Not a good day at all

[LandCruisinMike]

well, I drove 5.5 hours to buy my 80 today. On the way back, there was a slight clicking noise coming from under the trans tunnel. After about 100 miles it got very loud and shuddered when taking off from a red light. I started up a long grade and it was making a lot of noise and cutting out/not pulling right. I pulled into a lot and shut it down. Got out and looked under it, no puddles, good sign. Pull the oil dipstick and trans dipstick, full and clean, no bad odors.

I restart it and it is really making a loud clatter, not like lifters and not really like any rod knock i've ever heard. Shut it down immediately. I called the PO who stated it's never done anything like this before. I'm over an hour from his house and 3.5 from home. He is paying to have a friend tow it to a shop I have ties to with a lift and also giving me money back towards any repairs.

That being said, any thoughts? When I went to test drive it, it was very stiff shift from Hi to Low and the diff locks were very sticky too. He's only put 4k miles on it in 2 years but I don't think that would have anything to do with the performance/noises.

Thoughts?

 

[ToyotaDon]

Flexplate bolts loose?

 

[Wilson]

Flexplate bolts loose?

I was thinking something possibly flex plate related if the noise is present while not in motion, otherwise check the drivelines/ ujoints.

 

[duggy]

Good to hear that the seller is helping you out on this situation.

 

[LandCruisinMike]

he said a friend of his also suspected flex plate issues. When he gets it to the shop and I get it on the lift, I guess that'll be the first thing to check! yeah, the PO was pretty upset about it to and felt really bad. He's been great thru the whole deal. Just waiting to hear from the guy pulling it here now.


Anyone near Memphis wanna get their hands dirty? lol

 

[LandCruisinMike]

Ok, still haven't figured it out. Pulled the inspection cover and the flex plate bolts look ok. The sound seems to be near the TOP of the front of the engine. The timing chain and tensioner seem ok. Any thoughts?

 

[Funner]

A bad belt that has lost some of the rubber on the underside will make a ton of noise and will almost sound like rod knocking, ask me how I know...

 

[Stevesnj]

Pull the A/C belt, the idler puller makes a ton of noise and also the Alternator idler.

 

[LandCruisinMike]

A trans guy of ours recommended the same thing Steve, hitting those in the morning.

 

[AppleTech]

Chin up though... it will be one less thing to fix in a couple of years!

 

[allan man]

Consider yourself lucky!

1.) He answered your call
2.) He is picking up the tab
3.) He sent someone to help you
4.) and yes one less thing to fix.....better now then 2 mos later.
5.) and the most important its 3xlocked cruiser

 

[ToyotaDon]

A bad belt that has lost some of the rubber on the underside will make a ton of noise and will almost sound like rod knocking, ask me how I know...

Oh, I know about that one, too. I just replaced this belt after thinking I had a front main bearing going out.

 

[lugueto]

something similar happened to me in our 2007 4Runner. I left my mother at the airport and on the way back a knock started that got louder and louder and louder. Being in the place i was i didnt stop, just limped to the house and thought id figure it out then, the car ran just fine without any change in temperature, shuddering or any lights coming on in the dash. When I got home I couldn't see anything wrong in there, no burnt smells or nothing weird..
When I turned it on to go to the shop, the noise was gone. Turns out it was the belt that was done for due to a seized up tensioner, the strip of rubber that was ripping from the belt had started to hit everything as it turned until it broke off and that's why it stopped. I couldnt see it because when i opened the hood the part where the belt ripped was un the low side.

I would bet that is it, besides you have 4 IIRC. If so, consider yourself lucky as you have a cheap fix. Also, dont forget to change your other belts and keep the ones youre replacing as emergency spares!

 

[cc93cruiser]

So where is the noise coming from? If it's from tbe tranny/transfer, did you check the gear oil level on the transfer?

 

[LandCruisinMike]

Well, depending on where you stand makes it sound like it's in different places. We narrowed it down to the front of the engine with a stethoscope probe. Almost sounds like the bottom of the head or behind the timing cover. Pulling the belts later to see if maybe that's it. Also going to check the crank pulley saw this back off on a ford motor once and it sounded like it was internal. Will update later.

 

[Southeast Overland]

A loose crank pulley happened to me which caused a knocking sound.

 

[slowsuki]

exhaust manifold gasket ,sometimes cracked manifold or gasket leak can make a funny noise.

 

[LandCruisinMike]

Allan. 6) no rust!

 

[LandCruisinMike]

ok, crank pulley seems fine, pulleys and belts seem ok too. Whatever this sound is, it sounds like it's in behind the timing cover. Does anyone have any experience with a timing chain tensioner slipper or vibration dampener going bad? the sound isn't a consistent pattern but it constantly makes it. Either way, it looks like i'll be going inside soon.

 

[LandCruisinMike]

Here is a video when I thought it was the flex plate or bottom end area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR9DsS_Imn0&feature=youtube_gdata_player