Engine knocking/Pinging sound at idle...

This is a 1az- fse D4 vvti engine (direct injection) 160,000k on it.
This knocking/pinging has been there for some months now. Not getting any louder and its not losing any power.

[robertswrecks]

Yep, that's definitely an engine

[ricko]

Ticking is VVT and injectors. Deeper knock is piston slap if it goes away when the engine is warmed up. Very common for Toyotas. Lighter pistons with shorter skirts for fuel economy. It should easily run another 160, 000 KM .

[ricardopereira]

The tick tick is a normal function of the fuel injectors, will always do it. The tock tock sounds like a rod bearing worn out

[FaithROK]

lol... that is not an engine knock. Sounds like valves or exhaust leak. If you have engine knock or detonation, you WILL know it. It sounds like marble in a spray can when it's shaken under load of your engine.

[firstname]

According to the 15 year old YouTube mechanics here in the comments you have 86 different problems.

[maxxt]

The fast clicking sounds like your injectors to me, and the deeper sounding knock could be piston slap that some cars get on cold start ups. If the deeper sounding knock goes away when the car is warmed up, then I ouldn't worry about it.

[M.Bahiii]

Guys, i had the same sound and it was the timing belt. I changed it the sound is gone.

[jamelectro]

Idk what it is but the engine has been going strong still.

[XJ]

The softer ticking noise when you get close to the valve cover is no big deal. That deeper clunk you can hear from the side of the car? That sounds like a bad bearing on the bottom end.

[CelicaDan]

It's literally just the valves and injectors actuating.

[TinTinn]

I have the exact same tapping/knocking noise from passenger wheel well. Its frequency doesn’t vary with rpm when i rev engine.

[josephd]

The faster click is your fuel injectors. Sounds like you may also have rod knock

[roberth]

Noisy lifters and maybe a minor exhaust manifold leak, Nothing to worry about really

[Immortalkalashnikov]

Sounds just like every other Toyota i've ever heard lol.

[ruleroftheundersky]

Fuel injector tick it was I hear mostly... The quieter sound seems like rod knock. Neglect to change engine oil will do this, and or running oil low one to many times. Even though this video is old, I still want to comment for peace of mind.

[SkalabalaK]

That knock is coming from a worn out VVTi gear :)
That's why the knock goes away at higher rpm due to oil pressure building in the gear when the vvt solenoid switches on.

[festusdpimp]

That sound is from the exhaust connection vent

[freemindas]

That's sounds normal for a high mileage engine. I am sure you don't have rod knock. You will definitely know if you were to have one. The ticking are the injectors.

[MaverickSu-]

Knock knock...! Who's there? It's me..., the connecting rod! Bad Toyota, bad! That's a rod knock, not a detonation!

[richardabram]

In fairness to everybody saying it's a hundred different problems according to viewers most of them are all saying that the higher pitch tick is exhaust related with a few people saying lifters it's not that big of a difference in sounds of different exhaust issues