Took off my valve cover in order to find ticking sound.

[Milkshake]

For the past year I have had a ticking sound that is variable with RPM's. It sounds like its coming from the valve cover, and when i pull the spark plug boots, I can hear it a little louder. Now I inspected all of the clearances between the lifters and the cam lobes, and i found they were all within specs. Some of them were at the .011 in for intake and .015 for exhaust, which is the higher accepted value, but they were all within specs. I will tape the sound for you guys soon, but i still dont know where its coming from. You can hear it a bit at idle, and it increases with rpm. It's loudest at about 2k-3k. And nothing was loose in valve cover, no misfires or check engine light. No loss in power. Anyways, here are the pics of the job.







If anyone has any info on this ticking sound let me know. thnx

[fenixus]

...

about pics... geeez you have sludge build up (carbon deposits) ...

what years is this 5S-FE ? how many miles on it ? ever tried sea foam or auto-rx ?

[Milkshake]

hahaha thanks for the pics fix, i was also working at that at the same time as you were. And as for the carbon, yeah i was a little pissed to find that. I bought the car used, and it seems like the previous owner has neglected some work. Ive been changing oil every 2k to help the problem. Ive only had the car for about 6k miles. She's a 5 speed btw . The carbon buildup however is only present on the cam caps, and not on any rotating parts. it has 93k miles, and its a 2001 camry, oh and i have never done a sea foam on it, or any other cleaning product. Do you think that would alleviate the ticking sound?

[fenixus]

no probs

2001 gen4.5 with 93k miles sounds good! seems the prev owner didn't care much about changing oil i had a very similar problem with my '00 Solara 2.2L when i bough it at 35k miles 4 years ago ...

try castrol GTX every 1.5-2k miles, it's real good oil especially if accompanied by decent oil filter like OEM Toyota, Denso, WIX (Napa Gold), Purolator Pureone or Mobil1.

with your mileage i think you could try safely running a sea foam treatment for 100 miles (change oil & filter before and after) or using auto-rx sludge treatment for 2.5k miles. you're right moving parts are clear (and should be!), but i think some of oil passageways are dirty i think.

based on engine looks I assume the prev owner didn't touch anything else either (had same thing ehhe) ?

you would be due for a minor tune up and some maintenance at 93k miles
-new spark plugs (NGK Iridium-IX recommended)
-new plug wires (NGK TE58 recommended)
-new air filter
-new OEM or WIX fuel filter
-new PCV valve & grommet
-new v-belts (best OEM or Good Year)
-flush all fluids (transmission, differential, power steering, coolant, brake fluid) with new ones of decent quality e.g. Castrol Import Multi-vehicle ATF blend or Valvoline (they have good DOT3&4 brake fluid), for cooling system use red Toyota Long Life Coolant concentrate
-plus you are due for timing belt/water pump job (90k miles interval) - i suggest getting OEM parts online including all new seals, idlers and tensioners

you can also get a new fuel tank cap from dealer, they tend to go bad after hitting 60k miles.

I hope i didn't scare you much haha!

I like the 5SPD you have, i got only semi-dumb automatic here hehehe

how are your brakes doing ? any mushy/soft brake pedal ? new fluid plus decent ceramic pads and blank Brembo rotors should fix that (front brake job). if you have drums in the rear, a simple star wheel adjustement with 2 screwdrivers (make them turn snug) fixes it.

what about suspension ?

[Milkshake]

Yeah, it amazes me how people can neglect such a simple thing as changing oil. I'll try seafoaming it one of these days. Maybe that will get rid of the ticking? Could it be because of blocked oil passages? it is rather loud, but i dont believe it is rod knock b/c it is coming from the top end, and ive driven over 6k with the sound w/o problems. Hopefully it isnt anything serious, but i am really starting to wonder what the sound could be. I'll let you know how the seafoaming goes.

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by Milkshake

Yeah, it amazes me how people can neglect such a simple thing as changing oil. I'll try seafoaming it one of these days. Maybe that will get rid of the ticking? Could it be because of blocked oil passages? it is rather loud, but i dont believe it is rod knock b/c it is coming from the top end, and ive driven over 6k with the sound w/o problems. Hopefully it isnt anything serious, but i am really starting to wonder what the sound could be. I'll let you know how the seafoaming goes.

it actually might be also your fuel injectors ticking like crazy to compensate for positive fuel trims (the problem i have now). my valve clearances turned out OK too and i still have the damn tick at idle (plus my EGR doesn't work still - electrical issues).

if you are sure the ticking comes form head, then go ahead and try sea foam and/or auto-rx treatment (not at same time of course). i think your engine parts are not getting enough lubrication due to dirty passageways.

i did sea foam (posted some after pics on this forums), now running auto-rx treatment, but i'm pretty sure in my case at least the ticking is fuel trim related. it started doing it (only at idle and/or in closed fuel loop) like a year ago.

[carsrus]

I wouldent run seafoam. Itll dislodge something and plug the oil screen. Same with any other cleaner. I dont really believe in auto rx, running full synthetic is best IMO.

