Upon cold starts I have the "normal' piston slap noise, but to go along with that now I have a clacking noise that I can hear after the RPM settle. Then after a minute or so it goes away but will return once you shut it off and let it sit for 15min or so. Then it goes away after a min or so.
I've suspected for a few months now that I have valvetrain or timing chain issue. Can anyone tell me how and what to check in both areas. Or what to look for?
My L is an 03 with 17,000 miles on it.

All this occurs from the driver side area.

 

The trucks have hydraulic tensioners that work off of oil pressure. If the tensioner is weak or if it has some type of restriction to it, it will take a second or two to pump up. This may be the cause of your noise. With out the tensioner pumped up fulley you will here that lose chain noise.


Hope this helps,

Peace,

Suavy

 

How easy is it to replace?

 

it's not!

You have to remove the front timing chain cover as well as all the brackets and cross member. You will also need to remove the fan.

Suavy

 

Would this problem display a trouble code when doing a diagnostics check? I think I may have the same problem - it almost sounds like the engine is knocking (although I am using premium gas), but happens intermittently. When changing my oil, I noticed that it sounded louder arund the area of the oil pan.