[bigyagi]

ha ha, good one kyle ! my neighbours already think i'm deranged, so that would be in character !
well, stripped it all down, and the balance belt idler roller, is rough/noisy. i tried to move the water pump bearing, and to be honest, using a lot of pressure, i feel what i think is about 0.005" play. its very minimal. also, lots of belt dust in there, more than any other time, and it seems like the belts are slack . could this be belt slop ?
as to the noise, i can only say it sounds like a "grating" kind of noise. its not regular, in time with the engine, it comes and goes/different volume of noise/pitch. as i increase the revs, it does go up, but again, its not constant, in time with the engine.
if i did not know any different, i'd say something has come loose internally !
i'm going to hook up the afm, and start the car, and see if i can detect anything from the belt area/water pump, now its all open.
also will check the timing belt cam etc. thanks guys.