2018 Tacoma SR5 engine tick / rattle

This sounds like spark knock / predetonation, I would hook up an OBD II device to it to see if you have any pending misfire codes, do you hear it driving up hill while accelerating?

 

I'll check for codes tomorrow. I didn't see any last time. I hear it when accelerating, feathering the throttle and now sometimes just even maintaining speed.

I did a ride with a service tech and manager. They were unable to figure it out. They gave me the TSB-0062-18 instead saying that after the TSB was applied they couldn't get it to happen. It still happens.

 

Let me know what you find out, I could be wrong but perhaps the Atkinson Cycle in these engines has something do with the noises or the lifters and direct injectors are just noisy.

The TSB they applied to your truck is for the transmission only, I don’t think it would help anything with the engine.

 

They said that after they applied the TSB they could no longer replicate the noise and therefore solved it. I'm gonna try running a go pro in the engine bay. See if I can pinpoint something. Any closer to solving yours?

 

Definitely post it when you can, it’ll probably be much easier to pinpoint with a video under the hood. No closer to solving the issue I’m having, I’ve been out of town and haven’t been able to look at it yet but I plan to get the truck looked at by a local shop tomorrow I’ll see what they say about it.

 

I hear a very similar noise during idle (ticking), acceleration from a stop (ticking), and at times higher speed. I’m sure some of it is injector related. I also get a brief rattle when the a/c is on (accel), and sometimes on. It sounds very similar to piston slap.

Edit: the ticking noise has decreased the more miles I have put on it.

 

Hey TXTaco, how many miles on your truck? Is it a 2018? By the way I’m in the Houston, TX area I wonder if the heat and the super light weight oil (0w-20) is another contributor lol.

I was thinking piston slap at first too but the sound should go away almost completely once at operating temperature since the pistons would expand in the sleeves.

I’ll definitely post if things improve with mileage, I suspect they will based on what you and wcoffman (earlier post) experienced.

 

Mine’s a ‘17 under 30k

 

Here is a video of my truck during idle and after warm up, I can only hear the inconsistent ticking noise from the passenger wheel well, is this how yours sounds?

https://youtu.be/yy8V_S8SAMI

 

Sounds close! Mines random, never heard it during idle. Usually only after the engine has been warmed up. On acceleration it gets faster and louder. I had a go pro in the engine bay a few days ago. I'll try and get a video posted.

 

The ticking at idle can only be heard in the passenger wheel well. If I open the hood or try to listen to it on the other side I can’t really hear anything.

 

The truck is at the dealership again this afternoon, this time around they heard the noise, they contacted Toyota Technical support with the issue who acknowledged that the engine noise complaint was common and ended with the comment that the noise was normal operation for this engine, I call BS on that. Even when I was dropping the truck off yesterday evening and showed the service advisor the he even stated that it didn’t sound “normal” at all.

Asked the advisor to see if T-SB 0316-17 would apply to my vehicle since I think the vacuum pump may be culprit, we will see what they come back with.

 

Good luck! I hope they figure it out for you.

 

Man it’s hard keeping up with all these tsb’s! I need to look into this tsb as well, let us know what happens with it.

 

Have the same issue as OP. Intermittent chattering/rattling noise coming from the engine. Usually when hitting gas or when the car shifts for more power. It usually makes the rattle noise for like a second and goes away. Just had my 25k service and the dealership says its normal. They said its from the injectors and high pressure fuel pump activation. I think its BS cause i didn't hear this noise until recently. But I'm not an expert. At least I have it documented in case something does go wrong.

 

The fuel pump is noisy on the V6. It's a high pressure fuel pump. There are some youtube videos out there so you can compare the noise in the video to what you are hearing.

 

Yeah the constant ticking noise is normal. I hear something totally different. Mines a rattle noise and only happens when accelerating. Like a bunch of bb's rattling around in the engine (front of car) for a second or two. Seems to happen more when AC is pumping too.

 

FWIW, dealership wanted to keep the truck for 3+ days but didnt want to cover the rental/loaner so i havent had the issue solved. Do you have video?

 

Update: the noise has quieted down on my truck since I’ve had the oil changed, currently just shy of 2,500 miles, also I’ve noticed it’s quieter using higher octane (89-93) fuel for some reason so I wonder if the noises were hearing are partly due to pinging / predetonation?

Have y’all tried this with any notable results?

 

You’ll have to look more into it but I’ve heard it’s like a injector that cleans the fuel system or something like that. Nothing major