Run syn blend and that should clean it up nice. Full synthetic would clean it up realllly nice in 10k miles or so. Taking your time is key.

No offense but fuel injectors are only audible with a stethoscope on a running engine. You could just be hearing some valve chatter.

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by carsrus

No offense but fuel injectors are only audible with a stethoscope on a running engine. You could just be hearing some valve chatter.

come over to hear mine while they doing +15% or +18% on LTFT at idle. they click like crazy, all of them. when i touch them i can feel it's the same frequency vibration as the clicking sound.

valve chatter on synthetic oil (dino makes them quieter) would be another story, but that's a different frequency.

I agree though, i can barely hear clicking injectors when I am able to bring down the LTFT to like 8% at idle. it makes the difference somehow in clicking/ticking.

[Milkshake]

Alright! i found the knocking sound. I pulled the oil pan, and found that the rod closest to the transmission had a bad bearing. I shouldn't be too happy about this, but im excited that i found the problem, and can fix my gen 4.5 2001 camry. So i went to the dealer, and brought them the bearigns and asked for new ones, and they showed me the computer screen. It showed several bearings, labeled Mark 1, Mark 2, Mark 3. How do i know which to order? the bearing has a really light number 2 marked on it, but it also has a weird letter "f" with a "10" stamped a little deeper. any help on how to order right bearing would be greatly appreciated. And thanks for the help when i was checking the valves for sound.

[JohnGD]

The "select fit" bearing is selected by using the machined bore and journal diameters and looked up in a table (any Haynes, Chilton or Toyota manual will have them). So if you know the old one is #2, then just use #2. However, this assumes the rod journal and bore are still factory-fresh. But if you have lubrication related problems they can often be out of round.

I'd use a Plastigage to measure the oil clearance using the old bearing first, measure the bearing thickness with a micronmeter, and then decide if you need a new size. Otherwise just put in the #2 like the old one, and Plastigage the oil clearance. If it's within spec you should be fine -- of course, if the bore/journal is out of round you'd be back at the same spot some time later (long or short depends).

Originally Posted by Milkshake

Alright! i found the knocking sound. I pulled the oil pan, and found that the rod closest to the transmission had a bad bearing. I shouldn't be too happy about this, but im excited that i found the problem, and can fix my gen 4.5 2001 camry. So i went to the dealer, and brought them the bearigns and asked for new ones, and they showed me the computer screen. It showed several bearings, labeled Mark 1, Mark 2, Mark 3. How do i know which to order? the bearing has a really light number 2 marked on it, but it also has a weird letter "f" with a "10" stamped a little deeper. any help on how to order right bearing would be greatly appreciated. And thanks for the help when i was checking the valves for sound.

[verlaryder]

Synthetic will NOT clean up that sludge...it will be there permanently. That's the price you pay for buying a used car for a low price that doesn't have a stack of service records. Kerosene added to the motor oil could dissolve some of the sludge but it would also likely cause leaks from the rear crankshaft seal, oil pump seal and camshaft seals. Auto-Rx is a snake additive product from snake salesmen who charge $25.00 a bottle for it and laugh all the way to the bank.

Frequent changes with dino oil is about all you can do. The bearing damage you have is from insufficient lubrication caused by the sludge and extended oil changes. If you can fix the bearing noise, maybe consider selling the car and buy another that has a stack of service records and a higher price. Age of the car is unimportant as long as it has tons of service records and the prior owner was middle or senior aged.

[Chris Crash]

Originally Posted by verlaryder

Synthetic will NOT clean up that sludge...it will be there permanently. That's the price you pay for buying a used car for a low price that doesn't have a stack of service records. Kerosene added to the motor oil could dissolve some of the sludge but it would also likely cause leaks from the rear crankshaft seal, oil pump seal and camshaft seals. Auto-Rx is a snake additive product from snake salesmen who charge $25.00 a bottle for it and laugh all the way to the bank.

Frequent changes with dino oil is about all you can do. The bearing damage you have is from insufficient lubrication caused by the sludge and extended oil changes. If you can fix the bearing noise, maybe consider selling the car and buy another that has a stack of service records and a higher price. Age of the car is unimportant as long as it has tons of service records and the prior owner was middle or senior aged.

Age has nothing to do with it. I'm 19 and probably maintain my car better than 95% of the 'middle or senior aged'.

[carsrus]

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

Age has nothing to do with it. I'm 19 and probably maintain my car better than 95% of the 'middle or senior aged'.

I get what your saying but in the broad picture it does matter. Im 18 and I know that I drive my car alot harder then older people, Im sure you do to.

[redtigerrocks]

uhm I'm turning 19 and I disagree. I know my engine from head to toe and I NEVER pull my engine or abuse it. I do give it regular 3k interval oil changes, etc.

[Chris Crash]

Originally Posted by carsrus

I get what your saying but in the broad picture it does matter. Im 18 and I know that I drive my car alot harder then older people, Im sure you do to.

Oh hell yes I drive it harder. But only because I know I can. If I had a shitty car that I didn't maintain, then I wouldn't push it so hard.