strange rattling noise from hood

[exploreco97]

I have a 1997 Camry LE 4 cyl. About a month ago a rattling noise started coming from under the hood. It is there when the car is idling but goes away after you accelerate past 15mph. It also seems to go away when the car warms up. I took it to the muffler shop thinking it was an exhaust shield loose or something but they found nothing. My father thinks it could be the timing belt. Wondering if an idler pulley would make that noise?

The car has 96,000 miles on it. Haines manual says to replace it at 90,000 but has I see here, others are getting well over 150,000 on there's.

Any suggestions? Anyone have this problem? Would a timing belt make noise all the time? Car runs perfect except for that.

Any help would be appreciated.


Thanks

[Mike Gerber]

If the noise is there when the car is idling, it should be fairly easy to pinpoint the noise with a mechanic's stethescope. You can also use a two foot length of garden hose as a stethescope. Just hold one end to your ear and touch items around the engine compartment with the other end until you find where the noise is coming from. This is what a tech would do if you bring the car in.

Mike

[Toysrme]

I wouldn't stretch it past 110. The water pump needs to be changed too. Less someone has been dilligent about flushing the coolant out every other year, or doing yearly drain & fills - chances are the radiator has sludge in it & the pump is corroding.


An idler pulley is not a likely cause. They're replaced every other belt change.




Use your ear. Put your head in the engine bay and triangulate where the noise is comming from. There are a few hundred moving parts in the engine bay, there is no way on Earth we can tell you what it is, barring a lucky random guess.