First Post! New LX owner, but she's developed a rattle.

[Mistersuperfly]

Hello! I've been viewing this site regularly since I picked up my 02 LX earlier this year, but the time has come that I need to reach out and get some help from the people that know these best.

Over the past month the motor has been getting a bit louder at idle, the noise was a bit like a low pitched whir that didn't seem to rise or fall in pitch with addition of throttle. It seemed to be something attached to the belt, well last week that whir took a jump into being a full on rattle that has left me leaving the LX in the driveway until I can get her sorted. I do know that the previous owner had the belt and alternator replaced in the last 5k miles. The AC is continuing to blow cold, though not quite as quick to get cold as I remember it being a few months ago. The fan moves pretty freely by hand whenever the motor is off as well.

The tensioner pulley does however seem to be vibrating in the linked video, definitely doesn't look right at least.

Any thoughts?

 

[Mistersuperfly]

Hmmm, google drive link doesn't appear to be working for me, any good method to host/post video on this forum that I should be aware of? That is unless it's working for you guys.

 

[Trapper50cal]

I hit the icon in the top right and it took me to GD and it played...

Sounds like a loose fan. I'm not as familiar with these 100's do they have a fan bolted to a clutch fan?
Sounds less metal and more plastic.
Or idler pulley bearing

Oh, BTW...Welcome!

 

[Mistersuperfly]

Thank you! I at first thought it was the fan but it seems to move smoothly and without any slop or obstructions when I spit it by hand. Though If I do get in there I may be inclined to just replace the clutch anyways.

 

[Mauser]

Dang, that sucker is clean.

While it is cold with engine running try to stop the fan.

 

[scanderson76]

That does not sound good. If you have a long screwdriver (engine stethoscope) you can try to listen to where the sound is coming from at different spots. Just try to shy away from moving parts . This should give you a better idea on the location and then go from there. To me though, it does seem like a sound a fan would make.

 

[jsloden]

Take the belt off and start it. You can't run it very long like that but it will give you an idea whether it is an internal or external problem.

 

[Land Shark]

Sounds like the fan blades are flopping/hitting something. Sure the shroud is clear of the fan?

 

[KillerBox]

I am no expert but, it looks like there is a lot of movement around the idler pulley.

 

[excessive]

I think I see the tensioner moving around in the video. its probably bad bearings or something on one of the serpentine belt pieces.

 

[Mistersuperfly]

Thank you for the input! I'm more inclined to believe it's the tensioner or idler pulley, the amount of movement that the tensioner assembly is showing in the video seems to be totally out of spec, so regardless I'm going to have to get in there and swap that. While I'm in there I may replace the power steering pump which functions but is looking extremely corroded and possibly the idler pulley as well, I'm going to have to reign myself in on going too crazy on the "while I'm in there" repairs but the parts I'm looking at aren't particularly expensive so it may just be worth it, these motors seem fairly easy to access and work on thankfully!

 

[Mistersuperfly]

There wouldn't happen to be a quick link to a downloadable FSM available would there? The thought of outlaying a few hundred for the print version doesn't seem all that enjoyable at the moment.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Look through these to see if one is for yours, should be...

Malleus

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Trapper50cal]

This might be the right one for '02 LX

FSM - 2000 Land Cruiser Repair Manual (RM722U)

2000 Land Cruiser Repair Manual (RM722U), 2157 pages, 21.8MB contents: Introduction Maintenance General Maintenance (MA-1 to MA-11) Equipment (PP-1 to PP-82) Service Specifications (SS-1 to SS-53) Diagnostics DI-1 to DI-684 )...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[shane431]

It sounds like the fan pulley bracket but there's definitely something bouncing there in the video!

 

[Mistersuperfly]

It looks more and more like my best course of action will be to open her up, take out the fan and shroud, remove the belt and start taking some bits off... It was mentioned that I could run it without the belt for a bit to see if the cause is actually internal, Is there anything I should be concerned about if I attempt that?

 

[katit]

going too crazy on the "while I'm in there" repairs but the parts

At least please replace that blue coolant hose and install proper clamps

 

[Trapper50cal]

It looks more and more like my best course of action will be to open her up, take out the fan and shroud, remove the belt and start taking some bits off... It was mentioned that I could run it without the belt for a bit to see if the cause is actually internal, Is there anything I should be concerned about if I attempt that?

Just don't run it for a long time...i.e. overheat it.

 

[OEMGUY0720]

There’s a loose part for sure. I would start by turning off the engine, let it cool for a while then hand inspect bolts/nuts in any of those moving parts and do a process of elimination.

Looking closely at the video, the tensioner pulley is vibrating excessively, check that as well.

 

[Mistersuperfly]

Update:

Air box and belt off, the sound is gone with the motor running sans belt so thank god for that. Now that I can freely turn some bits I'm definitely going to replace the tensioner assembly as I didn’t like how it was shaking in the video, the bearing on the pulley can definitely be replaced because it’s not too smooth sounding when I spin it. I did wire wheel the pulley to get some of the corrosion and old finish off so it’s down to bare steel now, can I just refinish it with high heat paint or Por15 or should I just spend the $$ on a new pulley/bearing?

The power steering pump is pretty heavily corroded and I imagine it’s original so I think it’s just time for it to go. Though I am wondering about the union bolt area, I took a photo of it and I’ll add it here. There’s a decent amount of corrosion on the hose connectors there and I definitely want it to be freshened up, is there a way to just replace this connector or do I need a whole power steering hose assembly? That assembly seems to be inordinately expensive for OE, I seem to remember seeing it for $450 or something silly like that.

Lastly, I think the main issue may be the AC compressor, every other pulley moves freely and without much noise (aside from the aforementioned tensioner). But the AC compressor takes a fair amount of effort to spin, should the pulley attached to the compressor be fairly tight like that?