Community Forums:

I've listened to your recording and assume it's the low whirling sound that, as you mention, sounds like gears meshing. It reminds me a little of driving in reverse in a manual trnsmission. I'm thinking that sound could also be something rotating at high speed that is flipping against something stationary, like when I used to attach a playing card to my bicycle so the spokes would flip against it. You've said the dealer replaced the timing belt. Did they also replace the tensioner? Could the belt be rubbing against something? Could the starter not be disengaging? Could it be comming from the distributer? You also mention using a screw driver and a hose to listen to various parts of the engine. I recommend you use an actual mechanic's stethoscope. The one I have consists of a conventional stethoscope connected to an egg-shaped sound chamber which has a thin probing shaft attached to it. The idea is to touch the probe to various metal parts and listen for the vibration. It's same idea as the screw driver, but much more effective.