Weird noise from timing belt/water pump area

[Dodgertown]

My Camry started to make some weird noise from timing belt/water pump area a few days ago. Timing belt and water pump were replaced in Feb/2011. Aisin TKT003 timing belt kit was used for replacement.
Here is the youtube video:

You Tube

You Tube

[dorifuto.boi]

you gotta get the cover off somehow and see if somethin is bangin around in there.

someone with a 4cyl might wanna say how ? i think you have to get the belts off first then u can take off the cover and see whats up

[carsrus]

Almost kinda sortaish sounds like my waterpump 7-8months before it seized.

Remove alt and p/s belt and see if noise continues. If yes then rip into it. Might be something simple.

[Dodgertown]

I am gonna try to take the cover off tomorrow, but most likely that noise is coming from water pump. Damn.....It was replaced 8 month/6,000 miles ago. I was told that AISIN makes good quality water pumps...........

[hardtopte72]

It migh also be the belt slapping from a loose tensioner spring or improperly installed tensioner. I also heard this once and we thought for sure it was the water pump. It turned out to be a cam pulley left loose and wallered out. Destroyed the pulley but that was it. I do doubt it is the aisin water pump.

[Dodgertown]

Here is another thing, there is no noise when I cold start my car. It only starts after 10-15 min. idle as the engine warms up.

[hardtopte72]

Yea without being there it could be so many things. Keep in mind also noise resonates so it could very well be valve train or bottom end noise. Even a simple loose cover bolt.

[Dodgertown]

UPDATE: Today I was finally able to remove the upper timing belt cover. Still not sure where exactly this noise is coming from, but it seems to be coming from either harmonic balancer or even oil pump? Will remove the bottom cover tomorrow morning. Have to get a harmonic balancer puller now.

Let me know what you guys think about this one (I know there is not much difference)

You Tube

You Tube

P.S> BTW, those dogbone mount bracket bolts were bitch to remove, have no idea how to put them back lol

[dorifuto.boi]

why does the idler pullye look like its not tightened down ?

-is the belt tearing up and slapping around ? (doesnt look like it in the video)
-the tensioner isn't really moving around so it should be good (i think a bad idler pulley just goes back and forth like crazy)
-a sethoscope might help in determining whether the noise is comming from the water pump

[tbalon]

Are you sure it is not the power steering belt hitting the timing cover? It is hard to tell from the video. Take the ps belt off and see if it goes away. It definitely sounds like a belt hitting the timing cover. I like the fact that you are using video to illustrate your problem. Otherwise the timing belt looks good. I doubt it would be the oil pump or water pump. Yes the bolts on the engine bracket are a little tricky to get back in but it can be done. It gets easier once you have done it a few times. Let us know what you find.

[Dodgertown]

Update#2.

It definitely sounds like a belt hitting the timing cover

i think you have to get the belts off first

Remove alt and p/s belt and see if noise continues

As you can see, everyone was suggesting to remove the drive belts first. For some reason I did not follow those advices.

So, today I went to autozone (had to walk almost 3 miles ) to rent a harmonic balancer puller. Unfortunately the original bolts that came in package were to big, so I had to walk to HomeDepot (another 2.8 miles). I spent a good 4 hours before I gathered everything to pull that f*** harmonic balancer pulley out. I took the power steering belt off, but before proceeding I decided to give a try and start the car with p/s belt off.....and to my biggest surprise the noise was GONE!!! This DynaBelt brand belt was only 6000 miles old (it also started to squeak recently).

OMG, I am a real self-pita creator. I am already imagining how tricky the bottom dog-bone bracket bolts are. Anyways 2 things learned here:
1) Listen to what the people say;
2) Quit smoking cigarets

Thanks everyone for your suggestions

[Doctor J]

Have you figured out what caused this noise?
On my friend's car it was a poor quality idler with extensive radial play!