What do you think this engine noise is?

dont think its the vvt actuator. It would be beyond loud at startup and quiet down almost immediately. Im going with belt tensioner.
 
It's really loud when i'm driving near walls or something that can bounce the sound back into the car, it's easy to overlook with all the other noises going on (injectors, etc) otherwise. Glad that you guys can hear it though.

dont think its the vvt actuator. It would be beyond loud at startup and quiet down almost immediately. Im going with belt tensioner.

It's never louder or quieter. It starts as soon as the car is started and lasts until it turns off. The varies with RPM and otherwise never changes.
 
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Its definitely something on the belt drive, I'd say the tensioner as well, or possibly the belt itself.
 
It's under warranty. I'll make an appointment for this coming weekend and let you guys know how it goes. Thanks for your input and ideas, guys.
 
I've taken it to 2 Mazda dealerships and they say they can't hear it. My car is still at the dealership and i plan to go down there tomorrow and drive the car with the tech to point out the issues. I'm paying for a rental from them since they dont do loaners so i'm going to try my hardest to bring it to their attention.
 
I went by the dealership today and drove the guy around. He guy was really nice about everything. He said that it sounded like the "chain was making way too much noise" i think me means the timing chain. They are keeping the car to investigate.

it may also help to know this car has 16k miles on it.
 
They're not chain drive? (shocked) The frequency of that sound doesn't seem like timing chain to me, though. I still guess a belt issue.
 
They fixed everything except that. How can i get them to fix it? I don't know what else to do. They said they drove another one on the lot and it sounds normal. Should i wait until it gets worse? Maybe i will just buy the damn thing from mazdaspeed motorsports. Anyone know which pulley is the tensioner? I don't know how to identify it.

Edit:// It's $88 through mazdaspeed motorsports. And here is the diagram on their site for those who are curious like i was.
 

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Belt tensioner. you can check it with a 10 mm wrench. there are 3 marks on the tensioner. Turing clockwise should only go past 2 of the 3 marks, if there is any more travel the tensioner is bad
 
If it were bad, would you be seeing it move at all when the car is running? I think i see it moving a LITTLE when it's idling, but i'm not 100% sure. Just curious

I'll try to check it later today or tomorrow, wassup61 - thanks.
 

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