Idle rattle... crank pulley or Tbelt tensioner

[defrag010]

After starting the car, it will idle for about 2 seconds and then a horrible rattling sound comes from the timing belt area. If you're standing in front of the car leaning over the motor, it sounds like it is coming from between the cam gears. I have physically checked the crank pulley, and it seems to be OK (it's not loose, and the rubber material looks to be in good shape). Is the only thing left the hyd. tensioner?
When I put my Tbelt on, I got the tensioner off of a motor that had 22k miles. It couldn't possibly be going bad, could it? The tensioner pulley is a brand new unit.
After turning the car off, I can push down on the Timing belt between the cam gears and it will go down about 1/8".

 

[Black91TSiAWD]

Does it mostly happen on cold startups, and usually go away within a few minutes?

 

[defrag010]

I haven't ran it for more than 20 seconds at a time, just enough to get a stethoscope and find the rattle. It's a brand new motor and it has about 3 total minutes of run time under its belt. I didn't rev it past idle for fear of it being something bad and causing some damage.. When I first started the motor on christmas day, I held it at about 3k for a few minutes with no noises, but a fuel leak caught the engine wiring on fire and I'm just now catching up to where I was. It just started doing it today while I was troubleshooting a bad coolant temp sensor.

 

[Black91TSiAWD]

Hmm, well it sounds like were almost in the same boat. I get that same rattling you're talking about coming from the same place youre describing, except it's ONLY on cold startups and it starts like a minute after it's been running, and only lasts for two maybe three minutes, It almost sounds like a chainsaw. The people I bought the car from put on a used tensioner, AND used a used belt. Im not sure this is what's causing the noise, but it's a dumb thing to do regardless. I bought a timing belt kit and it's going in tomorrow, so I'll know a little more the end of the week.

 

[RedRain]

Does your rattle sound something like this?:

http://home.comcast.net/~redrain19/Engine.wmv

 

[Black91TSiAWD]

Yeah....it's almost like that, except mine isn't as loud and is a more constant tone instead of having highs and lows, it stays constant throughout the R's. So.....whats the bad news?

 

[RedRain]

The bad news is that it could be one of your tensioner bearings about to go out. Im going to be doing my timing belt change, also all acessory belts, pulleys, tensioners, and waterpump. Ill let you know what happens after I replace all these parts. Ill hopefully be doing this on Wed.

 

[RedRain]

I got a Timing Belt kit and replaced it all, I found out that my Timing Belt Tensioner was leaking and went to crap. My Tensioner Pulley Bearing was going bad too. Im happy my noise is gone now .

 

[oldman]

Humm.. I still say the crank pulley, was it new too? You mentioned stethoscope but you never said where.

 

[realitytb]

. the last time i heard that noise coming from my car, my balance shaft was broken, and cracked my block. DAMN

except mine was a little louder.

 

[RedRain]

I didnt replace the crank pulley. Just Timing Belt Kit and WaterPump.

 

[defrag010]

My original problem was my tensioner also. When I took it out, enough fluid had leaked out that I could push the plunger halfway down with my hands.

 

[Black91TSiAWD]

Got my TB and Water Pump done too, and the noise is gone. Guess it was the HT bearing after all. So glad that noise is gone as well.