1AR-FE cam phaser noise related to oil?

[Fabulous50s]

Just bought a 2013 Venza with the 2.7 and VVTi on both exhaust and intake cams. The vehicle has 19,000 miles. It belonged to an elderly family member who no longer drives.

This thing was only driven every few weeks at about 40mph....

It has an obvious cam parser rattle on cold startup. It has had 4 oil changes in its life. Cap says 0w-20. Oil was last changed in February and has about 1000 miles on it. There doesn't appear to be any sludge or varnish under the oil cap. I may pull the valve cover and look to see if the cam phasers lock up w/o oil pressure.

I may try running at least a 5w-30 in it so see if helps. I know some of these were plagued with cam phaser issues, and I may jist put 2 new ones on it.

Anyone else have any experience with Toyota's phasers and oil viscosity?

 

[CarDoc66]

In my experience Toyota has the noisiest cam phaser rattle issues. Chrysler Pentastar engines are loud too but my 5.7L V8 Hemi cam phaser doesn't make any noise. It seems the OHC versions make the most noise. Just drive the car, it sounds like you have a nice low mileage fine that will last you a long time.
I also see no problem running a 5w-30 in a temperate climate, maybe use the 0-20 if your winters get bitter cold.

 

[doublebase]

That mileage is too low for cam phaser wear. I’d change the oil, drive it and see what happens. I guarantee there won’t be anything in the cam phaser inline filter at that mileage either...unless the oil has sludged up from lack of use...and now that I think of it, only four oil changes in the past ten years might cause some sludge. That’s a long time with only four oil changes.

 

[wlk]

Run some Gumout Multi-System Tune, Rislone, HPL or MMO and see if it cleans up the noise. Something is probably a little sticky in there. Good idea on using the 5w30 as well

 

[Fabulous50s]

I know the early Toyota phasers have a locking pin which is spring loaded and oil pressure pushes it in so the phaser can move. If the pin gets stuck you get the rattling on startup. This rattles for about 1.5 seconds every startup if it hasn't been running for 1 or more hours. If it was just running (even if shut off cold) and restarted it is quiet.

The thing is loud. If I could figure out how to post a video of it, I would!

In my experience Toyota has the noisiest cam phaser rattle issues. Chrysler Pentastar engines are loud too.

Funny I have a pentastar in my work van and it is always quiet. Only has 55kmi on it though. I run PP 5w-30 and have used Amsoil OE in it as well.

 

[JZiggy]

The 2.7L in my Sienna has this cold startup rattle too (155k). What I don't know is if this is a noise that will eventually lead to a mechanical failure or if it is truly just an annoyance?

 

[PimTac]

There was a TSB out on this. Maybe your Venza has not had the fix done?

http://media.fixed-ops.com/Toy_ServiceBulletins/sb0041t13.pdf

 

[Deleted member 89374]

Just bought a 2013 Venza with the 2.7 and VVTi on both exhaust and intake cams. The vehicle has 19,000 miles. It belonged to an elderly family member who no longer drives.

This thing was only driven every few weeks at about 40mph....

It has an obvious cam parser rattle on cold startup. It has had 4 oil changes in its life. Cap says 0w-20. Oil was last changed in February and has about 1000 miles on it. There doesn't appear to be any sludge or varnish under the oil cap. I may pull the valve cover and look to see if the cam phasers lock up w/o oil pressure.

I may try running at least a 5w-30 in it so see if helps. I know some of these were plagued with cam phaser issues, and I may jist put 2 new ones on it.

Anyone else have any experience with Toyota's phasers and oil viscosity?

Skip 5W-30, and try Mobil 1 FS 0W-40 or 5W-40 or Quaker State Euro 5W-40. Drive it and give it a few days, it won't go away immediately. Hyundai 3.3L GDI has the same issue, and that's how I solved it. It's a combination of viscosity and additive package. Anything less and it rattles at startup after sitting for a while.

 

[JavierH19]

There was a TSB out on this. Maybe your Venza has not had the fix done?

http://media.fixed-ops.com/Toy_ServiceBulletins/sb0041t13.pdf

Sadly it says the warranty is only for 5 years or 60k whichever's first. So he's probably out of luck, I'd still take it to the dealer to see what they say. It only has 19k so they could do a discounted repair, some dealers will do that.

 

[Fabulous50s]

Called the dealer, and no dice. Have to pay for it to be done. Just bought M1 Euro 0w-40. Putting that in today. I'll report back in a few weeks.

Otherwise, I'm going to buy the phaser and do it myself. Simple enough job.

 

[Fabulous50s]

It's been 2 weeks with no change in the noise. The M1 0w-40 Euro has made the noise go away faster, it's down to 1 second. Used to be 2 -3 seconds.

I bought the intake phaser and associated Gaskets at the dealer for a little over $400 total.

I'll do the job sometime when my wife is gone and I can have the car for a day, and some time to let the RTV setup before startup.

 

[Nesterenko]

Surprised nobody inquired as to the oil filter. I used to use Toyota filters but switched to Fram with a silicone ADBV. Voila, rattle gone. I do think a heavier grade oil can also help.

 

[Fabulous50s]

Surprised nobody inquired as to the oil filter. I used to use Toyota filters but switched to Fram with a silicone ADBV. Voila, rattle gone. I do think a heavier grade oil can also help.

Cartridge filter, no ADBV that I'm aware of.

 

[Nesterenko]

Cartridge filter, no ADBV that I'm aware of.

I believe you're correct for the most part. I've read that there may be some exceptions but I can't elaborate as to which ones.

 

[Fabulous50s]

The filter housing is part of the oil pan. I believe there may be an ADBV somewhere in the oil pump.

Another downside of not having a canister oil filter.....

 

[JZiggy]

Any update to your noise issue?

I have a 2.7 with the same problem. I spoke with a local Toyota repair shop (not dealership) and the tech said he was very aware of this issue and had performed the repair many times. However, in most cases even replacing the cam gear with the updated design did NOT remedy the noise. His suggestion was to just keep driving it, worst case the cam gear finally breaks (which it does internally), you get a code, and then you fix it.

 

[Fabulous50s]

No update. I have the parts in the box from the dealer. It's my wife's car, and I need to get her to let me work on it for a few hours! Once school starts, that may be easier

 

[VTECOverRated]

5w30 on 2.7 for sure, see if you can find TGMO oil or use valvoline. Never had that issue though, but I know the older AR/GR/UZ/ZE engines like 5w30 over 0w20. I had a 1AR and 2AR before, a lot less noise on thicker grades. But this sounds like the typical cam gear issue that some older toyota's suffer and it just needs a replacement to the newer part.