V6 Engine Ticking?

I'm a previous owner of a 14 Tacoma DC 4x4 4.0......the 3.5 in my 2016 TRD off road 4x4 is much louder. After hearing all the advertising about how quiet the engine is etc. I am somewhat disappointed. This engine struggles, and sounds loud at idle and like it is coming apart at higher RPMS. The Toyota" its normal "answer to what seems wrong is a cop out! The hood needs insulation along with the fire wall to reduce some of this "normal" engine noise.

 

The 4.0 in my 15 ticked like crazy too, drove me crazy. I fixed it with a supercharger, now it just whines instead. Much more pleasant. Unfortunately that fix isn't available for the 3.5.

 

I think most people confuse rocker arms with lifters

 

Correct overhead cam engines do use lifters.also called tappets or buckets. They sit below the cam and directly above the valve spring and valve. They can cause ticking at low oil pressure in cold starts but most likely you're just hearing the direct injection. That will tap under normal use. The self cleaning is caused by the standard injectors pulsing. You can hear it but most of the noise is from the direct injectors this is common in every direct injection engine.

 

http://www.toyotareference.com/guts/tacoma16_engine.pdf

My apologies. It looks like our engines use a roller rocker arm type system to open the valves (pg 83). I had a 1992 300ZX TT in a past life (3.0 liter DOHC V6), and the lifters (between the cam and the valve) drying and causing a clicking sound was a very common problem.