Wayne 1

I am not an expert but I believe yours will be timing chain therefore should not need to be replaced.

Just dropped the fan in mine yesterday, 05 Camry sportive, for first time. No cab filter on this one for some strange reason. Three screws to drop fan, under glove box. Very easy. 16 years worth of leaves seeds and crap cleaned out. Now fan is quiet and blow air much better. Could be something dead. In there. A flat screwdriver worked for me. Just remove the panel under glove box to access fan.

Above where the tray is there a open gaps, see above photo. Wouldn’t a piece of filter over this work rather than cutting out plastic. Any build up that still gets into fan is very easy to remove, three screws drop fan and clean.