Long story short, the Ol' ladies Camry is making alot of clacking noises on startup, sounds alot like a chain to me. Originally it only did it the first few seconds on startup but now it's consistent when running. Car has correct amount and type of oil (triple checked). Tried changing the VVT solenoid in a hail Mary attempt to no avail. I want to take off the front cover and asses the chain, guides, and gears but before I do I wanted to ask if anyone had tips or knows exactly the part rundown I need beyond chain, guides, and sealant for the cover. Maybe a crank seal? Any help would be appreciated fellas.
WifeMadeMeDoIt52
Are you getting any check ingine lights or DTCs?
Might the noise be coming from the bottom end--such as when the fiber gear on the balancer shaft breaks?
Maybe pull the valve cover and take a look around before tackling the timing cover (not trivial).
How about the hydraulic chain tensioner--it can be accessed from outside the engine. Maybe it is jammed with crud.
Did you check/clean/replace the little filter screen for the oil line that feeds the VVT? It also feeds the chain tensioner. This one had 130k miles on it,
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Might the noise be coming from the bottom end--such as when the fiber gear on the balancer shaft breaks?
Maybe pull the valve cover and take a look around before tackling the timing cover (not trivial).
How about the hydraulic chain tensioner--it can be accessed from outside the engine. Maybe it is jammed with crud.
Did you check/clean/replace the little filter screen for the oil line that feeds the VVT? It also feeds the chain tensioner. This one had 130k miles on it,
For the Form In Place Gasket (FIPG) for the timing cover, i used the gray Permatex sold at walmar. Unless you are planning to put it back together and drive it out of the shop within a few hours there is no need for the expensive fast setting FIPG (1-3 minute setup time).
The Toyota FIPG is black; the OEM color was gray and very likely Permatex or Three Bond.
i used it for the water pump too.
Here's a link to my post about FIPG after detailed research
FIPG post: #15
The Toyota FIPG is black; the OEM color was gray and very likely Permatex or Three Bond.
i used it for the water pump too.
Here's a link to my post about FIPG after detailed research
FIPG post: #15
Permatex Ultra black or grey will work just fine for half the price of toyota FIPG. Harborfreight also has something similar to Permatex ultra black that is just as good. I have it on my oil pan right now. All officially take about 24 hours to cure. I've added oil at the 16 hour mark with no issues. Permatex the right stuff 90 minute is good too if you're in a rush but cost twice as much.
I suggest you drop the oil pan and look for balance shaft pieces. Your noises could be from lack of oil pressure due to clogged pickup screen. The chain tensioner needs oil pressure to operate properly. Get a good oil pressure gauge and check it. The thread where the oil pressure switch goes is a 1/8 BSPT thread. 1/8" NPT will not thread properly. You can get a oil pressure gauge kit from harbor freight that has a 1/8" BSPT male to 1/8" BSPT adapter.
This seems to be happening a lot with our cars as they hit high miles. Mine started at 301,000 miles.
I suggest you drop the oil pan and look for balance shaft pieces. Your noises could be from lack of oil pressure due to clogged pickup screen. The chain tensioner needs oil pressure to operate properly. Get a good oil pressure gauge and check it. The thread where the oil pressure switch goes is a 1/8 BSPT thread. 1/8" NPT will not thread properly. You can get a oil pressure gauge kit from harbor freight that has a 1/8" BSPT male to 1/8" BSPT adapter.
This seems to be happening a lot with our cars as they hit high miles. Mine started at 301,000 miles.
On this engine the VVTI-I filter only feeds the 2 solenoids which feed the sprockets, and the camshaft bearings underneath them. The chain tensioner has its own dedicated oil feed pathway from within the block. Page 31 of the 2009 Rav4 New Features document shows the oil pathways for the 2AR-FE engine.
I will do this. Never hurts to know the running oil pressures anyways. Already would have to drain the oil for this anyways, so it wouldn't be much more to drop the pan and check the pickup. The timing kit will come with new VVT cam gears and tensioner, so if either of those are at fault I should be covered if it comes to that.
The timing chain tensioner is not a lifetime item that's why they made an access hole to replace it. Might as well if you already bought one. The VVTI-I gears will only fail and break internally if the car was ran too long without proper lubrication. That notorious VVTI-I startup rattle is an annoyance but nothing really serious. If you already bought the gears then might as well replace them. For me it wasn't worth the hassle and extra money since they looked fine, and I trust the OEM installed ones more than aftermarket ones, and I wasn't gonna pay the price that I saw for new OEM ones from Toyota. I left my original timing chain in for the same reason but replaced the chain guides because they were barely within spec for wear on the plastic guide sections.
When I pulled the valve cover is did appear that the chain had excess slack, but haven't seen any damage to the gears or cams. I'm hoping it's a faulty tensioner or oil supply issue. Kit comes with cam gears, chain, guides, and tensioner but it's on the cheaper side (budget is tight) so I'm with you on the idea that if I take it apart and find the gears to be in good shape I'd rather leave them as opposed to replacing with aftermarket.
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