Weird noise coming from engine

[Qball1754]

Hello, first time posting here. kinda lost with this. i recently bought my 2015 scion-frs and a few days ago i noticed some abnormal noise coming from the engine while on startup and idle (had the car for about 2 months. took it to my mechanic and aside from the tensioner needing to be replaced. he said the noise which is almost like chirping or clicking is coming from the left head of the engine. he said it could be the timing chain, camshaft or the head itself. the weird thing is the car drives just fine with no issues and the only code i get when my CEL is on is for an EVAP leak. thought i'd post here and see if anyone had a similar experience. sorry for the long post! tried to upload the video of it but heres a link. https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdv..._left_head_of/

[OwlDance]

Harmless noise. It seems like every FA20 does this. Boils down to either the direct injectors or valvetrain noise or the high pressure fuel pump (the latter of which doesn't make sense to me as this noise only comes on several minutes *after* start up but it's what Toyota told me after I took my new, 1600 mile car in for this very non-issue.)

There's lots of threads and stuff that make note of this noise as well. Perusing the link you posted quickly, I'm inclined to agree with the comment that says you need a new mechanic, or one that knows their way around the FA20.

[Qball1754]

thanks! i was getting a little paranoid lol. my mechanic used a stethoscope and said its coming from the left head only but i know his shop just recently started to do work on boxer engines (something about labor not being there why they didn't before). i did take it to another shop and they said everything was fine and the noise as normal. they didn't want to take apart the engine for no reason and they also said the tensioner but from other people it needs to be replaced

[humfrz]

Sounds like a FA20 engine running to me -


humfrz

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by OwlDance

Harmless noise. It seems like every FA20 does this. Boils down to either the direct injectors or valvetrain noise or the high pressure fuel pump (the latter of which doesn't make sense to me as this noise only comes on several minutes *after* start up but it's what Toyota told me after I took my new, 1600 mile car in for this very non-issue.)

That is because the DI/PI injection ratios change as the car warms up. You are getting more direct injection, and less port so the high pressure pump starts making more noise.

[soundman98]

It's totalled. I'll buy it for $5.

[tomm.brz]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

That is because the DI/PI injection ratios change as the car warms up. You are getting more direct injection, and less port so the high pressure pump starts making more noise.

Not true
Just at start and cold start, is using a lot of PI, between 100% and 50% but shortly after it switch directly into the regular DI/PI and despite 3 different tables for different coolant temperaturr are present, they are all the same, so the ratios don t change

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by tomm.brz

Not true
Just at start and cold start, is using a lot of PI, between 100% and 50% but shortly after it switch directly into the regular DI/PI and despite 3 different tables for different coolant temperaturr are present, they are all the same, so the ratios don t change

You just said it yourself right here. Maybe my word choice was poor.

[Qball1754]

thanks for the responses guys! my mechanic used a stethoscope on the left head and around the engine and only heard the noise coming from the left head and nothing else so i started to get paranoid and was also told the tensioner is moving too much but i've heard different things on that

[OwlDance]

For what it's worth I noticed my tensioner moves around a lot as well when idling normally. I'm also inclined to believe that's normal as well.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by Qball1754

thanks for the responses guys! my mechanic used a stethoscope on the left head and around the engine and only heard the noise coming from the left head and nothing else so i started to get paranoid and was also told the tensioner is moving too much but i've heard different things on that

High pressure fuel pump is on the left so that explains that.

[Qball1754]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

High pressure fuel pump is on the left so that explains that.

thanks! it only happens when i first turn the car on (whether its hot or cold), idling or just. i was worried its an engine problem but I'm glad its just the high pressure fuel pump