My parents own a 93 GS300 and lately there are a couple of noises that do not sound healthy. I will be taking it to the dealer this Thursday, but I wanted to get some opinions from here first.

The 1st noise is a loud ticking sound upon startup; the engine is cold. The ticking gets quieter as the engine heats up, although it never disappears completely. It is most prevalent towards the back of the engine; the cylinders closest to the firewall. Valvetrain maybe?? Does our valvetrain use spacers to determine valve lash??

The 2nd noise sounds like a whine that appears to be speed and gear dependent. My guess is the transmission, since the volume changes as the gears change. The tranny was just flushed by the dealer less than 2000 miles ago. One other quirk I notice; when shifting into Drive from Park when the engine and tranny are cold, the car jerks into gear. A firm foot on the brake pedal is a must. If I shift from Park into Reverse and pause a second, and then shift into Drive, this jerking does not occur.

The motor has 118,000 miles on it. The car was bought used wiithin the past 8 months and less than 6K miles have been put on it by the family. No modifications have been performed other than an Aristo strut bar.

Thank you,

Ken

 

Ticking could be from the exhaust, possible leak. Could be from oil as well. Try using a thicker oil or a synthetic if you don't already. Mobil one is great for a trial. Sometimes the lifters get some gunk in them that causes ticking, so a thicker oil or a change may help to quiet them down or flush out the gunk. For the trans, what's the car idling at, before and after shifting into drive.

 

The oil I use is Castrol Syntec 5w30. What about if I add some Top End Engine Cleaner, and then change the oil?? that should certainly clean out the gunk, if it is present. My major concern is if the rearmost cylinders (where the ticking noise is coming from), are running lean.

Idle is fast when cold, but settles down once in Drive an/or when the tranny warms up.

 

If you're running 91 or higher lean fuel shouldn't be a problem. A loose or leaking exhaust gasket can cause a ticking sound. Top end cleaner should be fine and is worth a try. Idling high is normal when the engine is cold. I usually wait till mine warms up before driving. So does the tranny only jerk when it's cold? if so, it may be because it's is idling higher when cold. Not much can be done about this except allow it to warm up. Do you use fuel injector cleaner? I use 5w-30 and have no problems. However, after flushing it with some cheap oil. Try something different like mobil 5w-30. Just to see if there is any difference. What type of filter are you using? I've heard several people having ticks and problems with FRAM filters.

 

The car only sees 93 octane fuel. I change the oil using Toyota filters. I usually try to let the car warm up a little before shifting out of Park. However, the jerk into gear happens all the time, just to a lesser degree when fully warmed up. I'm not too concerned about the jerk, just the ticking and whirring sounds.

I guess I will try the top end cleaner tomorrow. Should I use the vacuum line coming out of the brake booster??

 

the ticking definetly sound like lifter, If it only happens when its cold and goes away once the engine heats up and the oil move through the block. Has the car been overheated at all lately? That will break the oil down for sure. Maybe try adding one of lucas oil products to your oil or go totally synthetic. As far as i know when you switch to synthetic you are not supposed to switch back to a regular oil. keep us updated

 

Ever since my parent's have owned this car since last July, I have done the maintenance w/ only Toyota filters and synthetic oil. No overheating or any other problems to date. I have an appointment on Thursday, so I will post up the results then. Tomorrow I will try the Top End Engine cleaner and change the oil, hopefully I will "hear" an improvement.

 

Have your tranny mount checked, maybe it's worn out so it has a little play in it that causes the jerkiness when you shift. Here's some info regarding the engine and tranny mounts https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=152301

As far as the ticking, it could be your valvetrain but I wouldn't have a clue what to do. The sound could also be coming from your fuel injectors, try running some cleaner through it.

I have a question, did your tranny make those sounds before you had it flushed? Sometimes flushing an old tranny will losen up deposits that end up blocking the passageways in the valve body.

 

The tranny mount was broken, we had that fixed about a month or so ago. And the tranny has been doing this since the day we bought the car.

 

Again, what is the car idling at before shifting into drive and after?

 

I just came from the garage. Idle is just under 1500rpm with a cold engine in Park. I shift into Drive, it jerks forward and the idle goes down to 1000.

 

That's too high of an idle in drive! What about when it warms up? Idle should be at 700 in park when warmed up. You might have some buildup on throttle plate.

 

I agree, your car is idling too high. Because it's idling so high your car will jerk when shifting the tranny. Do you have any vacuum leaks, a malfunctioning throttle body sensor, a throttle cable that is too tight, or maybe even a dirty mass-airflow sensor with oil from an aftermarket air filter.

 

The car was JUST started up when I took those readings. It had sat COLD for the previous 12 hours +. Once warmed up the idle does go down into the 700's.

 

What is it warmed up in park and drive? Maybe you need a remote starter, like I've got, so the car is all warmed up and ready when you are