Toyota 2.4L mechanical tapping noise at 2300 rpm

Joined
Jul 14, 2020
Messages
52
Location
North Augusta, SC
I have a 2005 Toyota Camry with the 4 cylinder engine (2AZ-FE). I have had the car since new and it now has 122k miles on it. My daughter currently uses it for school transportation. Yesterday while driving it I noticed a mechanical tapping noise that is coming from the engine. It starts around 2100 rpm and is most pronounced at 2300 rpm and then fades as rpm increases to around 2800 rpm. About 6 months ago (2k miles), I replaced the valve cover gasket, PCV (OEM Toyota), water pump (OEM Toyota), power steering return hose and the oil. I used RGT 5W30 and a Mobil 1 filter. In 2018 when the car had about 100k miles, I changed the tensioner (OEM Toyota), belt, radiator and heater hoses and spark plugs.

When I had the valve cover off it was very clean inside...no varnish or any sludge. The car has had at least 2 oil changes every year before my daughter started driving it (2018) regardless of mileage because my wife didn't drive much and most use was short trips (from 2005 - 2018). Literally the car would got maybe a mile, she'd shut it off, do shopping or whatever, get back in it and drive a mile or so back home. Prior to the RGT, I used almost exclusively Mobil 1, 5W30 EP.

Any ideas? Thanks!
 
I wouldn't worry about it. If you are overly concerned you could do a UOA at some point. Nice vehicle and motor.
 
Even though you replaced the item it could still be a belt tensioner/idler or some other accessory. This engine has a timing chain, but once my old 1MZ-FE had a bad timing belt idler that did something similar, and since these are generally bolted directly to the block it can sound as if it's an engine issue. I'd carefully check everything out even the new parts you installed.
 
To start with I would remove the serpentine belt (just for a min or so to check) and start the engine, see if the noise is gone. If it is you have isolated the noise to a belt driven component and just spinning the parts by hand may reveal a grumbling bearing.
If the noise is still there it is probably inside the engine but cross that bridge after eliminating the belt driven parts.
 
A bad timing chain tensioner (allowing the timing chain to be loose) as will a timing chain that is stretched will cause a noise like this.
 
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