Hi gang, new to the forum, and just bought a 1998 Tacoma 3.4L auto, V6, 4*4
45,000 miles.

Sounded great when I bought it , drove it home (approx. 200 miles), refilled it with 87 octane next day and noticed a loud clatter under the hood a little later the same day. Ran better than 1/2 that tank out and refilled the rest today with 91 octane at a Shell station. No change, still sounds like a diesel. Had to chuckle as a Rav4 in front of me at the A&W drive-thru window cranked his window down to see if the clatter was coming from his machine.
Flashed me a smile and pulled out

Added injector cleaner today but didn't drive enough for it to do it's job, if that's an issue. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for all suggestions.

 

I run 89 in mine. It's a 98 also. I get valve pinging going up a hill when there's a load on the motor but nothing like that at idle.

 

I think others have had a similar problem. Could be an exhaust leak in or around the exhaust manifold. Try doing a search on this site after this weekend when hopefully Corey and the gang get the servers back up to 100%.

 

Thanks Mikey and Humanoid, just talked to the seller this evening and he told me to take it down to the dealer first chance.

The seller is very understanding and left me with the feeling that he will pay for the fix. People from small towns would be proud of this seller.

I'll use the search engine after the site fix .... thanks again and yes, I'll get back to you and other forum members after the dealer is done checking it out ..... my first experience with this forum and you guys made it good ..... tacomatose

 

Yeah, my '95 Runner had the same problem. Sounded like I was in a F-Series diesel. It was an exhaust manifold leak...the dealer will probably find it...let us know man!

Fink

 

Not in a very good mood right now as I sit and wait for the dealer to call back when it's ready to be picked up.

Problem and noise was coming from the water pump. Replacement cost is $320 US. They needed 3.5 hours + $90 for the pump.

They won't be seeing me often at those prices as I can wrench some things myself and find a backyard mechanic for things I won't tackle. Diagnosis is usually the biggest issue and this forum will help with that. Thanks again ......

 

Pinging that loud and at idle sounds more like an exhaust leak to me too.
At the very least it would have set off the check engine light.
Is it a distinct ping or is it more of a ticking sound?

 

Eh! a Canuck

I initially described it as a ping and a clatter. I'll stick with that description but if I could listen to it again I may revise the description because I'm sure it was ticking as well. All of the above noises

I asked the dealer rep if that was abnormal at 45k and he didn't seem very alarmed that a water pump could fail. My expectations were higher but I think this is the first thing that has been done to this truck.