Last weekend, i cleaned out my air flow meter with ethanol and carb and choke cleaner. The ethanol was to clean out the oily film left by the carb cleaner. i equally cleaned out my air filter. I started the car up and got this rattling sound that wasnt there before . it dies down at high rpms but is there at low rpms and at start up. I have checked some other online forums and have seen things about intake manifold resonating and timing belt tensioner getting bad and even checking the ocv filter (i intend to tackle that one this weekend). What do you think could be the cause of this loud rattle?

Check any components, screws, bolts, nuts etc you untightend when you wanted to clean the said parts and tighten them to the right tension.

lomomike, i only unscrewed the air intake chamber that houses the air cleaner. the maf is situated on top and just beside that chamber as well. In all i took out only four small bolts and put them back on securely. i read somewhere again that it could my injectors making that sound. but could injectors really be that loud? i can hear the rattling from inside the car and its annoying.

Had a friend who had dat kind of problem. Pls ur car is 2AZ FE meaning it has a timing chain. Pls scan d car if ur check engine is on. If it gives u a DTC code P1346 chances that ur timing chain or tensioner or some oda stuff is worn out. My friends own make dis loud noise when starting and den die down after like 5 minutes.

ray collins: Had a friend who had dat kind of problem. Pls ur car is 2AZ FE meaning it has a timing chain. Pls scan d car if ur check engine is on. If it gives u a DTC code P1346 chances that ur timing chain or tensioner or some oda stuff is worn out. My friends own make dis loud noise when starting and den die down after like 5 minutes.

My check engine isn't on yet. Haven't driven the car for a while now though. I serviced the timing chain tensioner last year when i changed the timing chain cover. and it was looked at again in feb this year. It was till clean back then. I will take the valve cover off over the weekend to see what the tension in the chain is like and what the timing is like as well. will call my mech over to have a look at the timing. Thanks.

Update on the rattle. 2azfe owners might need this as a heads up. travelled a week or so ago to anambra with the car and the rattle got progressively worse (check engine came on). The rattle got louder and engine sounded like a diesel engine by the time i got to the villa but power or economy didnt take a dive though. took the car to the famous mgbuka obosi on friday and the verdict was my camshaft actuator
was toast (i didnt't use a scanner cos down there, no one makes use of scanners and mine hasn't arrived yet). After several consultations with different mechs who were recommended by reliable friends, i changed the camshaft. the noise disappeared. Have since travelled to lag and back with the car and no issues so far so i guess they were right. Heres an image of what the actuator looks like.

Thank God ur problrm has been solved. Pls where is d location of d cam actuator and what ccode did it read. Pls u can do well to e0xplain extensively for oda 2az fe users and more so where is ur location?
Thanks

@ray collins. The actuator is the ( round stuff at the end of the camshaft with the sprocket (teeth or gear) attached to it as is depicted in the pix I attached. I stay in port harcourt. But the camshaft change was done in onitsha. There are reliable mechs who can do the job. The essential thing in the job is to get the timing right after changing the cam. From what I have read so far, cam failures do happen to vvti engines. I have not scanned the car yet but I haven't reset the codes either. Will do that when I can squeeze out time to visit my friend who owns a scanner. Mine is taking forever to get to me.

9icetoo, bikonu give us d contact of dis reliable mecho in onitsha. I sent u an email. Y dint u use ur man oroz who is in PH wit u

Pls did dey. Have to diassemble the timing area to get to d camshaft actuator. Where exactly is it like is it d timing chaain area or ............

Sorry chukel, i haven't been able to get the mechs number who did the job for me in onitsha. Unfortunately, i couldn't save the number. I have explained my situation with oroz to you. he will come in handy when i need a major overhaul done on my car (shey u hear oroz? lol).
@raycollins. yea, they had to open my valve cover and remove the two camshafts (intake and exhaust). Intake cam is the one close to your intake (plastic) manifold and exhaust cam is close to the exhaust manifold as well. They didn't have to open the timing chain cover though.

@9icetoo thanks.

i think i av this issue

Tumbaba, scan the car first. If you get codes P1346 or P1349, then come back and we will know what next to do. However if you are not getting any of this codes, then ur camshafts and OCV are still okay. The oil u r using might be causing the noise. What oil are you using? I hope u r not using any of the 20 weight oils. Heavy oils like Mobil XHP or oils of similar weight will have the car make that noise at start up.

Chaii. 9ice too it seems u read my mind. My uncles car a toyota camry 2003 with 2AZ FE XLE has d exact codes. P1346 and P1349 and also has P1135. The car engine makes a noise @ start up but dies dowm quickly. Pls who fixed ur own. Can u halp me. Where r u. Thanks.

