Need Help ID-ing Noises From Engine

About a month ago I changed the oil on my '03 by myself for the first time, since then I've been noticing a rough (metallic?) sound when I accelerate. My dad says it sounds like the power steering fluid was low, and sure enough it was, but after topping it off* its still making the noise.

Is anyone able to identify what might be wrong from these videos? the first one is just it idling (ignore the thud at 28 seconds, that was something hitting the wall outside) and the second is it in neutral and lightly pressing the accelerator a few times. At this point I'm not sure what the problem could be, if theres any other information I can give to help then I'd be happy to.

1st vid: https://youtube.com/shorts/OyUR-rxDigQ

2nd vid: https://youtu.be/L-Th3efNetc

*Checked the level again the other day and it turns out I accidentally over filled it

 

Sounds to me like a pulley is going out. I'd go to your local parts store and grab an automotive stethoscope (they're usually only about $10).

Then carefully place the tip of the stethoscope on the center locking nut of the ac idler pulley, then place it somewhere on the body of the alternator, then onto the power steering pump. Listen carefully to each and when you find the one that is on its way out, you'll know immediately.

My bet is AC idler pulley

 

oh good to know! I'll have to get that tomorrow since its late, but I'll see what doing that tells me.
I should be able to sort it out from there but I'll come back here if I have any other questions

 

sounds like a bearing/pulley. Should be easy to pin point where the noise is coming from with a stethoscope. You can even do it with a long screwdriver. Also seems like valve cover may be leaking. You should changed those out or check to make sure the bolts are not loose. If you havent changed the belts do so. You'll also be able to check the pulleys to see if any are bad. Good luck

 

I got an automotive stethoscope and went listening to different parts. The PS pump, alternator, and tensioner pulley for the AC compressor belt all just sounded like white noise more or less, with the pulley being the loudest.

I eventually found some parts making a sound similar to the weird engine noise, and through the stethoscope it sounds like a combination of a high pitched jackhammer and a cricket chirping. I don’t know what this part is with the red arrow but that’s where I heard the sound the loudest. I couldn’t really hear it from the valve covers (green arrow), but I could also hear it quietly from what I think is the cylinder head (blue arrow, sorry it’s not lit up in the picture well). It’s also pretty audible from the exhaust right next to the engine.

I don’t know if the problem would still be the belts or if this is engine knock or something similar. Should I bring this to a shop? I don’t have the experience to do more than minor maintenance and I can’t really risk messing up anything because this is my only car.

 

Red arrow is the fuel rail/injectors which its normal to hear a tapping/ticking sound from the injectors pulsations. Chirping sound would be more from a belt. You may also have an exhaust leak.
Exhaust leaks can sound like valvetrain noise and be mistaken for a tapping valve/lifter in some cases

 

swap out those belts and see if the noise goes away. Belts dont cost much

 

You could also just remove the belts and start up the engine with them off and see if the noise goes away. If they do, then it's a pulley or belt. And you can add one back at a time (starting up the truck after each addition) to parse out which one is your culprit.

 

Ok I might removing the belts, I’m hesitant to try it since I’m not sure how easy it is to mess things up with tension and such. Also I can’t find torque specs for the lock nut of the ac idler pulley and don’t know if that needs to be at a specific amount or not.

 

where are you located?

 

Central Texas, why?

 

German torque specs work - "Gutenteight"

 

If you were in CA I would take a look at it for you

 

Oh gotcha, thanks for the offer tho

 

Working on this some more and I noticed this part of the AC compressor spins sometimes when the car is on, I’m fairly certain this is at least part of the problem. The repair manual I have for this doesn’t label the specific parts of the compressor, so I don’t know what this is/how important it is.

This is the back of the compressor, Im gonna look it up myself now to see what I can find, but I thought it might help to include.

 

That part is the AC compressor clutch, it engages when the AC is turned on so that the pulley just free spins when the compressor isn't in use. Try looking at with the AC button on vs off and see if it behaves as we'd expect.