Hi guys, my 94 22re engine has developed a loud rattling/clacking noise in the last couple of days. I searched and read through the multiple posts about 22re engine rattling noises and timing chain issues, but I feel like I am still unsure what could be wrong with my engine. Here are the details: the engine is recently rebuilt (about 10k miles ago) and the loud clacking occurred occasionally at first but now is present almost all of the time. I checked my valves, changed my oil and filter, and peeked down inside the front of the engine and the top of the guides appear to be intact... should I be looking at other things besides the timing chain? The clacking sounds like the chain to me, but I'm not sure the rest of the clues point to the chain... maybe just the chain tensioner? Thanks for any help,

Dan

>>>*Noises are a PIA to chase down on the 22RE, they tend to telegraph and seem to come from all directions.

New noises that suddenly crop up make us tend to look at the tensioner first, that thing IS the weak link on this engine design. It actually is just a hydraulic shock absorber, and since it is oil fed and at the end of the oil passage it is susceptible to any tiny bit of grit, dirt or things like silicone.

Lift the chain off the top gear, it will move some normally but not much. Then look carefully at the chain links to see if they are shiney from rubbing on something. They will be a little from riding the tensioner pad and passenger side rail, they just shouldn't look scratched up.

If there is an hourglass shaped wear pattern on the ends of the adjuster screws, then they need to be replaced. Otherwise the valves almost can't be properly set.

Check for cam lobe/rocker pad wear by turning the engine so the lobes come visible at the side. Check for obvious wear.

Internal noises like bearings or piston noise can be isolated by loosening the plug wires, start the engine. Pull the wires one at a time to see if the noise changes. If it does, it is bearing/piston related.

The water pump can make a racket, so can the fan clutch if equipped. A couple of fun ones we got to chase was a worn fan belt, that made a racket in the pully groove I almost could not believe. A new belt solved that one..Then I remember an alternator bearing I got in my car to go listen to after the report of "main bearing" noise on a new engine.

And the classic? A loose flywheel. That engine came back out and back to us sans the wheel. The crank came out perfect, I happened to glance down and spotted the shiny crank flange.

A machinist's stethescope can be your best friend while tracing the noise...*EB

I had a loud clacking/rattle that turned out to be a cracked PS pulley on the front of my harmonic balancer.

I finally had time to work on my truck, so here's the update. I replaced the timing chain and cover and checked all the pulleys and components while doing so. All the pulley's looked good and seemed to rotate smoothly. I did find that the t/c guides were loose, but not broken. I thought this was the problem, so I replaced them and the t/c. Unfortunately, I started it up and the sound is still there. My valve adjuster screws are newly replaced, and I tried pulling one plug wire at a time like eb suggested to see if I could isolate the noise. I couldn't hear any difference in the ticking as I pulled each one. So unless anyone has any other suggestions, I may have to resort to taking it in to someone to see if they can track down the noise.

Dan

So I decided to take my truck in to Toyota to get my steering rod recall service done and have them look at and diagnose the noise for me. I thought maybe they would be able to find the problem if it was something simple like a pulley or water pump. They looked through it and agreed with me that it sounded like something internal and it was not something simple. Hardly worth the $100 labor charge. Anyways, I decided to pull my engine so I could inspect the rod bearings, head, and pistons more closely. I got the engine out yesterday and today I pulled the oil pan. I found some metal shavings in the oil pan, but the rod bearings didn't look like they were in too bad of shape. One had a decent gouge in it, but it didn't look convincing. Anyways, here is my question: what sort of wear/damage should I be looking for that could've created this loud knocking/ticking? I guess I'm not sure what constitutes as normal wear versus something that is damaged or worn out. Thanks for any input,

Dan

Hi all, I had an email earlier this week asking if I had ever fixed this problem and I realized I hadn't posted my findings in case anyone else had a similar problem. Anyways, I did finally fix the noise on my truck just last week. The intermittent noise I was experiencing was due to wear on the rocker assembly. The underside of one of the rocker rods (that the arms rotate on) was extremely worn, but was not worn on the topside. So I could not see the wear by sliding the arms with the assembly still attached. Once I removed the rocker assembly and disassembled it, it was clear this was the problem. Unfortunately I shortly thereafter developed a valve that was sticking open which produced a similar noise that was not intermittent. Once I fixed the valve and put a refurbished rocker assembly in there, all is well.

Did you take any pictures of the worn parts?
I too am trying to track down nasty noises..