to assist flow. If the OP suspects valve chatter after 20 minutes of driving I'd have the truck inspected.

 

Yeah, I may take it in the next time I get a chance... The problem is getting it to replicate the chatter for them...