Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hey I have a 1991 2.8D hilux with 330k on it, I was driving along normally and noticed a ticking noise under acceleration/ under load, It is very quite at idle and gets very loud when I put my foot to the floor, Ive checkd my exhaust and done alot of reading and feel it could be the tappets, I have 2 questions. 1) has anyone ever heard of this before and have other ideas to what it could be? 2) how hard are tappets to adjust / check? I have never opened my engine up before but am willing to try?

Regards
Droth

the 2.8 doesn't have tappets, it's an overhead cam.

Because the sound varies with load i'd still be suspecting an exhaust leak. how did you check it?

Also how long has it been doing it? if it's a mechanical problem the engine wouldn't last very long in that condition.

2.8 are prone of doing rear main bearings my did it at 300,000ks they need oil every 5,000ks

If it gets louder once the engine has warmed up there's a good chance it's spun a big end bearing.

I would be looking for an exhaust manifold leak first.

not 100% on the hilux but check where the pipes are welded onto the flange that bolts onto the manifold. it can be hard to tell unless it breaks right off.

Could be the tappets.
They are overhead cam , But have shims to adjust valve clearances

Thanks for all the ideas guys I looked into them further and after alot of patience and a hose pipe I found a hole in the weld on my extractors so tweak'e you were dead right thankfully lol the thought of having to replace a main bearing isn't so nice thanks again for all the help and hopefully this thread will be helpful to other people with similar issues

Droth