Engine tappet noise

Thanks...and I agree with your first paragraph completely. A good tech is good whether he's in a factory or in a dealership or in a private shop...and if he's not good he's not going to remain at any place long.

 

2.7 has hydraulic lifters.

 

I'm sorry I offended you by saying that Tacoma engines "aren't "supposed" to be noisy no matter what your buddy, your neighbor or the Toyota dealer tells you." I take it from your response you're one of the ones who believe they're all noisy...good for you, glad you're happy with your noisy tappets. I wasn't and I'm getting mine fixed.

As for replacing the head to get rid of me...that's the dumbest comment I've ever read on TW short of stuff posted on the WTF thread. I never bitched about it, simply told the service department to find and fix the noise...I was perfectly willing to pay the charge if the fix wasn't covered under warranty but I knew from the sound it was going to be warranty work.

 

You must understand that this is quite a common occurrence for the tacoma. Your noise may have been a different problem, but tacoma motors are noisy. Here is just a few threads on noisy ticking Tacomas.


http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/120465-poll-does-your-tacoma-tick.html
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/318948-ticking-noise-cold-engine.html
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/141943-2011-v6-engine-ticking.html
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/problems-dealer-service/41821-tap-tap-tap-away.html

 

How many have simply accepted "they all make noise" and never asked the dealer to fix it?

 

So all those noisy engines that have made it into the hundreds of thousands of miles were bad motors?

 

subb'd for outcome. Gotta agree with the noisy engine. Ran my 01 to 100k and it was a noisy engine. Still ran brand new when I traded it in. My 05 is a noisy engine. 69k and runs brand new. Every tacoma Ive been in has a noisy engine. Just the way they run. Sounds like in your case the louder than normal noise was a defect. Doesnt mean they all are

 

Well considering that Intake Valves " normally " get tighter with wear.

On the assembly line they probably assemble them on the loose end of specification. That will give them a harsher tap than a perfectly adjusted valve. The up side is that it will also avoid having to service them sooner.

 

Ok. I re-read all 3 pages and other than a mention of hydraulic lifters, no fix. Should I take it to my trusty mechanic? Thanks.

 

Did I say that? No...but to accept "they all sound like that" as gospel is bullshit because they don't "all sound like that".

 

I am assuming when you say "factory" you are referring to, in this case, Toyota Corporate, and not the actual factory where they build stuff. I was curious about this one time so I actually talked to someone I knew at corporate. Evidently they take specially trained "techs" that now work for corporate and give them the repair procedure as per Toyota, and a full array of all required hand tools (no power tools are used to set flat rate time) Then they have them do a complete removal and teardown of the engine/trans/differential 3 times. They take down specific time stamps at each level of the job (i.e. time stamp when head is removed, time stamp when piston is removed, etc) These time stamps are used to calculate mid points for each individual job. (i.e. they dont have him remove the head once to calculate head gasket time, then have him remove it again to calculate replacing a valve. They use the time stamp at head removal for the head gasket time, then continue the clock for when he disassembles the head itself)

Once he does the job 3 times in a row they take the average time of those 3, and make any "clerical" adjustments at that point. That becomes warranty labor time for that job. "Book time", or the time that Chilton/Motors guide book shows for a repair take the warranty job time and multiplies it by 1.5 to get "Book time" since Book time is based on an "average" technician, and not a manufacturer specific tech. Sadly Toyota, and most all other manufacturers, only allow up to 0.3 hours for diagnosis time. That means that you are expected to diagnose whatever the customer's concern is within 18 minutes. Damn near impossible in most cases.

This depends on the engine design. Those like the Toyota engines that use shims on the lifter buckets have a "cold" and a "warm" clearance. The cold setting takes into account thermal expansion of the shim, bucket, valve, and head.

Valves actually get LOOSER with wear. They get tighter with heat (i.e. thermal expansion as the engine warms up)

 

Should get them to install oversized valves, dual valve springs, and titanium retainers, while they are in there.

 

Subd for outcome

 

There is a fine line between tick and knock all engines with mechanical valve trains make some noise it is called "valve clearance" try tapping in a nail with a hammer with out making noise. The cylinder head replacement screams "some thing is broken" not just normal valve clearance noise. The dealer can't fix some thing that is not broken.

 

Sounds like you're describing my XPAG race engine...left out the roller lifters though.

 

Everyone that heard it (mostly non-Taco owners) agreed with me that it sounded like a noisy lifter. All I've been saying, and probably not nicely enough since I've obviously stepped on some toes here, is not all Tacoma engines are noisy (this was the first one I've had that was) and to accept that they are without getting your engine checked by the dealer is foolish.

 

I agree with you on that point. If it seems too noisey you should have it checked. Obviously they found something or they would not be throwing a head on it. Good luck I hope you get the quietness you seek!

 

Yeah exactly. It's like a Harley and oil leaks. When it's leaking oil, at least you know there is still some oil in there!

 

So, uhh, any news? Had new heads Tuesday, they still putting it back together?

 

Stopped by the dealership yesterday evening and saw the truck...engine disassembled and all over the tool bench. Head is in, now waiting on a valve, hope that is in today.

Had a laugh while I was there. I'd received an automated email from the Service Manager yesterday morning saying my truck may be needing its 35k service. I wrote back and told him it had been sitting in his service bay for over a week and asked if I'd won a prize. He came over while I was looking at the truck and apologized for the email...and no, I didn't win a prize. He did confirm that it was "warranty" work though.

Glad I took the wife and let her see it...she isn't sure it will ever be reliable again and wants to trade it in in a few months. Problem is I want a Tundra for the towing power...she wants another Tacoma.