Picked up a 2003 Sequoia with 110,000 on the cheap. Drove it about a month before i started hearing a valve tick. It starts to become very noticable about 2k rpm's and is terrible at redline. It never goes away no matter what the temperature. So far i have chaged the oil to synthetic, replaced spark plugs, timming belt, and exhaust headers. Needless to say I still have a very loud tick that may have gotten louder after the jba header install. I am not 100% sure i still dont have a exhaust leak. Does anyone have a good method for checking leaks? I am at the point of tearing into the heads and checking/adjusting valve clearences. The shop manual shows removing cams to replace shims. Is there anyway to swap shims with a valve compression tool?

Have you checked to see if the steering column boot is torn? That seems to be a common source of valve type nose.

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Did the quick glance at the steering boot, it looks to be intact. I will double check to be sure.

Its definitely not the boot, totally intack with no holes. Tried moving the engine ground to the steering resevoir bolt. The injectors are ticking pretty good. I swear it sounds like a valve. Gonna get a automotive stethoscope before i pull the heads. I can't believe only one person on this whole forum has had to adjust valves on a 2uz. The bad part was he said the noise was louder after adjustment. Im really hoping for a exremely loud injector at this point. Might try disconnecting the harness at each injector to rule them out.

When and if you ever discover the cause of the tick, please let us know. My '01 has had the tick for years. It all started when I buried the bottom of the truck in a snow bank. I thought for sure it was a cracked or warped exhaust manifold or exhaust component. I replaced the stock exhaust manifold with JBA's and it seemed to get louder like you state. I had a mechanic look at it and he couldn't find any exhaust leaks but put a stethescope on the cats and said one may be broken loose inside. I replaced it to no avail.

I have also replaced the timing belt, checked the steering boot, etc. No luck. My wife and I are used to the tick now. Hell, the truck has 200k miles on it...I'm just happy it's still running like a champ. But I'd certainly like to know what is causing it.

Mark

Not sure how you checked the steering seal but I would consider removing the panel inside the cab and really giving it a good look to ensure that that is truly not the problem. I suppose you could have a bad valve or injector but after all the time and money that you've invested thus far I would be 100% sure to rule out the seal.

Cleaned and swapped fuel injectors from left bank to right bank and noise is still on the drivers side. Just for fun ran seafoam into intake, into gas tank and into crank case. Will run for 200 miles and change the oil.

Have you checked the exhaust manifolds? The 1st gens were notorious for cracking the stock manifolds.

Mine is doing something similar but i can't figure out where it is coming from.

Mine only ocurrs during acceleration so i think mine sounds more like an engine or cat issue. I did just change out the trans fluid, so there could be something there.

When does the steering column tick occur?

When does the steering column tick occur?

It isn't a sound that is coming from the steering column. It is just the normal operating sound of the fuel injectors you are hearing and that sound (only the sound) is passing through the firewall into the passenger cabin.

It sounds - no pun intended - ridiculous to think that a rubber seal that has nothing to do with the operation of the engine or exhaust would be the culprit, but from what you and the OP have described, it sounds like exactly that. I thought the people on this forum were crazy until I replaced mine. Instant fix.

This thread should about cover it: http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/1gen-sequoia/186025-fuel-injector-tick/

Thank you for the input i will be looking into it this weekend and getting it replaced.

I pulled the valve covers last weekend and all valve tolerances where well within spec. The tick is now progressed into a knock since the troubleshooting process began. I fear it may be a rod bearing because the noise follows the rpm's. This should not be a problem at 110,000 miles. I am betting the previous owner neglected to maintain the vehicle properly. Will pull the oil pans off and check the bottom end this weekend.

If you think that it is a rod knock, disconnect each coil one at a time until the knock goes away.
A true "tick" is from the valve train or an exhaust leak and can come and go. A true "knock" might
go away at idle but will follow the rpm's. A piston slap knock typically will be at a "set" rpm and
has to stop when the engine warms up. Good luck. yspert

Thanks for the info xspert. I tried disconnecting plug wires/injector at idle but the rpm's dropped enough for the noise to stop no matter which one i pulled. I quess i could pull them one at a time and then drive it a little. This noise occurs at a warmed-up idle or anytime the engine is under load. If it is in park or neutral and I rev the engine and it sounds fine.

Yes, one at a time. Get the engine warmed up and making the noise and then disconnect one at a time.
If you drive it, try to keep it short. I'll check back in a couple of days. You had asked about checking
for an exhaust leak. Take any shields off the manifolds and look for soot. Back in the day we would
check by pooring atf into the carb and look for smoke. Now, we use a smoke machine and blow it
into exhaust and intake and look to see if/where it is leaking. Most manifold leaks get some better as
the engine warms up and are considered a "tick" unless you have a hole or large crack in it. yspert

Yes, one at a time. Get the engine warmed up and making the noise and then disconnect one at a time.
If you drive it, try to keep it short. I'll check back in a couple of days. You had asked about checking
for an exhaust leak. Take any shields off the manifolds and look for soot. Back in the day we would
check by pooring atf into the carb and look for smoke. Now, we use a smoke machine and blow it
into exhaust and intake and look to see if/where it is leaking. Most manifold leaks get some better as
the engine warms up and are considered a "tick" unless you have a hole or large crack in it. yspert

I could not get the noise to go away by pulling plug wires. Stephoscope put me in the drivers side left bank around cyclinder #5, it sounds to me like a metal to metal "ting". When i pulled the valve covers to check valve clearence the camshaft looked burned like it got hot on top of cyclinders 5 and 7. The rest of the cams looked brand new instaed of those cylinders. Checked the bolts in the torque converter through the access panel. I pulled the oil pan and found no metal or sludge. Pushed and pulled on all the rods, they moved a little along the crank but the bearings felt good. Found a engine on ebay for $600 near me, im thinking about grabbing that engine and swap the drivers side head only and have the remaining engine for a rebuild, spare, or part out.

Resolved!!! Replaced drivers side valvetrain from reman head off ebay. Had to swap some shims from the old head to get valve lash consistent. Idles nice and smooth and feels a lot faster. The only thing a can hear now is the fuel injectors. I added some extra soundproofing above the steering boot and now the cab is dead quiet. Still not quite sure what the problem was with the old valvetrain, im just glad the noise is finally gone!!!

I just got a 2001 Sequoia, I heard a little noise like yours.
I was wondering if I had the same problem like yours, then, how much it would be cost me?

Thanks


Resolved!!! Replaced drivers side valvetrain from reman head off ebay. Had to swap some shims from the old head to get valve lash consistent. Idles nice and smooth and feels a lot faster. The only thing a can hear now is the fuel injectors. I added some extra soundproofing above the steering boot and now the cab is dead quiet. Still not quite sure what the problem was with the old valvetrain, im just glad the noise is finally gone!!!