I had a similar noise on start up with my 200. I got under the car and found the two of the heat shields where the exhaust split were loose from rusty screws. I replaced the screws and added a pipe clamp and the sound went away. I also found mechanics could not pin point this and it went away after the car heated up.
200 series ticking noise (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter jay96318
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- #22
Thanks for the reply. I had not thought of this but will check under the truck tomorrow morning when I start it up.
Try running 5w30 oil at your next oil change. Also look for the metal shavings yourself. Thicker oil will definitely quite these rigs down.
@bentonrover came here to say this. I experienced this once before I swapped to 5w-30. Haven’t since.
This is the driver side timing tensioner going out. It is a known issues on Tundras. What's interesting is that it normally doesnt show up immediately after a cold start. It appears after the truck runs at idle for a few minutes.
It is not metal on metal, it is the chain hitting the plastic guide inside the engine.
My 14 LX started exhibiting this about 6 months, ago. I am up in the air on whether or not to fix it since the issue is only at idle under certain operating temperatures. Once warmed up, the truck can idle all day without noise. The issue stems from an orifice that gets restricted in the hydro-spring actuated tensioners.
I suspect that MANY folks on here have the issue but have not heard it because A: you cannot hear it from inside the cab and B: it happens approximately 90s to 180s after startup when cold. It goes away once warmed up.
It is not metal on metal, it is the chain hitting the plastic guide inside the engine.
My 14 LX started exhibiting this about 6 months, ago. I am up in the air on whether or not to fix it since the issue is only at idle under certain operating temperatures. Once warmed up, the truck can idle all day without noise. The issue stems from an orifice that gets restricted in the hydro-spring actuated tensioners.
I suspect that MANY folks on here have the issue but have not heard it because A: you cannot hear it from inside the cab and B: it happens approximately 90s to 180s after startup when cold. It goes away once warmed up.
The Tundra Tick - pretty common. Won’t hurt anything at all but the tick drove me crazy. Some people have had luck with Seafoam oil treatment. I wasn’t so lucky and ended up replacing the driver side timing chain tensioner.
But it won’t hurt anything if you just leave it. I’m just obsessive.
manifold gaskets? - surely not new headers/exhaust manifolds. I have a slight tick on cold start too which goes away when warm too. It only makes the noise under load when cold. I've just been letting the LC just warm up a bit longer for now but I'm curious possible causes. Tensioner sounds plausible.
As mentioned before it’s for sure the Good Ole Tensioner malfunction. Welcome to the world of the mighty 5.7. Driver side Tensioner gets gummed up and gets bypassed on start up. That’s it, the cause of this. It’s nothing more nothing less. My 13 is doing it now. I’m going to try to the 5W30 trick but I’m not convinced that’ll fix it so I’ll replace all of them.
- Thread starter
- #29
I thought I’d resurrect this thread bc I have now changed my oil twice since posting last fall. I went to 5w-20 (to stay in the manufacturer’s alternate US spec), but it didn’t quiet things down. Today I went back to 0w-20 after putting 5k on the clock. I’ve heard the tapping noise all winter long during the transient time when the truck is warming up. First 30 seconds to min sound normal but then the tapping which comes in waves and cycles, progressively getting a bit louder until something kicks in and it goes away almost entirely. After the truck gets warm after 5 mins, it goes away and runs smooth.
Today, I had my oil changed today at the Toyota dealership and was able to speak with the tech mechanic that worked on my truck. He seemed like he knew what he was talking about more than others I’ve spoken to in the past. In short, he said this is very normal. I asked specifically if it was the tensioner, and he said no. He started to explain why, but I was impatient and cut him off to call his attention to the noise when it started tapping again. He told me how he has a 2012 sequoia himself, and that it’s much noisier on his truck. He said he went even thicker than 5w-30 to 10-30 and it really settled things down. He assured me after hearing it cycle a few times that it’s not uncommon and very normal.
I asked if he has worked on many LCs. He said no, bc they are pretty rare to come across, but that he has worked on plenty of sequoias (and me may have said tundras) and assured me this is not an issue.
I asked again about the tensioner and whether there is a risk of the chain jumping. He was polite but smiled and said no…. There’s nothing wrong with the truck. This after, he had just worked on a 2011 LC that happened to be there that had the power steering go out.
I had also taken it to a Toyota mechanic in the fall, but I don’t think he knew as much. Also, the clanking was as evident when I showed him bc we were indoors, so it came on and idled nice and smooth. He also looked the truck over and didn’t see anything amiss.
Long post, but thought I’d see if others out there agree that I should quit worrying about it and just realize it will be a bit noisy until I go to a thicker oil. I was ready to trade it in today bc I’ve had so much anxiety about this noise!
Today, I had my oil changed today at the Toyota dealership and was able to speak with the tech mechanic that worked on my truck. He seemed like he knew what he was talking about more than others I’ve spoken to in the past. In short, he said this is very normal. I asked specifically if it was the tensioner, and he said no. He started to explain why, but I was impatient and cut him off to call his attention to the noise when it started tapping again. He told me how he has a 2012 sequoia himself, and that it’s much noisier on his truck. He said he went even thicker than 5w-30 to 10-30 and it really settled things down. He assured me after hearing it cycle a few times that it’s not uncommon and very normal.
I asked if he has worked on many LCs. He said no, bc they are pretty rare to come across, but that he has worked on plenty of sequoias (and me may have said tundras) and assured me this is not an issue.
I asked again about the tensioner and whether there is a risk of the chain jumping. He was polite but smiled and said no…. There’s nothing wrong with the truck. This after, he had just worked on a 2011 LC that happened to be there that had the power steering go out.
I had also taken it to a Toyota mechanic in the fall, but I don’t think he knew as much. Also, the clanking was as evident when I showed him bc we were indoors, so it came on and idled nice and smooth. He also looked the truck over and didn’t see anything amiss.
Long post, but thought I’d see if others out there agree that I should quit worrying about it and just realize it will be a bit noisy until I go to a thicker oil. I was ready to trade it in today bc I’ve had so much anxiety about this noise!
I JUST switched to 5w30 a week or two ago and like yours it was pretty noisy with the Tundra Tick and came in rhythms. But since the switch to thicker oil it has most certainly tamed it down a lot. I’m not saying it’s totally gone but now it’s not that bad! Mine is 13 with 140k on her.
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- #31
Thanks! About how long has it been doing this for you? Does it concern you or are you good with leaving it along running a thicker oil?
I just hate to replace the tensioners bc it’s pretty darn invasive (and expensive) and if I take it somewhere it’s never going to go back quite like it was put together at the factory.
O I am good with the thicker oil. I’ve done a lot of reading and from the sound of it Toyota overdid it on the viscosity due to a number of variables with the 5.7. And yeaaaa doing the tensioners is a bitch of a job! I’m going to hold out as long as possible.
That corroborates with what I have read and what the Car Care Nut stated in his Tundra tear down video.......
Yea everything looks to be ok with 5w30 so ya Im good. Next oil change try it out. I went with Castrol High Mileage too.
I am specifically talking about how there is no damage mechanism associated with the noise. I have been a proponent of 5W30 since my 2020 had 3 miles on it.
- Thread starter
- #36
That video was incredibly helpful. Thanks for pointing it out. Showing how the tensioner operates and what the chain slap looks like, helps alleviate some concern and also explains why thicker oil would help. I’m not mechanically inclined, but it seems it should help push the tensioner out more easily as it’s warming up. Also really appreciated him just coming out and saying that this isn’t an issue that causes the engine to fail…
Here is the link for those that want to check it out:
Yeah - interesting video. Dude spent like $5k on something that didn't need it......
