help!!!!! how do you tell if the timing chain needs to be changed?

88 dodge ram 50 sport 2.6l 127 k miles on it.
the last few days whenever i start the truck and it's sitting there in idle no noise but when i give it a little gas i,m getting clatter from the front of the engine.
sounds like it might be either from the water pump area or near the power steering pump.
once it warms up when i start down the road no noise/ how can i check to see if it,s the timing chain is going out?
or is it the water pump?
i don't want to run it till i get some advise on here. i really don't want to take it to the shop it will probably cost me an arm and leg.
check out vid
https://youtu.be/eXTeLSOW7us

I do not know about the chain, but you can check the water pump by simply grabbing the pully/shaft and see if it wiggles.

That is a worrying noise. I would take off the rocker cover and see if you can get any slack on the timing chain. If it was a tensioner (assuming it's an oil pressure regulated unit) the sound would go away to some extent when the engine is up to operating pressure. If the timing chain has done a lot of work I would be inclined to pull the engine out and replace everything. I've heard of the impellor shearing off the end of the water pump internals. It will squeal like a pig and your engine temp will sky rocket - you'll know straight away what's happened if it fails.

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Originally Posted by Fatmanwa

I do not know about the chain, but you can check the water pump by simply grabbing the pully/shaft and see if it wiggles.

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good ideal i,ll give that a try today thanks

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Originally Posted by geezer101

That is a worrying noise. I would take off the rocker cover and see if you can get any slack on the timing chain. If it was a tensioner (assuming it's an oil pressure regulated unit) the sound would go away to some extent when the engine is up to operating pressure. If the timing chain has done a lot of work I would be inclined to pull the engine out and replace everything. I've heard of the impellor shearing off the end of the water pump internals. It will squeal like a pig and your engine temp will sky rocket - you'll know straight away what's happened if it fails.

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see that was my thinking that if it is a water pump issue wouldn.t it run a bit hot? or if it was a oil pump problem i would be losing oil pressure . all gauges are saying that everything is ok water temp runs in the medium oil pressure is high to medium and you only hear it once you give it a bit of rpm,s and after the motor warms up the noise goes away. but it still is worry the hell out of me lol.

Some 4G54 engines have an oil pressure actuated chain tensioner and others are mechanical adjust. Oil pump shouldn't be an issue (unless it was making that hell racket in your video - then you are in deep sh!t). I should've added checking your fan clutch as well. Maybe the bearings are shot in it? It is difficult to know where to start checking from a video...It does sound like the issue is in the timing cover proximity though and is consistent with engine rpm.

update on little truck: got it down to the shop yesterday and they tell me that so far it looks like a timing chain job going to be anywhere from $1200 -$1500 donation will be accepted lol

Looks like it's time to roll up your sleeves and have a shot at this yourself. It's not quite rocket science but as long as you are thorough and patient you'll be able to perform this repair. Granted you'll be basically pulling 1/3 of the engine apart but for the sake of 1500 bucks, it's money in your pocket.

wish i could but in 09 i had a major heart attack lost 40% of my lower heart then a year later lost my right kidney to cancer so as you can see i,m kind of broke worse than my truck lol i do miss working on trucks :(

Damn, you are lucky to still be in the land of the living. Put the word out to anyone that is local, can spare some time and roll up the sleeves over a weekend? I thought $660 was steep for a timing belt/water pump install but hell man, that's practically an engine rebuild. :shakehead:
(you share something in common with your truck - it ain't the age, it's the mileage...)

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Originally Posted by geezer101

Damn, you are lucky to still be in the land of the living. Put the word out to anyone that is local, can spare some time and roll up the sleeves over a weekend? I thought $660 was steep for a timing belt/water pump install but hell man, that's practically an engine rebuild. :shakehead:
(you share something in common with your truck - it ain't the age, it's the mileage...)

