I am pretty sure you might get a CEL. When I took my VN off the jack stands I took it out and gently drove it around some back roads. Then I hit the highway and let her rip. I did an oil change before the lay-up and treated the gas of course. I recall one small stumble after I first started her up. I idled a bit longer than usual too o ensure good fluid flow.

 

I took mine out of storage last Wednesday. When I first started it it was LOUD, like a lifter was tapping or a rod was bad.... It freaked me out. It stopped after a few minutes of warming up. When I start it in the morning it makes the same noise but just at a lower pitch but goes away once the car is warmed up a bit. I don't loose power or anything. The car runs awesome otherwise. No complaints... This is what leads me to believe a VVT solenoid is sticky or not fully functioning. Thanks for the help, AYP.

Best regards,

-Mike

 

The louder exhaust would suggest the exhaust valves are open longer (high speed / power mode). Are there any codes in the ECU? There might be some warning codes. If you have those then the dealer might have something to work with. When the 2ZZ in my Vibe GT would hit 6400 rpm the high speed cam lobe would be engaged. Then it got really loud and would pull like a turbo...to 8200 rpm (beautiful sound).

 

What I meant by loud was the engine, not the exhaust. It's not the high pressure fuel pump. It sounds internal like a lifter not getting enough oil pressure. It goes away once the motor is warmed up a bit, like half way to operating temp.

No codes or stored codes. Thanks for the help.

Br,

-Mike

 

Could it be a cam chain tensioner not being pumped up all the way? I’m not familiar with that on this motor but, I’ve experienced it on many other brands. The slapping of the loose timing chain is loud and rythmic before the tensioner gets pumped full of oil...

 

Thank you CW. When I first took the car our of storage I almost $hit my pants. It was very audible and went away after the motor was about half way warmed up. Now as I use the car more the audible noise takes less time to go away. It's so weird. Is it from sitting for a couple of months? I mean that shouldn't happen... Car still runs great otherwise.

Thanks for any help.

Br,

-Mike

 

No VVT issue. You'd throw a CEL and the car just wouldn't run properly thru out the rpm range. More likely fuel with stabilizer. Make sure you gas up at half a tank with Premium and some octane booster until you run out the old fuel with the stabilizer.

 

The motor that I had with the most cam chain noise from a non-pumped up tensioner was on a BMW R1100 motorcycle and it was only noisy when it was left for a few weeks without being started. Over time the oil would bleed out of the tensioner and the cam chain would raise a racket until it was warmed up. If I ran it more regularly it wouldn’t have the behavior. I changed out the tensioner eventually and most of the startup noise after letting it sit for a few weeks went away.
If the noise goes away and doesn’t recur when you drive it more regularly, it could be this.

 

Sounds liked it. Which sucks... I store it in the winter. Guess I need to start it more often.... Thank you for the assistance.

Br,

-Mike

 

Mine was stored for just over 3 months and aside from a small stumble after startup everything sounded and ran fine. I have fuel stabilizer plus Marvel Mystery Oil in my tank with regular gas. I did an oil change before storage. That is it plus periodic battery charging. I have a quarter tank left after driving it around on the old gas. I want to take it down to about an eighth tank and fill it.

 

Any update on this? Mine is doing the same

 

More than likely what your experiencing is after having the car in storage for a while the oil is flowing back to the sump the ticking is the lack of oil in the vvt cam gears the vvt solenoid opens and closes the oil passage depending on timing advance or retard to actuate the vvt cam gear its clicking and dry until oil makes it into the gears.

 

Would it do this just while starting the engine? I mean for maybe 1 second while starting the car. Would the oil filter valve cause this or is the oil leaking back to pan somewhere else?