Noisey Tickover.

[oddbod]

Hi folks,

Not sure if I'm just getting paranoid here :( , but my engine is begining to sound rather noisey on tick over, especially from inside the car, sounding much like a diesel. There's a general metallic clatter in time with the revs. It also feels generally less purkey than it was when I bought it, tick over is lumpy and I'm only achieving 32 MPG now.

I've owned the TS for about six months and one of the first thing I did was get it serviced by a main dealer in an effort to transfer the extended warranty. I don't know what oil was in the car prior to the service, but Toyota have fitted Mobil 1, which I know is pretty low viscosity, but good stuff.

There aren't many engine problems on the forum, apart from the VVTI controller failure which gives an oil warning light. I don't have any warning lights at the moment and a colleage at work has even hooked the diagnostic socket up to a laptop and OBD before Xmas and there where no recorded faults at the time.

I can't imagine it's developed 'piston slap' with just 44K on the clock and decent oil in the sump, but it's been noticeable ever since the service. Any ideas?

Is there any way of uploading or attaching a wav file in the forum?

Oddbod.

[monkeyalan]

this might sound obvious but have you checked the oil level? I've seen dafter things after an "expert" has serviced my cars.

[S.Kayani]

got the same thing with mine...think it might be the timing chain...need to get that sorted...

[alanbradley]

Timing Chain? After just 44k? Unlikely...

Remember that on these cold mornings the oil in your sump will be thicker and will take longer to warm up and start protecting bits of your engine so it is normal for your tickover to seem louder in the winter than in the summer.

Check your levels first though!

A

edit: Don't forget that the engine will also have a greater load on it at this time of year. If you're anything like me you jump in, turn the ignition and get the lights on, fan on, heated rear screen on and heater up full. Radio will probably be going too. All of these things put a bigger load on the engine making it work harder, strain a bit more and so run noisier. There could be nothing wrong at all...

[hottie]

Howdy. :D Just joined the TOC - only taken me 7 years of continuous toyota ownership..dur. Have similar racket with mine, only been from last service in Nov 06 from when they dropped it off. Wondered if they'd messed with the valve clearences or detuned it via the diagnostics??