Engine bay noise '02 Tundra

My son's 02 4.7l tundra started making a strange noise the other day from the engine bay. It's a grinding, gurgling nose that doesn't speed up or slow down with engine rpm. I thought the fan was hitting the shroud, but it doesn't appear to be, as far as I can tell. We recently had the alternator and idler pulley changed. Truck has 250k on it.

I have a video that may hopefully help, it's the sharp occasional sound https://youtu.be/W1Av6WbQKag

 

The gurgling would make me think it’s the water pump but that’s just a wild guess. Others in the past here have suggested to run without the serpentine belt for a few seconds to help isolate a noise. If that’s a viable option, I would probably try that.

 

I forgot to mention that we changed the radiator, water pump and timing chain less than 6 months ago as well (hope it's not failing already). I thought it might be low coolant, but I checked that yesterday and it's topped off.

 

Did you use OEM parts or aftermarket for any of the items you mention?

 

Radiator is aftermarket, the water pump and timing chain/pulley are OEM

 

Yeah, I’m not sure that was gurgling when I listen to it again. Maybe use a stethoscope or long screwdriver where you can listen to it and help isolate the area it’s originating?

 

I don't think it's gurgling either, I just don't know any other way to described the sound (it almost sounds like someone slurping noodles in person). It sounds more like a scraping in the video than it does in person.
I'll continue poking around. I thought it might have been another pulley bearing, but it's intermittent and doesn't change frequency with engine RPM so I'm lost for now.
I appreciate your help though

 

Pop off the serpentine belt and see if it makes noise.

 

I'll give that a go when I get back in a few hours and let you know

 

Ok got the belt off and turns out it's the fan clutch/pulley bearing. Ordered a new clutch, but need to find a replacement pulley bearing bracket for it, cause that's what is making all of the nose I think.

 

I didn't realize how much is involved in removing the bearing bracket for the fan, that such a wild design

 

@Tundra2 Didn't you do this yourself replacing the fan clutch? I remember you not being happy about getting some of those bolts off.

 

[

The fan clutch looks simple and can should be done less than hour. The video I watched for the fan bearing bracket, though, looks to require nearly the front of the engine removed

 

Has anyone replaced this bracket before that can point me to a good aftermarket option? Trying to track one down, but they seem to be a difficult find for a quality one.

 

You may be able to find OEM in the exploded diagrams. Click 'View Larger Image", then click "View More Images" on this page and flip through the exploded diagrams to find what you need. The price listed is only the MSRP, when you choose a dealership to pick up from, it'll give the real price. Different dealerships participating will give more or less discount:

https://parts.toyota.com/a/Toyota_2...WD/_51507_6710965/WATER-PUMP/841420-1601.html

​

 

Jeez that things pricey. I ended up ordering an Aisin unit from rock auto after reading that Aisin makes OEM for Toyota. Here's to hoping!

 

Yup, Aisin and Denso. OEM is always pricier. It's a toss-up whether the replacement is made by Denso or Aisin, a lot of times hitting either one's website will get you there. It helps to dig in the exploded diagrams first to get the OEM p/n so you have something to cross-reference on.

As long as you don't buy the replacement part on scAmazon, fleaBay or WallyWorld's websites, you're good to go. If you opted for one of those outlets, I recommend you cancel the order.

Other fun parts facts and such can be had over here.

 

No I just placed an order with rock auto, which I think should be good for avoiding fake parts, right? I saw too many reviews for fake items on Amazon for this part fo comfortably order from there.

 

Yup. RockAuto is awesome. And 5% off coupons are plentiful online. I usually hit RetailMeNot before shopping just to save some coin.

scAmazon is a shitshow these days.

 

Oof I knew I should have checked for discount codes before I placed the order, but I'm happy that at least I shouldn't get a bunk part. I've heard of rock auto for years, but surprisingly never ordered anything from them.

 

Good luck with this sir, May your beer fridge magnet collection grow

 

Thanks! Any advice for what else I should service while I have this taken apart? Water pump and timing belt are brand new, alternator is new as well. If there's there's anything I should do to avoid taking it apart again for a while that would be nice.

