2019 Tacoma 4 Cyl rattle on cold start

There are a lot of counterfeit "OEM" oil filters out there. I would avoid buying them anywhere but from a dealership parts department. It sounds like you take good care of your truck, and change the oil frequently. I would avoid the seafoam, just use a good quality 0w-20 (it's cold where you live so 5w-30 will make the rattle worse) and make sure your filters are truly OEM. Beyond that, I dont think the rattle is something that you should be overly concerned about. It's a momentary lack of oil pressure to the VVTI CAM gear that isn't damaging anything although it may sound like it.

 

Yeah. I've heard about counterfeit filters.. although i still have no idea why someone would counterfeit a $6 4cyl oil filter.

I don't regularly use seafoam,just in this case to see if there was a way to help clean up without having to remove the valve cover. No plan on make this a habit.

I figured 0w20 Pennzoil Platinum was fine, but for arguments sake I used Mobile 1 this time... I feel like any 0w20 should be fine. Never worried about oil ever in the past, just bought name brand that was cheapest.

I've been running OEM filters from Day 1 with no issues until now... So maybe I got rooked on these eBay filters.

I have recently been getting a low oil pressure randomly on startup as well... Usually when the temps drop below 20, so I'm a little concerned.

I'll see how the next 5000 miles go with a known good filter

 

It really depends on how you drive your car if seafoam can be beneficial or not. Only drive local 20-30 mile trips vs getting on the highway and getting the motor nice and hot. Ive had success in the past on a 2GR-FE sienna that i picked up from a family member who purchased it new. Had oil changed every 3500 miles but only short local trips. Its a somewhat noisy engine as it is, but had a louder than normal lifter tick. Seafom cleared it up for me so mileage may vary, i cant see a problem using it every 50k even on a healthy engine. Also i only use 5w-30 its a 20+ year old iron block 4 banger, it has always called for 5w-30 since the life of the engine now its 0w-20. It was an epa push for mpg in the industry, ill stick to what i know worked tried and true before. I dont think oil is the issue 0-20, 5-30 no difference, likely a burr on the vvt pin that actuates it. Could make the noise with no issues for the next 200k, sadly i think its a live with the noise unless it gets bad or pull the accessory drive and timing cover to find the problem.

 

That is odd the low oil pressure warning, i have had plenty of sub 20 degree temps and a thicker weight oil and have never seen that. It could be normal but i have never seen that light, unless it was on a fresh oil change first start for a second. Its obviously not from lack of maintenance, just curious how many miles?

 

Yeah . Concerning for sure.

80k easy miles .

 

Yep. I'm leaning in this direction as well. I have a feeling that cover will be getting pulled off soon.

But then again.. I might just say eff it and chalk it up to a "tacoma noise"

 

If you're anything like me i will say leave it and then in a few weeks you will see me tearing it apart in the garage lol. The noise wouldn't concern me as much as seeing that low oil pressure light, especially 80k its just starting to break in. The good news is there is a ton of room to pull the timing cover once the clutch fan and shroud are out of the way. Still the main selling point of this engine was to not have to really touch it besides normal maintenance and wear and tear. A small piece of gasket material or gunk worked its way into the filter/vvt gear or its just a dud/Covid built parts? Its not covered under warranty? i got my truck new and honestly have no idea what the factory warranty is. I have worked at dealers before unless its a big $$ repair i would rather do it myself most dealer techs are a bunch of parts cannon hacks.

 

3y 36k warranty.... Both of these gremlins are not repeatable and only happen on cold start... It could take a couple weeks of my truck sitting at the dealership before they can recreate the issue.

I had a good mechanic who I trusted (RIP Ray). He would have figured it out.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this filter change works out.

 

I have this same issue. I’m really starting to think that it’s the cam phasers…
I run dealership filters and high mileage 0w-20 mobile 1. Same issue now for the past 1k miles.

https://youtu.be/70-WydSBGAo

here’s my video of capturing the noise.

 

Wow. That's really loud and much longer than what I have going on.. it's the same noise, however mine is more subdued and only lasts for 2-3 seconds.

 

WTF.

This annoys me. I ONLY got a 4cyl due to the reliability. I drove a gen 1 v6 forever and it took a lot of internal convincing to step down to a 4 cyl .. now this.

BS

 

Just a thought here - have any of you who are having this issue with their Tacoma tried running Mobil 1 0w-40 FS oil? I'm not saying it will fix it, but it's certainly worth a try and would be a lot easier than some of the other things you've tried to fix it.

It seems counterintuitive that a thicker oil might help a cold weather issue, but I still think it's worth trying. FWIW I've been using that oil in my 2020 2.7 Tacoma.

 

I just changed my oil to mobile 1 .. 0w20.

Thanks for the input, but honestly I feel like oil weight (within reason) and brand really shouldn't make any difference. I mean it's oil...and this motor has been around for a couple decades. I've had my truck since new and never experienced this crap until recently... Turns out that recently is also the same time frame I picked up a batch of "OEM" filters from an eBay seller...

It's been a week of cold and snow since I ran seafoam through the crank case and swapped the oil/filter. The only rattle I've experienced since was immediately after changing the oil on initial startup. No more random low oil pressure warnings either. Fingers crossed...

 

Hopefully that will do the trick! If not, I'd try the Mobil 1 0w-40 for your next oil change in the off chance it helps. And if not, no loss, just run it for the normal OCI.

 

Update on my cold start rattle.

It's been almost 4,000 miles since I changed oil/filter and we have had varying conditions between 18 degrees and 80 degrees.

I have noticed a few things.

1. My low oil pressure warning light hasn't resurfaced on super cold mornings since the oil/filter swap.
2. I have had the cold start rattle between 3-5 times in the last 4k miles. I noticed it doesn't happen in the super cold conditions. It's usually when the ambient temperature is between 40 and 60 degrees and when the humidity is higher or moisture levels in the air are high.
3. I'm having some intermittent drive belt squealing, not related to the cold start issue (at least I don't think), but at 86k I believe it's time for me to swap that and probably do the plugs as well....

More to follow...

Next steps are running some mystery oil through 500 miles prior to my next oil change, using another known good OEM filter, and running Mobile1 again.... We shall see if the cold start rattle returns as the weather creeps up into warmer conditions.