Odd Squealing/Ticking/Tapping Noise 97 Avalon

[parimento1]

I have had this ticking/squealing noise on my 97 and just cannot locate the noise. It sounds like a squealing belt or bad bearing. I removed all belts (alternator, power steering) and turned the car on, and the noise was still there. I pulled the timing cover and noticed one of the bearings on the tensioner pulley was bad, so I replaced both the idler and tensioner pulleys and timing belt with a very good kit and the noise came back! It is very loud especially when the engine is cold and sounds like a metallic rapping/tapping sound and squealing. My only two options left (that I know of) are the water pump and harmonic balancer. It sounds to me to be coming from the balancer, any ideas what the symptoms are of a bad balancer, or any suggestions about other possible causes, please help me out.
THANKS

 

[SLCraig]

As I was reading your post, I thought water pump first and foremost.. Then I read that is one of your last 2 options. I still vote water pump

 

[bmwtechguy]

If it is not your water pump, is it possible this engine is sludged inside? Do you know the oil change history, because sludged engines like this can look and sound normal or make noises if things are getting bad inside the engine. Hopefully that is not the case of your engine and it is just a WP bearing! I don't know about the HB's on these, but I don't see how it could cause a squealing sound.

 

[VK56VD]

The squealing noise is considered normal when the engine is cold and idling on an older vehicle?

 

[parimento1]

Oh and one more thing, the noise goes away mostly when the car warms up (~15 minutes of driving). If it is the waterpump bearing, does this mean the pump will start leaking shortly or seize? The pump is only 2 years old, but is not factory, it is one of those GBM or something like that brand.

 

[parimento1]

I have owned the car since new, oil changed every 3-4k miles, but usually 3, with dino. Last time I popped the valve covers around 90k miles (car has 147k miles now), the engine had no sludge, just a very light coat of grit, but nothing more. I do not think I have a sludge problem, as I change the PCV religiously. Also, I dont think its a damaged engine, because it runs nice and smooth and revs to 6k rpm with no problem. I assume if there was problem, it probably would have shot something through the hood. And the car started making this noise all of a sudden one morning out of the blue, I accelerated out of my driveway and it started making the sound.

 

[c3po]

Is this the original water pump, I just replaced the water pump on my Mom's 1998 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with 102,000 miles, of course it was leaking.

 

[parimento1]

Nope, this is its 3rd pump

 

[c3po]

Originally Posted By: parimento1
Nope, this is its 3rd pump


Something is going on here, why have you gone through 3 water pumps.

 

[parimento1]

1st one was changed at the same time as the timing belt (but was not bad) the 2nd one started leaking thru the weep hole, and this one may or may not have a bad bearing.

 

[Newtonville]

Have 02 Camry with essentially same engine. Seems you have tried all spinning parts. Bad alt/ps/ac belts can do it, but you tried that. Might use an auto stethoscope to try and pinpoint. How hard was it to replace the timing belt, if I may ask?

 

[parimento1]

i pulled all the accesory belts and ran the car without them and made the same noise, so that eliminates the accessories. Timing belt was a major [censored] to do, but I had very good instructions from the toyota factory manual.

 

[parimento1]

if the bearing was bad, would it cause the waterpump to seize or leak?

 

[dishdude]

Of course it will cause it to seize. If that bearing is making noise, stop driving it now and replace it with an OE pump!

 

[parimento1]

UPDATE: I took the car to the mechanic and he tried to figure out where the noise is coming from. The problem is that by driving it to the mechanic, the noise goes away (noise goes away once the car warms up). He heard it very faintly but wasn't sure where it was coming from. The accesory belt was making a little bit of noise, so he tightened it, other than that, he didnt hear anything out of the ordinary. He told me it could be the waterpump bearing going bad, but he wasn't sure without tearing into it. Like I said, there was no play in the bearing a few days ago. I assume if there becomes excessive play, the pump will begin to leak. He also said the noise could be coming from the lifters if they have excessive clearance, and when the car warms up, the noise stops as the metal expands. I may just leave it for and keep an eye on my temp gauge, just in case the waterpump decides to give up the ghost. What do you guys think?

 

[parimento1]

It also sounds like the car has a turbo on it when it IS warmed up...just wanted to update you.