Okay, went to autozone. pulled code P0011 - Intake Cam Overadvanced Bank 1.

So the knocking noise im hearing is the camshaft chain? Basically, i need to change the timing belt... but also the cam tensioner?

 

the timing belt shouldnt have anything to do with this. if you need to change that then you can do it at the same time if you want.

the chain tensioner is at the rear of the head. the exhaust cam is the one with the timing belt cog on one end and the cam chain gear on the other. the intake cam has the cam position sensor on one end and the chain gear on the other. so the exhaust cam is always in time with the crankshaft, the intake cam would be the one that would be affected by the cam chain having excess slack in it.

heres what it looks like- the front (bottom) of this picture is the rear of the head, you can see the gears where the chain is connected, the tensioner is not installed in the pic but goes between the cams. the exhaust cam is on the right side in the pic, it would be on the left if you were standing in front of the car.


there is the procedure to change the cam chain in the modifications and maintenance sticky, click the first link and download the ~90mb file. it has PDFs of all the service procedures.

 

Not time like the present to build your head! (f*ck the LOL's I'm serious)