Hello there
Newbie shade tree mechanic here.
I have a 2002 Camry Le, 2AZ-FE 2.4l, AT (and if it matters has the made in Japan VIN), approx 130000 miles
Car started making grinding (?) noise in July. Stopped driving it shortly thereafter.
Recent work prior to noise (if it matters), all within February this year to current:
New NGK Plugs and Coil Packs.
New Battery, Alternator, and Serpentine belt
New Starter
New K&N filter (only, kept stock airbox/intake)
Replaced Intake Manifold Gasket
Changed Oil (Castrol High Mileage 5W-30), Filter (Wix Extended Peformance)
Replaced Oil pan gasket
Replaced PCV
Cleaned Throttle Body (was filthy) and replaced gasket
Cleaned MAF
Flushed and filled with Toyota coolant, replaced thermostat

Car never emitted smoke, temperatures were always great. As a while the rest of the car is mechanically sound and always ran great (despite ex-wife's lack of maintenance/getting regular oil/filter changes- car did have low oil a could of times but never ran dry).

June- Oil change showed sludge - not excessive, but noticable mainly on pan bottom. No metal. Pick up tube filter/screen was clean. Replaced pan gasket that resolved small oil leak.
July - car noises started, only at start uo, after driving for a few min would go away. Couldn't exactly pinpoint where it was coming from, best guess was from rear passenger side of block. Read a few forms, found that grinding noises could be coming from intake manifold - some have experienced cracks which vibrations make similar noises. Took a chance, pulled intake manifold, did find cracks, Replaced with new one. Didnt fix issue.
Drove a little further. Noises took longer drive time to quiet down, was louder. Took to mechanic but they were limited on what they could do as it was close to their closing time. They checked the belts, bearings, timing chain, pulleys - all good. Oil was full and fresh. They narrowed noise down to bottomside of engine, coming from oil pan area. Didn't have time to get into engine any further - but based on expertise they think it has lower end engine damage such as driveshaft or spun bearing, but would have to pull pan or do other disassembly to be sure.
The noise itself sounds like if someone had a desktop fan, and the blades were made of metal, and after turning it on, proceed to take a screwdriver or something metal and press it against the spinning blades(?). That's about the best that I think it sounds like.
So knowing no one can really know unless the are seeing and hearing thr car itself - could that also be a sign of the oil pump pick up tube or screen being clogged? Or could it be something else I'm not thinking of? I'm not rich at all, and I'm not confident on my ability to replace the motor if needed. If it needs one, is there anyone anybody can recommend as a reman? I'm located in eastern Washington if any of this helps...
Thanks in advance for any help or direction provided!

 

The 2AZ-FE is notorious for oil consumption. The sounds you describes sounds absolutely terrible- metal fan eating a screwdriver!!
Hard to diagnose but I wonder if the cylinders got scored from oil starvation, you say the oil got low. You can get a piece of rubber tubing (fuel line) and have one end to your ear and the other you can place around on ending (stethoscope) and try to pin point the area.

 

Thanks for the advice Patonium, I'll look into doing that tomorrow morning to see if it helps me narrow it down. 👍

 

Good luck and please keep us posted.