Our 2005 with 81,000 miles has a noisy (to me) valvetrain. Noisier than comparable Ravs we looked at. My first Toyota with the 20R engine had a timing chain you could hear slapping around chingchingching, but just kept running.
I know it doesn't make sense to ask when you should/must adjust valves and change the chain, but what has been your experience? Any comments, advice appreciated.
My advice is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just checking the clearance and timing chain for wear is going to cost you a lot of money and/or time.
Is engine performance affected? Some people think that those of us who keep track of gas mileage are wasting our time, apparently these people have so much money they don't care. Until it comes to something like this. If you have been keeping track of gas mileage you would know if it is a problem or not.
Mine has 180,000 miles, and if you look in another thread here, it would probably be a good time to check it but I'm not going to.
I'm getting a disappointing (approximate, wife didn't top off the tank) 17mpg or 7.1kpl. I think Russian roads affect this some. Anyway, have no history to compare to since we just got the Rav.
A man asked my wife because of the valvetrain noise if it was a diesel. She told him no, and he said you might need a new "filter". Thinking something might be lost in the translation from Russian, I started thinking pcv. Perusing pcv valve threads I saw no mention of valve noise, but will certainly check the pcv when I get a chance.
Is it possible for a bad pcv to make valvetrain noise?
Ok according to cars.com a valve adjustment is approximately $661-$871 if living in the USA and paid in US dollars. So no matter how you look at it (even in Russian rubles) is very expensive or time consuming to do.
If you really want that noise to go away and see better mpg then by all means have it fix.
250,000 kilometers here and never adjusted mine. I would also be worried to hear a loud ticking sound. There are some smart folks on this forum so maybe you could try taking a video or audio of the sound and posting it here.
He is better to go a mechanic which can actually hear the noise. No use guessing where the sound is coming from. Besides many places do not charge to diagnose a noise. It can be a belt or water pump who knows for sure.
My RAV is starting to sound a bit like a sewing machine, especially when it's colder out. I know it's the valve adjustment that needs to be done. It's not doing it bad enough yet for me to get it taken care of. Pretty sure if it's done, though, I won't need it again.
Read post #9 and you will get a better idea what to fix because it impossible to really know what is causing the noise unless you have years of experience in mechanical repairs.
I appreciate your assistance, but I know the sound of valves out of adjustment vs a chain issue. I've owned multiple vehicles with adjustable valves including a 2005 Prius that all did the same thing when they needed to be adjusted. Thank goodness the 2013 Prius has hydraulic lifters. The RAV4 has done well without an adjustment but as all vehicles like these age with solid lifters they will need to be adjusted at some point.