A bit late on the reply...My truck also makes a ticking (piston slap) sound at start up. The V6 now has 32,000 miles with the sound first appearing at 21,000 miles (with oil changes at least every 3,000 miles). The engine also has what I believe to be loud valve train noise that peaks at around 3,000 rpm, although, my valves are within Toyota's tollerences. From what I've learned switching to a 10w30 would be the wrong choice. The thinner 5w30 oil is better in the winter than the 10w30, so I would stick with that or if its really cold where you live go to a 0w30 (however, the greater the difference in the numbers the greater the additives and supposedly the lower overall oil quality).
I've been told both of these annoying sounds are normal but I've been doing everything I can to eliminate them, including getting Toyota and the dealers to step up to the warrenty plate. Anyway, I have found one thing that has helped with the cold engine start noise and that is to run BG44 with a tank of gas then changing the oil. I read a post about how clogged fuel injectors will leak over night and when the engine is started for the first time there is a slapping sound due to the accumulated fuel. Whether this is true or not after running BG44 and changing the oil the cold start up sound is much less frequent. The weird thing is that I also get the start up sound when the egine is really hot. For instance after driving for a long time on the freeway and starting up after a 5 minutes rest stop the engine will consistantly make the piston slap sound and I dare not drive it for a few minutes. Has this happened with your truck?
