Hey everyone,

My beaterwagon is a 1991 Camry DX (with the 3S-FE) with ~286,000 miles on the clock (got her for $500 about 15 months ago). Hideously ugly, but quite effective as the concert vehicle of choice and for hauling things I don't want to taint the interior of my DD with.

My question is this... A few months ago, the engine started making a horrible clacking/clattering sound while running (both cold and warm, although it's *slightly* quieter when warm). The sound is directly proportional to engine speed and does not get any quieter or louder at any RPM - its frequency simply changes with engine speed. I should also probably note that the noise began shortly before I checked my oil level only to realize I had run it bone-dry.

I pulled off the cam cover last night to inspect the valvetrain but see nothing obviously wrong. I've included a (crappy) picture to illustrate what I saw:







Should I crank/start the motor with the valve cover off to see if I can identify the source of the noise? It sounds like there's a marble in the engine, and it's obnoxiously loud. The car does burn oil (~1 quart every 450 miles), however, it does not smoke. Since this problem arose, it also still seems to build what little power it has just fine. Oddly enough, my fuel economy has also improved about 15% since the problem arose (although I can say it might be due to the noises having influencing my driving habits a bit).

Any thoughts? I'm really hoping this is a top-end issue because pulling the engine out of this thing is not particularly high on my list of things I'd like to do.

Thanks in advance!

 

Hell, what difference does it make? She owes you nothing, just drive it. Sounds like lifters - top end. Don't take it on any long trips.

 

Hehe, no joke there. Only thing is, keeping her is actually saving me money on insurance (my multi-car discount outweighs the savings to be had by removing the vehicle from the policy entirely) so I'd like to keep her alive as long as possible. Also, the sheer convenience of having a car I can beat the **** out of (not to mention its utility as a backup vehicle) warrants taking care of her where it counts.

This thing was babied since new, until I got my hands on it. The previous owner bought the car in 1991 brand spanking new and has documented *EVERY* service since. The only reason he sold it for so little was due to a collision in which the car earned itself a salvage title. He had it fixed anyway (well, mostly), and sold it to me a couple years later when I was in dire need of "temporary" transportation. The car drove straight, fired right up, and was mind-blowingly solid for having over 260,000 miles on the clock.

Needless to say, the car has vastly exceeded my expectations, hopes, and desires over its service life (up until 2 weeks ago), and has earned its right to life in my book.

Also, I've never had an opportunity to work on a car whose functionality I don't have to be concerned about. It's a great platform on which I can learn the finer details of automotive mechanics without having to really worry about whether or not she runs again within the next few months (if it even dragged out to that length).

</rant>

In any case, you say it sounds like the lifters. Is there any easy way to identify what lifters are bad without disassembling or removing the whole head? If not, what other indicators will identify the culprit(s)?

I'm definitely diggin on the idea of doing my first top-end repair, so please let me know if anything else would be helpful in diagnosing this issue (such as audio of it running).

Thanks in advance!

Campbell

 

Found a video that describes what the problem is not, quite fortunately:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjoONYZNKBc

My engine is considerably quieter (hasn't gotten any louder) and has a lot more chatter, so to speak (which is why I'm thinking you're on the right track with lifters).

Now, out to the garage to put the cam cover back on and toss a video up here...

 

Got the video up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6UGRg9a04A

What do you guys think?

 

I don't know if those lifters are hydraulic or mecahnical. If hydraulic you'd have to replace all. You could check clearances with feeler gauge. Little heavier oil might help, maybe. First I'd get the oil pressure checked, if you ran it low on oil then the pump may not be putting out enough pressure to keep hydraulic lifters adjusted properly.

 

lifters? wtf? lifters are in under-head cam engines. get your **** strait before offering suggestions on a forum. on this particular DOHC engine the lobes of the cam sit directly above the valves. the lobe pushes down on a pot that actuates the valve. backlash is regulated either hydraulicly or by shims. get a mechanic's stethescope (a long screw driver with the handle to your ear) and isolate where the noise is coming from by touching it to different parts of the motor. if you have that much valve noise it could be a plugged oiler, a beat pot shim, or a roached spring. either way, those motors want to run forever, so beat the tar out of it till it dies.

 

Actually lifter is a common term even for overhead cam engines. I guess lash adjuster (if hydraulic) could also be used. Given the amount of noise coming from this engine I doubt using a stethescope or screwdriver would isolate anything, and even if he found 3-4 bad ones what's he to do, only replace those 3-4 on an engine with that many miles AND that has been run dry of oil (which preceeded this noise). As I said I don't know if the "lifter" is hydraulic or mechanical but suggested an oil pressure check as the engine was run dry. I also suggested a valve clearance check, which would show which which valves need adjustment/fixing. Usually these forums are a combined effort to find the real solution as posters rarely give all the info needed to solve without actually being able to inspect the engine. Thanks for your input.