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Is this the timing chain tensioner?

12124 Views 10 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Blizzard LE
its a fast clunking sound and i hear it the loudest on cold starts in the morning and night (cooler temps). its not overwelmingly loud but it is noticable (to me). kinda sounds like similar to what the fan does on a cold start if you can imagine. anyways, after i drive it, the sound pretty much goes away. no issue w/ anything. its been making the noise for as long as i can remember but it has always made me uneasy. i let the truck warm all the way up before every drive. it will sometimes lightly clunk the whole time till i drive it, which makes me rule out the common oil pressure explanation (never had btw). i stuck a screwdrive to the bottom of the timing chain cover and it is very prominent there. what do ya think? should i be worried or no?
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If it were piston slap, i would imagine it would go away as the temps went up and the toleraces were closed. top of the heads are surprisingly quite for a dohc motor imo. i have read several times that out valves train is non adjustable but to how much truth that holds idk. by what i can hear, the sprockets are quiet as well. the noise is most def coming from the bottom end of the chain cover or general area. the engine is super smooth (for a v8 so i didnt even think about the crank as an option)
Don't take the valve covers off. It's a 2010. Take it to the dealer.
i agree. but dealers only fix something after it breaks lol. i like to fix it before it breaks. dealers dont seem to ever hear noises. its always "normal" untill it breaks. thats proven itself many times over with many different vehicles and dealers
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VK56, Did you ever find anything out on this? I'm worried I am having the same problem. I purchased a 04 T yesterday with 206k and it sounded like that this morning (my first cold morning start). Sounded very different than when it is warmed up. Sound went away after 6 or 7 minutes of idling in the drive. Do these motors need the timing chains replaced? It just had Jiffy Lube oil change 1k miles ago, but wondering if getting another oil change with synthetic would be a smart idea. It may already have synthetic in it, I have no idea.
It ended up being a bad injector gasket that was leaking. The timing chains should not need replaced as that is the point of a timing chain as opposed to a belt. In order to replace the timing chain in these trucks I beleive the engine needs to be removed...or at least the front end needs to be removed. Syn oil is a good idea as it has different viscosities which helps for cold starts but makes it not too thin for when the eng is warm. Dino oil will be fine though as well. You might just be hearing the injectors, they tend to be VERY noisy especially when its cold or humid/raining...search "titan tick" on these forums and see if this is similar to yours. After 20k and the injector replacement, I do not have my clunk anymore...just minor ticks. The only sound, except for a ratchet sound from the chain, should be very loud clunking for the first second or two on a cold start..that is the chain tensioners due to lack of oil pressure (thick oil). Mine has done it once, and once I heard it for real I immediatly knew what it was.
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