Tick-tick sound at idle.

Bought a used 2016 crew max in early April. The truck had numerous after stock accessories added. I don’t think anything was modified to the engine 5.7L V8. From the beginning I wandered if I heard something, but everyone I asked said they couldn’t hear anything. Well, now others can hear it. Is this something that can be corrected, is it serious? Any advice would be really appreciated.

 

The 5.7 being all Aluminum is a little noisy to begin with, it's perfectly normal and just the way it is. Although pretty rare, there are a few things that can make noise like bad chain tensioners etc. Post a vid here and the good folks will take a listen and chime in. Welcome to the forum.

 

Dang, I can’t get the video to upload. The tick- tick noise Almost sounds like a quiet diesel. Im pretty sure I know what a knock sounds like, it doesn’t seem to be that. It is only noticeable when idling. It stops when under load/acceleration. I’ll keep trying to get the video uploaded. Thanks for the help!

 

From what you're describing it sounds like it's normal. The 5.7 is a noisy beast, and generally when it's a bad sound it stands out to the point it's not a question of normal or not.

 

What weight oil you running?

 

5w30 made mine stop the diesel ticking noises. Turns out the 5.7 doesn’t like water instead of lubrication.

 

I’ll second this. Was actually impressed how much noise reduction from one grade heavier oil.

 

Not sure of weight. I bought from dealership. Didn’t ask. I’ll call and check. Will make sure I get 5w 30 next time. Is this urgent… do u guys think I should do that sooner than later? Thanks

 

Not urgent. It’s “designed”, or at least recommended by Toyota to run the water oil (0W20) for the US market as part of their cafe standards meeting adjustments. The rest of the world has the 5w30 as the recommended oil.

 

Not that urgent. I'll bet you a ribeye they tell you its got 0w-20 in it, as that's the recommended weight. Don't bother telling them you're thinking of running 5w-30 in case you have a Toyota certified warranty with them.

That being said the 3UR is spec'd to run 5w-30 in every other market it was sold in around the world, and the owner's manual says up to 5w-30 is fine for severe duty, which is defined as any towing or offroad driving [AKA not anything nearing "severe" lol].

 

When I started driving my low-mileage 2008 5.7 two years ago, I searched for "Tundra 5.7 sounds like a diesel" and got lots of results. It is normal. It isn't loud for me, but sometime it has a little bit of a diesel engine sound to it.

 

The manual literally lists all the way to 15w-40 as ok to use. It's not going to void warranty to use 5w-30.

OP you can switch to 5w-30 for 1 oil change just to see if it quiets it down. If so, your ok, if not, you may have a chain tensioner issue. It's not going to grenade your engine if you do though.

 

Are you using free dealer oil changes? If so dealer may not put in heavier oil

 

It should make you feel the engine is more powerful than it actually is.
I actually like how she sounds at idle! That dieselish "crunch crunch crunch crunch" is too good to eliminate!

 

I talked to service department at the dealership, they used 0w-20. I’ll try 5w-30 next service.
This is my first tundra, I bought it with 160k miles on it. I always heard they run forever. What has been your experiences. Is that a pretty high mileage for these trucks? Did I buy it with to many? Hope not!

 

160k is hardly 'high mileage' for these. Overall they're incredibly reliable, but like any engine they need some love every now and then. From the sounds of it you're hearing the normal sounds of the 3UR. Worst case, the chain tensioner is clacking a bit which isn't an emergency by any means, but will need to be addressed at some point.

I'd try 5w-30 the next OC and go from there. It quieted mine down quite a bit.

 

Victor just put 1M miles on his 5.7. You’ve got a ways to go

 

I agree with everyone above. My higher mileage 5.7 was similar. 5w30 helped some. Maybe search up valvoline restore and protect oil in the forum search here. Many positive reviews. I'm going to try it in 5w30 for my next oil change.

 

This is what I just switched to 2 weeks ago after running Mobil 1 since I bought it, I've been impressed so far with the sound and how it's running. Makes no sense but it does seem happier running that.

 

At 160k, I would definitely also see if the coolant has ever been swapped, then I’d probably do it again whether it had or not.