Over the past few weeks I had noticed a rattling sound that seemed to be coming from the area of the a/c compressor which I thought might be a bearing getting ready to fail. It seemed to be most noticeable at startup. I couldn't or didn't hear it when I drove the vehicle. I stopped at a garage and the mechanic also thought it was the a/c compressor and didn't think it would hurt to drive the car. Engine performance did not seem to be affected in anyway. Yesterday, I got in the Camry, cranked it, then it ran for about ten seconds and died. I turned the ignition and let the engine turn over a few times, enough to know it won't start. I bought the car in May 05 with approx 88k miles on it and maintenance records ffrom the previous owner indicated the timing belt and water pump had been changed at 66k miles. The car now has 105k miles on it, another reason I didn't believe the timing belt was about to give out. Since yesterday, I have been trying to educate myself and have learned that my 2.2 liter four cylinder engine is non-interference, reducing the likelihood of serious engine damage. However, I'm now most concerned about the rattling I heard before the timing belt failure and what was causing the rattling. Isn't the belt itself a metal/rubber composition and could the noise have been the metal separating from the rubber and could that have damaged the engine? Before I sink money into a black hole, I wanted to determine whether a mechanic can detect any engine damage before replacing the timing belt? My brother in law says usually they install a belt. Then if the engine runs, you're ok. If not, you got big problems. Can anyone shed some light on my situation. Thanks.
- posted
17 years ago