2000 4cyl camry engine knock

[brianw]

I just recently purchased a 2000 Camry 4 cyl engine with 200,000 miles on it. The Engine runs great, uses no oil but has one problem. When the engine is cold it is very quiet, but as it warms up, I hear a loud knocking(tapping)sound in the valve cover area as the engine reaches around 2000 rpm. I contacted two shops in town and the Dealer. Both shop recommended running a synthetic oil first, to see if would help free up and clean this engine. When I contacted the Dealer and ask how much to adjust the valves. Their answer was this "normally the valves never need adjusting and the cost would be as much as a used engine." My question is this, what oil and weight would be the best, also could the barrel lifters on this engine, maybe not flowing as freely as it should and at higher rpms, making the gap farther apart at times?

 

[justinf89]

Well I would adjust the valves myself but maybe take a valve cover off to look? Maybe its all gunked up

 

[Rican]

Oh man, the reason they said that is because theu are not adjustable afaik. They use buckets and are replaced when out of tolerance. I think is more of an annoyance than a ploblem. Maybe a thicker oil might get rid of most of it, but u lose mpg. It generaly calls for 5w-30, move to a way thicker 5w-30 or or low 40

 

[4D-56]

if you are up to it, pull the valve cover as justinf89 said, if not....have any friends that can??

either way, what will not hurt it is to put some Kreen in there and do some deep cleaning....Kreen will not leave you with any "chunks" of stuff that can block the oil screen or anything else...it will clean the engine quicker and cheaper than using synthetic. Kreen is incredible stuff...i have used it a few times on my old van...very impressed i am!.

buy it from:

kanolabs.com

i suggest getting 2 quarts....add a pint to your current oil, even if the oil level is at max on the stick, and then just drive!!....you can leave Kreen in and drive with no worries...dependant on how many mile your oil has currently done....leave the kreen in there for up to 1K and then drop it, change filter, add new oil with another pint of Kreen....run it for a full OCI

let us know what happens.

 

[mechtech2]

#1:
Yank the VC and check clearances.
Somehow noises are more livable when you know exactly what the cause is.

 

[brianw]

For a cleaning oil, would PP or PU be the best. What about a HDEO like Rotella T6 for a slow clean? I am kind of afraid of adding any solvents to the the oil due to 2000 Camry's known slugging problem, could make thing worse.