9icetoo: Tumbaba, scan the car first. If you get codes P1346 or P1349, then come back and we will know what next to do. However if you are not getting any of this codes, then ur camshafts and OCV are still okay. The oil u r using might be causing the noise. What oil are you using? I hope u r not using any of the 20 weight oils. Heavy oils like Mobil XHP or oils of similar weight will have the car make that noise at start up.

thanks. first, my car is free of any error. dashboard clean.
second, i used mobil 1 5w-20 full synthetic for like 4 months and d engine was making a hell of a noise wen i rev or wen i accelerate suddenly, that was corrected after i changed to total 7000 15w-50 semi-synthetic. engine sound is smoother now. (I'm not ready to argue about manufacturers recommendation and all dat synthetic stuff, i use what works for me).

thirdly, the sound I'm getting is just immediately i move in drive or reverse position. its an annoying sound that comes from somewhere around d engine. d sound is just for like 2-3 secs and it stops once I'm fully in motion till i stop to move again. its more obvious wen I'm in traffic . my mech told me its a camshaft problem but i want to be sure dats d issue before i allow him open d engine. i did a full scan and live stream. i will upload d image of d scan result.

Btw, its a 2007 camry se v4

Also i still av d mobil 1 5w-20 oil (from usa) for anyone interested. Didnt work for me. My mileage is 112k miles

Tumbaba, no one is arguing. Lol. Since your check engine is not yet on, then i guess you have nothing to worry about yet. You probably just have noisy valve lifters (that's a guess since it cleared when u switched to slightly thicker oil) or the pin in the camshaft sprocket that locks the cam in retard angle is slightly worn (Also happens to high mileage 2AZ FE). Both aren't major issues though. One other thing you should check is your self adjusting serpentine belt tensioner. They are also known to make that sound just when a car is moved from a stand still. Speed, I am based in Ph but not there at the moment.

tumababa: Also i still av d mobil 1 5w-20 oil (from usa) for anyone interested. Didnt work for me. My mileage is 112k miles

Pls how much will the 5W20 oil go for, and how can I get it... I'm in Benin.

dinyelutochukwu:

Pls how much will the 5W20 oil go for, and how can I get it... I'm in Benin.

13k. Im in lagos

@9wce too. I'm waiting or a reply from u. Thank boss

Speed, please send me your email so i can send u a pdf manual on how to troubleshoot the two codes. U can use it as a guide along with ur mech to pinpoint the cause. cheers

tumababa: Also i still av d mobil 1 5w-20 oil (from usa) for anyone interested. Didnt work for me. My mileage is 112k miles

I'm interested in your oil if 'dinyelutochukwu' isn't. Is it unopened? can you go lower on the price? I'm in Lagos.

three:

I'm interested in your oil if 'dinyelutochukwu' isn't. Is it unopened? can you go lower on the price? I'm in Lagos.

Sealed in amazon wraps. Im selling below my cost price already. I used one on my 2007 camry with high mileage and d engine noise was too much,tho no oil leak. My mech adviced 15w-50 total oil and its just perfect. Thats why im selling the second one i bought.

tumababa:

Sealed in amazon wraps. Im selling below my cost price already. I used one on my 2007 camry with high mileage and d engine noise was too much,tho no oil leak. My mech adviced 15w-50 total oil and its just perfect. Thats why im selling the second one i bought.

Good day. Please how to you get to buy these oils. Would appreciate if you could share the info

Ngutor:
Good day. Please how to you get to buy these oils. Would appreciate if you could share the info

amazon

tumababa:
amazon

Thank you

9icetoo: Speed, please send me your email so i can send u a pdf manual on how to troubleshoot the two codes. U can use it as a guide along with ur mech to pinpoint the cause. cheers

Rayarcand6@gmail.com

It seems 2AZ-FE is plagued with so much issues rattling sounds, strip bolt head, oil sludge issues etc. I pray my highlander 2.4L doesn't develop any of these issues even months after I sell it off when I eventually feel the urge to do so

Lomomike, it is not. The 2az fe engine was so successful, toyota used it for more than 6 years and the variants are what you see in newer camrys. The issue of stripped head bolt was restricted to bad batch made in 2003. It is one of the most durable engines around. It doesnt have any issues with sludge as well. The rattle is not a problem unless your camshaft actuator is being starved of oil in which case you just change the actuator and you are good to go. The 2azfe engines have some of the highest recorded miles in cars in the US without a rebuild.

9icetoo: Lomomike, it is not. The 2az fe engine was so successful, toyota used it for more than 6 years and the variants are what you see in newer camrys. The issue of stripped head bolt was restricted to bad batch made in 2003. It is one of the most durable engines around. It doesnt have any issues with sludge as well. The rattle is not a problem unless your camshaft actuator is being starved of oil in which case you just change the actuator and you are good to go. The 2azfe engines have some of the highest recorded miles in cars in the US without a rebuild.

okay boss.