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A couple days ago I wrote in asking about a sound from my engion just above 2000 rpm. I figured it was ticking valves and others agreed.
Now I would like to know what causes them to tick. I have a very basic grasp of the whole valve area. Is it the springs shortening, or the holes the valves move through? Any insight would be great.
Also, what will happen if I can't take care of them for a while this summer? I'm a wildland firefigher, and pray to god I get sent to some major fires! (sorry if you live in Arizona or somewhere burning, but I'm a poor college student and 8 grand in one summer is just too good to not "fight" for )
the tick is cause by the rocker arms being out of adjustment. very easy fix, and no, it will not cause any damage. it will be a little noisy, and a little less powerfull, but it can wait if it has too.
when it comes time to fix them, like i said, it is simple.
1. Remove rocker arm cover, AKA valve cover.
2. rotate engine to TDC on the #1 cyl., and feel the rockers that are down flush with the cam and the cam lobe is not pointing up, you will see when you get in there exactly what i mean.
3. use a feeler gauge, and make sure there is not too lage a gap.(i forget the exact gap, if you dont have one, i would not fret)
4. if they are, loosen the lock nut, and use a scredriver to adjust the rocker arms. ( with no feeler gaugem adjust until all play is removed, and back off 1/16 to 1/8 a turn.)
5. rotate engine to TDC on cyl #2, and do the same.
sorry this may sound vauge, but it has been a long, hot work week, and i am tired, and dont feel like pulling my valve cover at the moment. it really is simple, i figured it out by opening the engine and fiddling until it worked. the 22 series of engines is the simplest i have ever worked on, you should have no problem.
I adjusted my rockers to the correct clearance (and double checked them) and the motor (22r) is now clicking louder than before. The clearences started out tighter. What to do?
Last edited by WesBarron; 10-27-2014 at 09:06 PM.
Reason: Typo
In general on 22Rs, if the valve train is louder than before adjustment, you are fine. If there is a distinct tapping noise and then it got worse after adjustment, then I would look into the valve train further.
My valve clearances were tighter than the 0.008 intake and 0.012 exhaust.
I adjusted them to the correct measurement and the tapping is much louder.
I guess I should tighten them up again..?
up to you. The tapping is not going to cause damage but extra clearance means valve lift and duration are not to spec and not running optimally. Overadjusted valves can lead to valves not closing fully, loss of power, poor running and ultimately burnt valves.
Look for consistency in the sound as even properly adjusted 22re rockers can be heard under normal conditions.
After a few months of working on valve train ticking in my 1984 22R with ~130,000mi on it, and now finally solving it, let me share what I learned since I benefited from this forum.
Causes of ticking, from loudest to quietest ticking, with fixes:
1. Rocker arms hitting the valve cover. If you tighten the four acorn nuts holding the cover too much, the rockers can just touch the cover. This is loud, and if you use a stethoscope you'll hear direct contact noises on the cover. The nuts do not need to be very tight at all. You can loosen them while the engine is at idle and the noise may go away... I didn't believe this when I read it but it is true. Some FSM give a torque spec of ~56in-lbs, I tried this and it was too much, causing contact. Also, I suggest using a new gasket kit since you may have a gasket that is squashed flat if the engine has been run a long time with over-tightened valve cover nuts.
2. Cylinder #2, #3 intake valves walking down the arm. Early engines used plastic spacers on the rocker arms (later are metal, and you can buy new at Yotashop SKU #90560-16008). The spacers are too small OD and work their way partially into the rockers, causing misalignment of the rocker and valve stem. See picture for what this looks like. This causes a loud tick you can hear through a stethoscope inside the valve cover but not directly hitting the cover as #1 above. There was apparently a TSB with a kit (Toyota #90561-16005) comprising a metal split spacer with spring that could be slipped over the shaft after cutting away the plastic spacer. I realized this just before a long trip, and was able to fix it temporarily by cutting metal washers, bending them open and carefully bending back over the arm (see picture). This actually might work for a long time, I drove it this way (without ticking) for 1000 miles. When I got back home I made aluminum split spacers with rivets holding them, as a kind of TSB substitute to install w/o removing the head. I'll install the Yotashop spacers when I overhaul the engine, but this should work fine until then. The spacers are 26mm OD, 15.9mm ID, and 7.5mm thick.
3. Excessive valve spacing. It's usually better to be loose (noisy) than tight (burned valve risk). The factory says 0.008" intake and 0.012" exhaust on a warm engine - so that's what I do. This ticking is so quiet compared to #1 and #2 above, you'll be happy to live with it! The fix is simply to adjust the valves at the maintenance intervals in the FSM - 30,000mi. You may, like me, try to get rid of sound #2 by adjusting valve clearance - but it will not work.
06-27-2003, 10:08 AM
What causes ticking valves?
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