Cold start-up noise (5S-FE)

[94_Rolla_Guy]

My dads 96 Camry has developed a nasty knocking noise comming from around the oil pump crank pulley area. It does it only when its been sitting and cold.

I can hear it loudest (mechanincs stethoscope thing) when you rest the tip on the timing scale on the timming belt cover, He says it started after Toyota changed the timming belt for him a few months back, all they changed was the belt NOT the water pump or the tensioner, or any seals....

Any ideas what this could be, or does anyone have a picture of the engine around there so i could dianose better?

[toyomoho]

Go to the link below and find the service info for the year/engine type. Might listen in the water pump area, it goes bad much more frequently then the oil pump. How many miles on this engine, have any other parts been changed over times such as water pump, idler pulleys, etc?

http://oregonstate.edu/~tongt/camry

[kamrhee]

94_rolla_guy,

If you have time, try removing the upper timing belt cover. This could verify if the timing belt slaps the lower timing belt cover. That's what happened to mine when I changed the timing belt and water pump. Its a tedious process to remove but worth it to see if that is really the case.

kamrhee