My Tacoma has 140,000 miles. It's been making a tapping noise that is getting worse. It was a quart low on oil yesterday, I think when the oil was changed a couple of months ago they might have not put enough in. When I drove away they told me if I need to add oil stop by, they'll add it for free. It was to far to drive back there so I added it myself.
It's still making that tapping noise after adding oil, can someone tell me what might be the problem?
Last weekend I noticed a tapping noise. I pulled over and inspected my tires. Removed a screw embedded in my back tire. Luckily, the screw went in sideways and my tires have less than 6,000 miles on them--no leaks detected so far. But in your case, I'd take it to a mechanic if you can't find the source of the tapping. I check my oil level on every fillup--two months sounds like a very long time between oil-level checks.
The most common and least problematic tapping sound from the motor comes from the lifters.
The cam opens and closes the valves, and the lifters fit between the cam and the rocker arms or top of the valve stems, depending on the engine configuration. The lifters are hydraulic -- they are filled with oil -- and they have a spring inside. When the cam lobe rises, they press the lifter which in turn pushes the valve stem to open the valve. There is oil inside the lifter that gets pushed out, then as the cam lobe falls and the valve is allowed to close, the spring pushes on the lifter from the inside to expand it again, and oil fills back inside, andthe lifter is ready to start the cycle over again.
What happens is, the lifter gets gunk and grim built up inside that causes it to remain collapsed, and thus it is loose. This causes the slight tapping noise. The orifices inside can get filled with crap, and this can clog the oil passages, giving the same end result. Your motor can operate for a very long time -- well over 100,000 miles -- with a sticky lifter. Indeed, they actually made car engines with solid lifters for several decades, and the tapping noise you hear could only be removed by adjusting the valve train. Most folks did not bother because the fact is, a valve thaty is a bit loose is preferred over a valve that is too tight.
You _might_ be able to loosen the crap inside your lifters -- if this is the problem, and you actually care -- by pouring in a product such as Marvel Mystery Oil. (I'm not sellling Marvel Mystery Oil, I'm only trying to get you to the proper shelf at the auto parts store.) This kind of product can disolve the contaminants that are causing the lifters to make noise, but as a practical matter I'm not sure these products will do the trick IF the noise does not abate by itself after a few minutes of running.
These products are high in detergent additives. Automatic Transmission Fluid is also very high in detergents. I will pour in a quart of ATF and let it remain there for about 1,000 miles then do an oil change.
If you live in the Snow Belt, then you could be noticing the affects of too heavy of an oil in cold weather. In cold weather, oil gets very thick, and this makes it impossible to get into the smaller holes and orifices where it is expected to go. You should be running a 10w30 for summer, and perhaps a
0w20 or 5w20 for winter. The lower numbers indicate oil that is thin in cold, and gets thick with heat. It does not really do those things, it just behaves as if it does -- which is what we care about.
The crud and crap that builds up inside the motor gets worse if you make short trips in cold weather where the motor does not have time to get fully warmed up. I'd suggest that if you make these sorts of trips on a regular basis, then you need to find a way to get in a good 30 minute drive in at least once a week so the motor can get hot. If you add ATF or Marvel Mystery Oil -- or any product of that ilk -- then I'm not sure they will work if you can't get the stuff hot enough to do it's job.
You infer the oil change place shorted you. I doubt that. It's always possible, but I doubt it. With 140k+ miles, odds are good that you are using the oil internally and you need to make it part of your routine to check and top off the oil level. If you need a quart after 3,000 miles, then I'd not be concerned, and I'd simply change the oil instead of adding the second quart. If you need a quart with every tank of gas, then you have a problem that should be looked at closer. With your miles, you could have both sticky lifters and valve seals that are not doing their job efficiently as they should. Oil control happens internally at the oil ring (on the pistons) and at the valve stems (fiber- or rubber-based seals that fit at the top of the valve where it passes through the head). Oil control to the outside happes at any number of places, but there would be puddles of oil on the ground under your truck, and your question would have been different.
TODAY, you can do an oil change but not the filter, and add in a quart of ATF along with Cold Weather oil -- 0w20, 5w30, etc. -- and drive for 1,000 miles making sure to get some long trips tossed in with your regular short trips, where long means 30 minutes or longer. Then change the oil again, add in the same weight and a new filter. Your tapping should go away if it comes from gunk and goo clogging the lifters. You can have a collapsed lifter, and the repair operation for this can vary with engine design. If the tapping is light, I think I'd give it a chemical treatment (ATF or Marvel oil or one of the many equivelents) and let it work. If the tapping goes away, then that is good, if it remains then I'd probably not worry too much if it is a lifter because a collapsed lifter is really only a noise, it is not a hazard to the long life of the motor.
STP is a product in the vein Marvel Mystery Oil, but it is very thick and thick is not really what you want here.
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