After purchasing the vehicle at around 120k miles, I noticed a loud whine that would match the engine RPM's. A lot of searching around suggested that it was a bad VTC or VVT actuator or solenoid. That did not end up being the case. The noise came from the very top pulley. First I changed out the tensioner pulley which, although it did not fix the issue, the older one was due for a change. Later on I bought a replacement for the highest pulley in the serpentine belt. Replaced that and reused the same screw and nut to hold it in place. Noise has since disappeared. I am glad it was something this simple and nothing VVT related.
The engine in this particular case is loud because at cold start the RPM is higher than normal and thus the pulley is making a lot of noise.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
After purchasing the vehicle at around 120k miles, I noticed a loud whine that would match the engine RPM's. A lot of searching around suggested that it was a bad VTC or VVT actuator or solenoid. That did not end up being the case. The noise came from the very top pulley. First I changed out the tensioner pulley which, although it did not fix the issue, the older one was due for a change. Later on I bought a replacement for the highest pulley in the serpentine belt. Replaced that and reused the same screw and nut to hold it in place. Noise has since disappeared. I am glad it was something this simple and nothing VVT related.
The engine in this particular case is loud because at cold start the RPM is higher than normal and thus the pulley is making a lot of noise.
- Jom J., Ames, IA, US