Hey, guys its been awhile since I posted last, and the first for the Tacoma section. One of my forum bros at the Seymour Duncan User Group (awesome place) was talking about his truck and I told him I'd post here since you guys are the best. Here's what he had me post.


"Everyone said not to do it. I did it. I flew up to South Carolina and bought a used Toyota for 12 large ,based on a lot of talking and pictures back and forth with this dude I met on the Internet on a car care forum.
Long story short, the truck runs like a champ, has plenty of power and doesnt use a drop of oil. Its immacualte inside and out. A real beauty. A 2004 Tacoma SR-5 extended cab with, now, 50,000 miles after the trip back and driving it around for a month.
I paid top dollar for it since I need a nice economy vehicle to get back to work after the first of the year.
Well, it turns out that the truck has an issue.Its horrible. Im severly stressed out about it. I thought i had the little truck of trucks .
At idle I discovered a "clank Clank clack" sound emanating from the Lower end of the engine block.My first thougth was..'Oh Sheist, Im Screwed--Its gonna need a engine rebuild or eventually im gonna send a rod through the Crankcase'. I know its a Piston wrist pin issue, or the connecting rod slapping the Cam.
We'll, it appears that I finally found out that this happens in my particular engine. The 2RZ-VE inline 4. I dont know if its all of them , but its been reported by some people. I have an oil analysis report on my truck that states all internal engine wear is normal. Ive been advised that this problem is relatively harmless..not to worry about it , That the truck should last forever and that it shouldnt ever grenade the piston through the side of the block.
Still, the dream I had of the perfect little truck is shattered.
I would never have bought the truck. This was my first ever used car buying experience. On the positive side, Now I know more of how to buy a used vehicle should I ever buy one again in the future. Just because a vehicle runs smooth as glass, and you cannot hear a problem with it running...and even if you spend money for a diagnostic report does not mean all is well. I should have taken more time to listen to the engine at idle in a quiet place. I should have been prepared to renig on the deal and fly back home.I wasnt.I should have done alot of research on that engine(although I doubt it would have turned up anything).
I have been advised that everything is fine , to live with the clatter and that most people would never even notice it. Most mechanics would not notice it or think anything was wrong. But I know Its not perfect and Ive got to live with that. Odds are its a "realtively" harmless problem and "shouldnt" afect long term reliabiltiy.The whole thing just blows man. I made a crap deal. I bought a pig in a poke, but its done and Ive got to live with it and hopefully I know better about what not to do.Thats about all ive got to say. Pity a poor fool. thanks"

I figured you guys would have some good imput on this. thanks.

The motor he has is actually a 3rz-fe.
Was there bad maintenance done in the past? 3rz's usually last forever, tough little motors...

Ok, a few questions here; Does the noise change with engine temperature? Is it louder at start up? Does it change when the clutch pedal is pushed in?

If it is mainly at start up and gets quieter after the engine is warmed up, it is just "normal" piston slap caused by the different expansion rates of the metals used in the engine. The engineers have all the expansion rates factored in; it is considered normal and will usually quiet down after engine warm up. This is of course, if the noise he is hearing is the piston slap.

I have also seen folks confuse the sound of the fuel injectors to be piston slap. The injector noise is also normal; in fact, there is a very high probability he is sweating over nothing, as these motors usually do not fail at 50K unless over heated or hydrolocked.

oh thats true as well, the injectors are usually pretty noisy and make a clacking sound... when i first got my truck i thought there was something wrong but it was normal...