Has anyone heard this noise before?
 

2007, 119K miles. I've had no trouble out of the car, but the last week or so it's been making this noise on startup. Only does it on the first start of the day. Goes away after 2 minutes or so. It sounds like a belt, but I'm not mechanically inclined lol. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Im going to go ahead and guess that your water pump is going to go out soon.

EDIT: im probably wrong since you said its only for the first 2 minutes... that doesnt hold much weight with my guess. I only initially looked at the video.

Where exactly in the engine bay is it coming from?

It's coming from the passenger side, front corner area. I thought it was the water pump too, but I've experienced no overheating yet.

Your water pump will start squeaking or leaking long before your car overheats. Have you ever had the water pump replaced? If not, it's way overdue.

One of the bearings, it can be the alternator bearing, serpetine belt bearing...

If you've never replaced the belt, or don't know if it has been done, then you should replace that regardless. It could be the belt, but it may be the water pump, the tensioner bearing, etc

As mentioned above it could be anything driven by the accessory drive belt but when was the last time the coolant level was checked? A good starting point would be to check the coolant level......if the coolant level is really low (not visible in the expansion tank OR you've been having to add coolant frequently, AND there are no other obvious coolant leaks) then the coolant pump may be toast, and it could also be the source of the noise. When you have the noise is the AC "off"? With the accessory drive belt removed it can make it easier to locate a defective bearing (or the component itself) by being able to rotate by hand all the accessory drive pullies and check each for roughness and for excessive looseness (axial and radial). By the OP's own admission he'll be getting the car to a dealer or shop........hopefully a good and honest one. It's a pretty tight area to work in and the cost of having a coolant pump replaced (if it turns out to be the issue here) varies in price big time. There is a big variation in the required labor hours. Please read post # 38 from nevernu here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...terpump-3.html

Thanks for the heads up. Everybody else too, for the thoughts. After looking around here and online and listening to you guys, I think it's one of the accessory drive pullies. I've got a toyota shop local that is good. My local lexus shop is good, but the labor is less at toyota. I was quoted $1200 at Lexus and $580 at Toyota, for replacing the water pump.

Oh wow. Good to know. I had just posted this question on the forum. Toyota it is when it's time to change the water pump!

Just an update, because I hate it when a thread starts and no one ever comes back to say what it actually was. It was the water pump. Ended up costing a little over $700 with tax. Running like a top now, engine wise. I have an intermittent vibration at highway speed now and I'm hoping it's something as simple as a tire balancing or alignment issue. Hell, I'd take calipers sticking at this point.

It seems like it's us 2007 owners with all the issues surfacing.

My water pump dive bombed at 65k miles last year on an 08. Didn't sound this bad, was more of a growl than a squeal. Warranty covered the pump, but they charged me for a new belt and "belt installation" (service writer didn't bat an eye when I told him that they have to take the belt off to do the water pump, still dinged me...)