Just came home for lunch and thought something sounded "funny" as I puled into the driveway, so I turned off the radio and HVAC. Rather loud tapping sound coming from the front of the engine that is in synch with engine RPM. Failed oil pump was my first thought, but oil light has never come on. As I looked down the front of the engine, I could see the dust shield behind the balancer moving back and forth like it was bent. I crawl under it to see if I can tweak the "bend" out, and find the dust shield is loose and can be easily rotated around the balancer shaft. I repositioned it (unable to get straight due to lack of access) and restarted the engine. tapping sound is still there, but different pitch.

How crucial is this shield? Can I just remove it completely? Or do I need to replace the balancer completely?

 

Quick update: noise isn't coming from that shield. I used a redneck stethoscope (long screwdriver) and tried to pinpoint noise origin. Was unable to pinpoint so I removed the belt and started it. Let it run for 20 seconds and noise was gone. Ran out of time at lunch for further diagnosis.

 

Update #2. Noise coming from either the driver's side idler pulley or the power steering pump which I had just replaced last week. Used a non-redneck mechanic's stethescope and the tapping is definitely traveling through the bracket that holds the power steering pump. Removed idler pulley and it has a slight "tick" when spun by hand. Soaked bearing with Deep Creep and reinstalled temporarily. Put belt back on and the tapping noise was much quieter, but still there.
Since I don't feel either part is in imminent danger of exploding, I am taking it to work tomorrow and then to friend's house to first install a different idler pulley, and another steering pump, if necessary.

 

deep creep is a rust remover penetrator, did you lube the idler back up or is it running dry now.

 

Drow, Deep Creep is also lubrication. We didn't do anything more than that. On the drive to work this morning, the noise was almost non-existent. I am still going to replace the idler after work tonight with a spare one we have to see if that is the root cause. If the noise doesn't change with pulley swap, going to put another crappy chain store steering pump in (under warranty). If the pump is causing the noise, I will replace it again with a good one whenever I get my tax refund, and also throw on a new idler.

 

PS: Mods, can you change the title of this thread to "Noise from front of engine" since it is definitely NOT coming from the harmonic balancer?

 

I did, but I think you can edit your own title, if you "go advanced" then change

 

Cool. Thanks Dusty. I was trying to delete a post the other day, and couldn't find a way and I guess I had overlooked the title editing at the time.

 

Well... Drive back to work from lunch was silent, so I have postponed replacing anything until the noise returns. Drive home from work was also silent. I wonder if the idler pulley got some kind of grit behind it when I did the steering pump in my work parking lot on lunch last week...? Maybe the Deep Creep flushed it out...?

Stay tuned!