ViPeRs103

Good evening folks here posted is a video from youtube in which someone has the current problem that I do. Ive diagnosed and it dosn't seem to be the water pump, A/C compressor, or the tensioners. However after I got done reading more about it someone said it could possibly be the VVT-i gear gone bad!!! any suggestions that might be an assistance to this problem!?

JSM

Did you remove the belts one by one to see if the noise went away? No noise difference with the A/C on or off or when it cycles on or off like that one sounded?

VVTi gears? Have a video of that noise?

ViPeRs103

No I'll have to ask my mechanic to see If he removed the belts obviously you don't remove the timing belt. This video is a 2010 toyota camry VVT quite simliar to the ES300 setup..

JSM

What year car do you have?

This is what a 99 - 01 VVTi head looks like. It works off oil pressure. The top motor pic with the yellow circle is VVTi cam actuator.

imherenow

i too have this noise..i think its inside the engine but it comes and goes...as if it has mind of its own..

ViPeRs103

A 2001... I presume 00-01 only had the VVT-i

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

How do you know that it's NOT your A/C compressor?

ViPeRs103

Im going to have to check tomorrow from my mechanic and see if he ran the vehicle without the serpentine & p.s belt & if he did then it wasn't that... Also I forgot to mention two things 1.) This noise does occur when the A/C compressor is on & off but could be that its still turning the A/C pulley 2.) This noise does not occur on a cold start.. When engine gets to operating temp from just idling it commences that noise. As indicated in the two posted youtube videos!

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

This is just a guess, but I feel that if it was a VVTi issue, then the noise would have been a bit more muffled. From your video, it sounds like a spinning accessory/pulley. Also, how can you run an engine without any serpentine belts? You can't run the car without a working alternator, and the A/C uses the same belt as the alternator.

JSM

It should start up just fine. You just can't drive the car very far obviously due to no alt.

ViPeRs103

He stated today that the belts were off & the car was started up on a lift, the noise was still being made. Yes you can run the car only for a short time though!

JSM

I thought I recall reading a post recently of pieces of the exhaust manifold coming off and rattling inside.

ViPeRs103

Another question too I have is there anyway possible that the timing pulleys can fail due to extensive wear creating that noise indicated in the 2 youtube videos up top?

enterconne

I just had this same issue, it would make the same noise in the morning when I first start the car but would soon go away. I thought it was the A/C, the alternator, belts, etc... About a week after having this noise and trying to figure out where it was coming from, it finally died on me. Car started to idle very rough and then threw a crankshaft sensor error. Towed it to Toyota and this is what they replaced. Since they were in there, I had them replace all belts.

A. DIAG CHK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, BARELY RUNS, ENGINE DIES (CODE P0335
(Crankshaft Position Sensor Circuit Malfunction))
REPLACE CRANKSHAFT PULLEY, TIMING COVERS, TIMING BELT, DRIVE BELTS,
AND CRANKSHAFT SENSOR

Runs perfect and noise is gone.

LeX2K

Bumping an old thread, did you ever find out the cause of this? My car is starting to make the exact same noise.