Ticking/diesel noise from driver side engine

Hello there,


Pretty frustrated here lol, I have a 2016 5.7 Tundra with 140000KM on it.

I hear a ticking noise at random times, sometimes at start up when idling and even sometimes it still happens as I drive. It doesn’t matter if it warm or cold outside. I find it happens more when I do multiple starts and stops where I turn my engine on and off, it doesn’t happen at the first stop or two but the other 2 or 3 starts it happens! It only may happen twice a week.

I’ve had my experienced mechanic look at it multiple times now as I had an extended warranty. He said the noise seem to come from driver side where the tensioner is. So he tore it apart replace the chains, tensioners, Sprockets, seal, etc. week later happened again, poor guy took it apart again and rechecked everything again, it was fine.

So I researched the issue and said he maybe the oil I use(Mobil 1-0W20) so I switched to OEM toyota oil, that didn’t work.

I heard people talking about lifters being stuck but these truck don’t have lifters!

I ran some seafoam through it too, didn’t work.

I’m lost for answers and so is my mechanic, he said he was going to try to replacethe VVT solenoids one by one.


I know this is a very popular issue and now just wondering if it’s a normal sound, but I have only heard it the last 20000-30000km.


any other ideas?

 

Ticking is normal it’s the vvt

https://www.tundras.com/threads/valve-noise.17843/#post-395623

 

Is it possible for you to post a Vid of the noise? It may help people here with a diagnosis of a problem, or just normal clatter.

 

Here’s a video of the soundhttps://youtube.com/shorts/k455UFqHEJk?feature=share

 

Ok that’s not the normal ticking imo

oil pressure good? Check all pulleys? Check for exhaust leak? Spark plugs?

 

I would think my mechanic would have checked all those easy things. The sound is not as bad as it seems lol. The phone amplifies it! Especially sense he has taken everything apart twice lol

 

Definitely not the normal ticking sound that these engines produce. How is compression on all the cylinders?

 

Not sure if he has checked any compressions but I will ask.

 

Not normal; sounds like an exhaust leak

 

That's definitely a louder tick than I've heard but when the normal tick goes away when you switch to a heavier oil. I run 5w30 in the winter and 15w40 in the summer. Might be worth a shot just to see if it quiets down at all.

 

the normal tick of these engines is audible in that video, but there’s also another louder thing going on that that became less noticeable as soon as you placed the phone down by the driver’s side of the engine block.
As another member suggested, exhaust leak?

 

Mine sounded similar. Toyota replaced the 32 valve adjustment assemblies, thankfully under warranty.

 

He replaced the timing chain tensioner? Because that’s exactly what it sounds like. If you run it with the oil filler neck removed you can probably see the chain flopping around in there with a flashlight. (A little oil is going to spray out while the engine is running with the filler neck removed).

 

Mine makes the same sound every now and then but it is few and far between. I'm leaning between oil pressure or one of the VVT solenoids. I haven't noticed any issues with the truck though. Let me know if yours goes away for good.

 

Mine also makes this sounds. I'm curious what the OP finds out. Mine seems to go away above 1500ish RPM. Similarly, it doesn't do it all the time and doesn't appear to matter whether it is hot or cold.

 

10tundrast5. Did you work out if it was the vet solinoid ? Or timing chain tensioner?

 

Switch out all the Solenoids 1 by 1 wasn’t it. All pullys, chains, guides replace wasn’t it. Ran seafoam and then another product in the oil nope not it. And still dealing with the noise lol. There is zero wrong with the drivability, no error codes or anything like that, drives fine except for that noise!

 

Ninjaman23 did you ever try changing to a heavier weight oil? Mine had a similar noise, 5.7L w/78k miles, but after switching from Mobile 1 0W20 to 5W30, I haven't heard it since. I actually forgot about it until I came across this thread.

 

Hate to say it but it sounds like bad rod bearings

 

16CMTXED this is what I was going to try next but I’m a little hesitant as I live in Alberta, Canada where it gets to -50C in the winter some days lol even though I have a block heater!

2020DC how would diagnose bad rod bearings? And would the truck be throwing codes and would the drivability be off?

 

bad rod bearing would show lower oil pressure at higher rpm if clearances are large enough.

 

oh and it would keep getting worse, it not go to level off for years. It will get worse till fails

 

The truck will not throw a code because it is a mechanical failure and will get worse over time. I had a 1987 chevy truck with the same problem with the exact same noise as you. I toke the engine apart and found the connecting rod bearings spun. Go google bad rod bearing noise. And also the noise will be more apparent from the oil pan. Put a stick from your ear to oil pan.

 

Wouldn't a spun bearing knock all the time, not come and go?

I had an ac compressor that sounded like this a while back. On a tacoma

 

Sounds like the timing chain tensioner. After you do an oil change does it go away at all?

mines been clacking like that for the last 50k miles, but it goes away after I change oil. She clacks when she wants new oil

 

Truckytruck, I had everything replaced as I thought and my mechanic thought the same. Replaced all the chains, guides, sprockets, etc. didn’t fix the problem!


Endagon, I would think a rod noise would be all the time also. But this noise I hear happens at random times. I can go a few days and nothing for noise. I do notice it more when I make frequent short stops, for example if I drive to 3 convenience stores fescue for 5 mins and get back in and start it I hear more during these times.

2020DC I’m hoping this the issue lol. I maintain the truck very well, all reg oil changes etc and it only has 150,000KM on it.

and just so everyone knows the video I posted sounds way worse than it do in person but the phone volume intensifies it lol. It sounds to me like a Diesel truck almost!

 

Have you put in 5w30 oil?

 

I have tried the 5W30 yet, this is what I was going to try next but I’m a little hesitant as I live in Alberta, Canada where it gets to -50C in the winter some days lol even though I have a block heater!

 

It’s a cheap thing to try just to see if the noise goes away. It can be an inexpensive diagnostic tool. You can go thinner for the winter months.

 

Check for an exhaust leak.
I have an issue (though it does not sound like this) and it is the exhaust. Exhaust leaks sound very different based on where it is leaking. Fairly easy to check for, worth a shot.