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you got that right lol problem with finding anyone around here that likes old things is like trying to find chicken teeth -----just not going to happen lol as for me being like my truck i was ran too many times with low oil pressure lmao ;)

well guys heres the latest on little blackie *btw thats the name i have given my little truck after watching true grit lol*any ways talked to my mechanic and he says what caused the problems to start was my oil pump was weak and wasn't pumping enough oil to the timing chain and the lower guide wasn't working right and the bolt holding the lower guide on broke and cause slack in the chain so after finding a timing chain and oil pump kit on ebay i will soon be back on my way to running little blackie down the road *the lower bolt was a dealer item very hard to find cost me $20 plus shipping another $5 so heres today's tip if you run across parts for your truck and you plan on keeping your truck you had better lay in a stock pile of surplus parts. everything from bumper to bumper i,m going to build a shop just for surplus parts and start being watchful of hard to find parts. i know one young man that got lucky *markmakeitso* lol on a intake i,ll let the group know when it,s back up and going.:thumbup:

Ouch. The truck went into catastrophic failure mode. At least it hasn't eaten any bearings :pray: Yeah everyone is stockpiling parts if they can. If they don't help you out they'll always come in handy for someone else whose in a bind.

ya the oil pump was only weak enough to damage the timing talk about dodging the bullet everything else seems to be ok.
i was needing new gaskets on the value cover anyways so i guess it's all working out for the best.
still makes my butt pucker every-time i think of what it's costing me lol

update on little blackie :
good her back yesterday after a total of $1300
new timing chain/gears/guides/oil pump/water hose /oil change plus filter /had a bottom water hose wore out and leaking replaced/ had a weak radiator cap replaced/new gaskets all around/ antifreeze changed
but @ least thats something i don't have to worry over now.

...a big bill but at least you know it's not going to grenade on you now it's done. Now you can get back to driving it! :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by geezer101

...a big bill but at least you know it's not going to grenade on you now it's done. Now you can get back to driving it! :thumbup:

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you know thats right

Lets hope this mechanic has done his job correctly and everything is to specs. Don't be afraid to open that hood and take a good look around for mechanic forgetfulness. You paid a lot of money for your work considering your unable to perform the job due to health issues. Find out if he put in OEM parts, OR parts that will last just past the warranty. Also, change your oil maybe in about 500-1000 miles in case anything might of found it's way into the system when being worked on, plus in case any machining from new parts have fallen off parts. You should now have a truck, when is starts, makes no noise from the chain rattling for at least 60k-80k miles. Glad your truck is running again, as well as you still running to enjoy it. You sound more like the Terminator to me! ;]

FYI:
Oh on your first question about how to tell if chain is stretch. Usually when chains get stretched, you will hear the chain rattle until the oil pressure has pushed the tensioner out enough to take up the slack in the chain. It will make this noise for maybe a couple seconds and then stop. If it doesn't stop can usually determine you have a sticky tensioner or bad oil pump or some type of obstruction in the oil flow.

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Originally Posted by BradMph

Lets hope this mechanic has done his job correctly and everything is to specs. Don't be afraid to open that hood and take a good look around for mechanic forgetfulness. You paid a lot of money for your work considering your unable to perform the job due to health issues. Find out if he put in OEM parts, OR parts that will last just past the warranty. Also, change your oil maybe in about 500-1000 miles in case anything might of found it's way into the system when being worked on, plus in case any machining from new parts have fallen off parts. You should now have a truck, when is starts, makes no noise from the chain rattling for at least 60k-80k miles. Glad your truck is running again, as well as you still running to enjoy it. You sound more like the Terminator to me! ;]

FYI:
Oh on your first question about how to tell if chain is stretch. Usually when chains get stretched, you will hear the chain rattle until the oil pressure has pushed the tensioner out enough to take up the slack in the chain. It will make this noise for maybe a couple seconds and then stop. If it doesn't stop can usually determine you have a sticky tensioner or bad oil pump or some type of obstruction in the oil flow.

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all very good advise hadn't thought of changing the oil but you have a very good point .i,m wondering if putting some lucas oil treatment on the oil change would be a good thing? as for trusting my mechanic i trust him 100% plus i have a 6 mo,s guarantee plus another 2 yrs on parts. thanks for the heads up on this.