 

I mean, any thoughts on the age/condition of the radiator? Is the top plastic cap on the radiator black, grey, or starting to brown? Don't want pink milkshake, Denso radiator is cheap enough insurance.

What's the condition of the serpentine belt? Green gates HD is a great option.

Did you confirm it's got red coolant in the tank, as it should, not yellow or another color?

 

Agree with @shifty` recommendations. Radiator would be a priority. It’s not if it will leak or give you free strawberry milkshakes, It’s when. Flush the brakes with fresh fluid. Flush the power steering pump with fresh fluid. Boom. New truck.

 

Oh, and consider upper/lower hoses. Careful not to install the upper backwards. Look carefully at the old before removing. If the new comes perilously close to belt/pulley rub, you got it installed backwards.

 

Radiator is only a 6 month old aftermarket replacement. I would think it wouldn’t cause any issues this soon.

 

Radiator is less than a year old, belt is about a month old, and yeah we have the red coolant in. Unfortunately the truck is at the age where everything is dying back to back so I'd like to be preemptive if there's anything else that tends to go out in this motor.

 

Pulleys, tensioners, alternator, radiator, timing belt, water pump are the big ones I can think of.

Starters rarely go out. Fuel pumps rarely go out. Power steering s equally unheard of. Coil packs typically throw codes, rarely failing more than one at a time, or they'll have your engine barfing under load when dying. Steering racks aren't unheard of to leak or take a shit. Broken lower ball joints because people make the huge mistake of not going OEM. Crank position sensor AND cam position sensors are at risk of failure if the wires aren't properly tucked away (happens often, and earlier models had flaws with the cam sensor design that impacted wiring) both of which lead to a plethora of mystery start/run issues over time. Certain brake MC/booster designs are more problematic than others.

Outside of that, typical other failures are mostly electrical. Corrosion internal to the battery cables/grounds. Water leaking into the cab causing issues with ECM/ECU and/or integration relay/interior fuse panel. Battery dumping a cell or low CCA. Rodent getting under the intake manifold and chewing up knock sensors, starter wiring, or on top of the gas tank chewing wires/hoses fittings.

Cam seal leaks, valve cover leaks, but you'll know that based on how saturated things are, or how much oil is on your floor.

That's about all I can toss out there for you. I'm sure I'm missing something.

 

Dang, thanks for the list. I did have to change the starter a year or so ago and the front end was rebuilt a few years ago by the previous owner (my brother), so should have to worry about those. We changed the battery cables last year as well.
It has been burning through some oil, lately, so that may be worth investigating. It's a very slow consumption though. It's not leaking oil though, at least not that I can tell in our limestone driveway.

With the exception of everything breaking as soon as I gave it to my son to drive, it's been a great truck and still drives very well. It is noisy in the engine bay, so I was thinking of replacing the vacuum lines, any recommendations on hose kits?

 

Weird but not crazy on the starter. It happens, but some guys are over 400k on the original starter. Those that've had failures were able to overhaul with parts, or go re-man.

RE: Brother suspension. If your child will be driving the truck, I can't stress enough: Check-in with your brother to confirm which lower balljoints he used. There are no less than a dozen people this past year who learned the hard way on this forum. That doesn't include the dozens+ on the Facebook group. Kids are harder on vehicles and sometimes like to zip around and drive wild sometimes.

If 4WD, you'd be shocked at how much can puddle in the skid plate, if installed. A quick look up into the engine bay from the front driver's side foglight should tell you very quickly if you're leaking. Likewise, the valve covers can leak onto the manifold on the driver's side, and the manifold will burn off the oil before it hits the ground. It's unusual to hear someone say 'burns oil' if it has a 2UZ/V8. While the valve covers and cam seals are probably the #1 leak source, it's not unheard of for the oil filter cooler housing to leak also.

Yeah, the only other 'aha' I can see is, like, in some trucks the flex plate cracks. But that would make semi-loud tapping and potentially vibrations at idle if I remember the couple cases I saw on here. The steering shaft seal also deteriorates and allows a lot of sound transmission into the cab, so much there's a thread dedicated to it.

There's a few annoying cabin water leaks, the cowl bites everyone in the ass eventually.