[Shotimes] Failing Cam Timing chain tensioner sound?

[Donald Mallinson]

The V6 Cam chain tensioner makes noise at idle.  Slight 
rattling sound from the chain "bump" at the back of the 
valve covers.  Almost always this is harmless and putting in 
all new gears/chain/tensioner won't help.

There is a belt on the front  and the tensioner there can go 
bad but not very often.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
> On Behalf Of Bruce Malachuk
> Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 6:28 PM
> Can anyone describe the sound a failing tensioner would make? I have this
> wierd rattling sound that is only present from 3000rpm and up, but it only
> happens some times. I've verified that it's not the TOB as it doen't go away
> when the clutch is pushed in. I seem to really hear it coming thru where my
> pillar pod is mounted, as the spots where the clips used to be affixed are
> open, and I think they carry sound from the engine bay up into the car. I
> put a piece of a broom handle on the tensioner area of the front head, and
> there is a slight noise there, but not like waht I'm hearing while driving.
> The back head is silent as far as I can tell.
>  
> Is it possible that the front tensioner might be failing, and letting the
> chain slap around, and if so is it something that can kinda happen one day
> but be quiet the next? My Opal is up to 95k miles and is perhaps a week to a
> week and a half from comming off the road for the winter. I have a 3.2 that
> will be going in there over the winter, but I wanted to troubleshoot this
> and see if it's gonna be ok to keep driving on it till I've made sure the
> winter beater is up to snuff so to speak.
>  
> Is there any sure fire way to test out a tensioner and see if it is bad? I
> know it's like a 25 min job to get the front valve cover off, 15 of that
> being the intake. :-)
>  
> Thanks in advance
>  
> Bruce Malachuk