My 22R makes a weird ticking or clicking noise when driving at any speed but not while idling or revving in neutral. I changed my oil pan gasket and PCV valve recently (rotten rubber seat fell into the valve cover and I had to take the valve cover off) And my timing chain and timing guides are all like new. The truck has made this noise since I remember and I thought it was just one of those 22R engine quirks. I do not remember if it made this noise before I put the stock muffler on it's been a few years. However, I drove through a puddle recently and every time I got water up into the engine bay the ticking noise got much louder for a short while.

What noise is this?

My exhaust tube does have a small hole in the weld under the heat shield a little south of the crossmember, but I have always heard this hole make more of a puffing noise than a metallic click.

 

Could be an exhaust manifold leak..

 

83 could be correct - exhaust leaks have the tendency to tick. However, the "22R tick" is just something you have to deal with sometimes. I completely rebuilt my 22R and I still have the tick, but I know exactly where it is coming from - I put a stethoscope on it and isolated it to the fuel pump. Eventually I'll replace it with an electric pump. Other sources of the tick include:

-Fuel pump chatter
-Exhaust leaks
-Timing chain slap
-Improper valve clearances causing the rockers to excessively tap on the valves
-Valve cover too tight causing the rockers to tap on the valve cover (Tighten the valve cover down finger tight and then add 2 complete turns with a wrench - a new valve cover gaskets may also be needed)
-Pre-detonation

 

I'm not annoyed with the tick at all, in fact I quite like all the noises that the engine makes. I was just wondering if something needed fixed.

 

The R series motors definitely tick, but the fact that it only does it when driving might mean something.