i have this noise coming from the front of my motor....i thought it was the water pump.....its not a knock....its a tinny noise...like my fan was hitting something or scraping something...sooo....i removed the fan belt to stop the fan from spinning.....didn't go away....removed the belt from the power steering pump...didn't go away.....so all the belts have been removed from the harmonic balancer and i still have the noise....i've had some oil leaks since i put my new carb on...so i tightened the oil pan bolts...they were pretty loose....is it the timing chain?...is the crank hitting the oil pan since i tighten the pan...here's a list of things i've done lately..OOO....the noice increases with the RPM...i'm sure this isn't good...car still runs fine and strong

new carb(caused some oil leaks from pan)
had car timed to 36 degrees by professional
launched/redlined car 10 times or so in neighborhood
changed oil

Could be the timing chain.......... with motor OFF, remove distributor cap. Since you have all the belts off, you should be able to put a socket on the crank bolt. Rock the crank back and forth and see if the rotor follows with NO slop. You may have to remove the spark plugs to do this, but if you go easy you should be OK.

Since you already have all the belts off ,get a mechanics stethoscope and listen to the timing chain cover,surrounding areas and check the balancer pulley too.

it has to be the timing chain/gear....what else could it be?.....i put the belts back on but i can remove them pretty easily....would the timing chain come apart and then scrap the housing??

i used the Stethescope....its hard to pinpoint....i'll try it again

okay...i just put the stethescope between the water pump and timing cover and the scraping sound is pretty loud.....there's only 3 parts inside there isn't there....2 gears and a chain?.....could it be one of those 3 parts?

I know it's probably rare, but my case was the camshaft dowel walked out and was hitting the cover.

Could be the cam sprocket bolts (3 of them) if not lock tighted or positively held,they have been known to back out.Or could be the water pump bearing grinding up.

i'm going to have to remove the cover correct?.....i'll have to pull the harmonic balancer correct?......if i removed the belts it couldn't be the water pump correct? its not even spinning correct?

Or could be the water pump bearing grinding up.

Would have eliminated that potential source when the belts were removed.

Were you able to check your fuel pump area? Hopefully its not a lobe on your cam failing transferring the noise thru the cam to the front of the engine. Removing the timing cover and balancer can be a real pain to do in the car without it leading to additional leaks in the oil pan area.....I've done it both ways and now opt to pull the motor to ensure no pan gasket leaks.

have a good look at the balancer. in stock balancers the elastomar that joins the outer ring to the hub can sometime loose it's grip and let the outer ring move. sometimes it moves towards the engine and starts to scrape the timing cover. if it's moving, easy way to check is check the timing. it's usually waaay off if your balancer is coming apart.

so harmonic balancers can go bad?

have a good look at the balancer. in stock balancers the elastomar that joins the outer ring to the hub can sometime loose it's grip and let the outer ring move. sometimes it moves towards the engine and starts to scrape the timing cover. if it's moving, easy way to check is check the timing. it's usually waaay off if your balancer is coming apart.
I've seen this on an 84 Trans Am. It's hard to see until you pull the balancer.

so harmonic balancers can go bad?

Yes. If yo have the crank pulley off, check to see if the front of the ring with the timing mark is lined up with the area that the pulley mounts to. Should be flush, with a hint of the rubber ring bulging out maybe 1/16". :thumbsup:

well for sure the pulley that is mounted on the balancer seems uncentered....you can notice it as it spins....i haven't removed it yet...remember is a scraping noise like the fan is scraping on the shroud or something...but its not