Loud clicking noise when driving, no noise when in neutral

Hello, I have been browsing the forum for a while, but have yet to post anything. I have a 2wd 99 Prerunner V6 with 267,000 miles. I replaced the timing belt and water pump around 210,000 miles. Shortly after I noticed a faint clicking sound when I would stop at stop signs. I didn't think much of it because my truck rattles a lot anyway. I'm not sure if the timing belt& water pump had anything to do with it. None the less, the noise has gotten progressively worse. There is no noise when I start the truck, but once it warms up you can hear it. It starts out quiet, then it gets louder. Once the truck is completely warmed, the noise is loud and rhythmic. I can hear it while driving or when stopped, but if I shift into neutral it stops. Then when I put it back in drive I can hear it just as loud as before. My mechanic thinks the truck is losing oil pressure once it warms up and may have a problem with the "lifters" and thinks I should let him put in "shims". I change my oil regularly and have not noticed any loss and still get 17-21 MPG. I've had the truck for 5 years and 137,000 miles and haven't had to do anything except routine maintenance. My mechanic wants $1000 to put the shims in, but he can't guarantee that will stop the noise. Is this a reasonable fix for this problem and a reasonable price? I don't know much about cars except how to change oil and tires, so any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

your better off shimming it yourself. shims aren't expensive at all. i wouldnt pay 1000 for just shims thats crazy

 

never done shims in a car/truck but i have in a dirtbike/quad

im assuming its the same concept, if it is theres no way id pay $1000 for that.

 

My car did that as it got older. My mechanic told me to put in oil treatment and then after that I should try thicker oil and that seemed to do the trick. It's been doing fine for two years since then.

 

Thank you guys. I have been running 10w-40 and added some lucas oil stabilizer but the noise has not gotten any better. I've read some other posts about the "toyota tick" and I'm not sure if that's the problem I have. I thought $1000 was a little high, but I don't really know what shims are or what they do. Thank you guys again!

 

The "shims" that are being mentioned are called "valve lash shims" and are what sets the valve clearance between the camshafts and the tappets. Although there is a procedure using special tools to swap out the shims, it is not uncommon to use the standard labor time for replacing the tappets. Labor time guide shows 2.8 hours to replace both valve cover gaskets. As you have to remove the valve covers to do the shims, let us use that as a base time. Considering that an average shop is between $85 and $110 per hour, if we use $95 per hour as a base, you are looking at $266 for that part of the job. Replacing the shims requires that you first measure each clearance. After measuring clearance you then replace the shim with the appropriate thickness. Since you do not know at the start how many of the shims may be needed, it is safe to initially quote replacing every shim. Let us assume a shim will cost you $8 each. There are 24 valves, hence 24 shims. This makes it about $192 for shims. Include about 1.5 to 2 hours if you were going to replace all of the shims. This adds $190. Valve cover gaskets? say $25. This comes to about $673, and that is assuming at only $95 per hour rate, and they don't replace any other gaskets or small seals and parts. Also, with sales tax, depending on the local rate, it would bring it even higher. I really do not see a shop charging $1000 as an initial quote as being out of hand. You don't know until you start disassembling what gaskets and seals may need to be replaced. It is much safer to quote $1000 and then say "hey, we didn't need to replace "xyz" so your actual cost is $700, than to quote $700 and call you up later saying "well, we needed this and that, and now your estimate is $1000.

 

Had this job done at the Toyota dealer on ours in Jan. I believe I received a 20 percent discount on labour as there was a snafu in the shop and our vehicle took ALL DAY to complete even though it was in on a 7:30 am appointment and we were waiting. Regardless here goes.

From what you say, the valve adjustment is all the mechanic is going to do so their price of $1000 does seem high for just that. They do take off the intake plenum and pull the valve covers etc. and then measure the clearance between the lifter and the cam to see if it is within spec. If not then they adjust by using different thickness shims to get the correct clearance. If clearance is too large then you can get a tick or tapping/knocking sound from the top of the engine.

I dug the invoice out for you, on the identical job we had done. Price before tx was $492.26.

Labour $400
Valve cover gaskets $49.56
Air surge gasket $11.75
Second Air surge gasket $11.75
Shim $9.60
Shim $9.60

Even if you add back the 20 percent labour discount I seem to remember getting then that still makes it only $100 more so a total of $592.26 plus tx

So, costing seems too high for a quote if it was just to do that job. Maybe a second opinion somewhere else just so you are sure?

EDIT: Type toooooo slllllooooowwwww again. Bama beat me too it again lol

 

You were fortunate enough that you only needed 2 shims. So at $600 for two shims, if you do not change the labor charges at all, up to 24 shims COULD put a final price at the shop you took it to of around $800. Also it depends on local labor rates. Again, I don't see an initial quote of $1000 to be too excessive of a quote before opening up the valve train.

 

Thank you guys! I feel much more informed.
@Hillingdoner: Did you have this job done because of the clicking noise or was it for some other reason?

 

I had the work done because the tapping noise was bugging me and did not want to get into it myself.

Had leaking valve cover gaskets that had been leaking as well so way I looked at it, I got the tapping sound cured, the valve train back to spec and got the leaking valve cover gaskets replaced all as part of the same job.