Camshaft / Follower Noise

[Rav4newboy]

Recently purchased a Rav4 Automatic, which appears to have a noisy cam or Followers.

When I purchased the car, the oil was quite dirty and had not been changed for sometime. This was drained, the engine flushed and new oil added.

However, the top end is quite noisy still when the engine starts from cold ( engine is 3S- FE and has done 101,000miles ) I think that 2 or 3 of the valve clearances need re-shimming and the noise quietens as the engine warms up, but doesn't go away.

Is this normal on this engine or does the top end need a rebuild?

A friend of mine had a similar experience with an MR2 engine when the oil needed changing but the noise cleared, is this common on this engine?

[sjrainsford]

Mine makes a noise from the cam-belt area, but the valves don't appear to be that noisey.

However, they aren't exactly the most refined of engines. But on the other had, I find it very smooth when compared to similar aged offerings from other manufacturers.

[Rav4newboy]

Mine makes a noise from the cam-belt area, but the valves don't appear to be that noisey.

However, they aren't exactly the most refined of engines.  But on the other had, I find it very smooth when compared to similar aged offerings from other manufacturers.

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Thanks for your reply.

The engine is really smooth for the mileage once running, it's just the noise that bothers be. I wondered if there is a common fault that someone knows of with an easy fix.

[Uncle Bob]

Thinking along the lines of "worst case scenario ", if the oil is very dirty ,it could have a worn camshaft , which would need new cam and followers ( or a 2nd hand head ), hope i'm wrong, but you need to keep an open mind .

[Rav4newboy]

Thinking along the lines of "worst case scenario ", if the oil is very dirty ,it could have a worn camshaft , which would need new cam and followers ( or a 2nd hand head ), hope i'm wrong, but you need to keep an open mind .

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Hi Bob,

I had already thought along those lines, suppose I'm just looking for an easier way out.

Although,the cam lobes appear OK, but we haven't had a dial guage on them.

A good secondhand head assembly would be the ideal solution if I could get one, problem is that no breaker is going to split a good engine to sell me the head.

However if anybody has one at a reasonable price I would be interested.

Do you know by the way if these engines use hydraulic lifters?

[Uncle Bob]

Thinking along the lines of "worst case scenario ", if the oil is very dirty ,it could have a worn camshaft , which would need new cam and followers ( or a 2nd hand head ), hope i'm wrong, but you need to keep an open mind .

←

Hi Bob,

I had already thought along those lines, suppose I'm just looking for an easier way out.

Although,the cam lobes appear OK, but we haven't had a dial guage on them.

A good secondhand head assembly would be the ideal solution if I could get one, problem is that no breaker is going to split a good engine to sell me the head.

However if anybody has one at a reasonable price I would be interested.

Do you know by the way if these engines use hydraulic lifters?

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Sorry to say they are bucket and shim ;) , Toyota have a tool to compress the bucket ,so the shims can be removed, so unless you can borrow a tool ,or make one, its a main dealer job.

On the cyclinder head front, some years back a breaker in the Exchange & Mart use to sell head only, could be worth a look, or tap in "Find a Part ", they have a national data base of breakers, someone must have one .

[sjrainsford]

Maybe you should compare it to another similarly aged model too? If you were closer i'd suggest mine.

Also you could try giving the engine a good flush. One of the oil channels may have closed a little, causing slight oil starvation until the oil thins up.