Somethings wrong with my truck!

I've got a 1997 v6. 3.4 Manuel Tacoma with just over 100,000 on it.

The motor has a churp sound coming from it on the driver side that leaves when I push the clutch in it also goes away underload and comes back when just drifting down the road at 55 other than that the clutch works fine but it's just so annoying to hear.

My truck also pings and ratles on starup when it's cold it goes away once warmed up. If I push on the gas when it's still cold the ratling gets faster.

I feel like my truck is fallin apart! The thing is I bought it new and took good care of it.

Any thoughts one what is wrong? I've never really had any major mantanice on it and had the timing belt replaced awhile back.

 

Do you drive your truck everyday? Or does it sit for a while before you drive it?

I can't be totally certain, but by the way you describe it....sounds like the throw-out bearing is chirping.

Also, sounds like your lifters are tapping. I've had that in several cars that I've owned. One paticular car I owned was extremely loud one day for some reason but never did it again....weird. Something about hydraulic lifters need to build up pressure. My old 96 throw-out bearing never chirped (atleast, not before I sold it) and the lifters did tap very slightly. I drove the truck everyday.

 

It has to be below 40 or so to hear the ratling noise it dose it every winter.

I drive it 5 days a week. The motor just seems to sound better if I use 93 octane gas maybe I just need a tune up.

How hard is it to replace the throw out bearing or what would happen if I just let it go. I think the churping sound has been getting louder.

 

I forgot to add the other issue I have

When I'm going down a mountain and have it in 4th gear and use the motor and brakes to slow down when i go to press on the gas the truck will jerk like there was slack in the cable when I pressed it.

 

It's costly to replace the throw-out bearing (if that's what it is). It's not an emergency to fix it....but I would definately start researching your options. Talk to your mechanic and find out what options you have and/or how much it'll cost.

The lifter tap has to do with the motor oil (not the gas). Again, if that's the problem you are having.... it could simply be the cold weather and the oil needs to warmup/thin a bit for lifter pressure. What weight oil do you use?

 

Does the entire truck 'jerk' or just the gas pedal?

If it were a cable, you'd probably only feel a jerk in the gas pedal and not necessarily the entire truck.

That's probably driveline slop (per say). Going down hill, there's no torque on the driveline/driveshaft. When you suddenly press on the gas, it takes up that slack in the driveline before accelerating the truck and can feel like the truck is jerking.

If you crawl under your truck (in gear & parking brake on) and grab the driveshaft and rotate it with your hands. It'll probably move a bit. That's driveline slop. My 96 tacoma had about 1/4" of slop when I rotated the driveshaft.

Atleast, that's my initial quess based on the information mentioned.

 

I use 10w30 and yes the entire truck jerks when I press on the gas.

If i push the clutch in just a little the churp goes away I don't think I am pushing it in far enough to actually engage anything in the motor. I can hear the churp at 55 and rest my foot on the clutch (pushing it in alittle)and the churp goes away but it goes away when I step on the gas as well.

 

This might help you understand the whole clutch,throw-out bearing function.

http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/techcenter/articles/43837/article.html

 

So what would happen if I just let the churping sound go and not get it fixed? I guess there's really know way to know? If it wasn't for that annoying churp sound you would never know anything was wrong.