Recently I have noticed a slight ticking noise right in front of me which sounds like is coming from just behind the dash board, most likely behind the firewall and some place on the engine. It's not that loud, but certainly noticeable. (soft quick ticking)
It made this noise for about 5 seconds when I was trying to drive back on the road from a soft shoulder. During this noise it felt like there was a loss of power. Even though i was pressing the gas more to compensate i didn't feel a difference with the engine at all. It was almost as if there wasn't any fuel getting to the engine. It didn't rev-up or any thing while it was ticking.
The 4runner wasn't stalling out or any thing, it was just not producing any power, and seemed like it was in good working order however; I had to stop accelerating and just punch it one good time just to drive off the shoulder and get on the road. This has happened a couple of times already. Every time I need extra power to say... get out of a rut, or off a shoulder it ticks and goes nowhere.
I do just basic driving. There is no change in the performance of the suv on the road, or highway and otherwise runs excellently.
What is ticking noise I am hearing, and why does it cause a loss of power??