Grinding Sound in Ford 302 V8

[Profrick51]

My Ford engine has developed a grinding sound at the front of the motor. We
removed the fan belt that drives the water pump and alternator to make sure
the sound wasn't emanating from them. Could it be a distributor camshaft
issue? It needs a tune, but runs Ok, just sounds odd. Thanks for help! Rick

 

[gadget73]

Re: Grinding Sound in Ford 302 V8

Yeah, pull the distributor and see what you have. If its not that, and you can't reproduce it by running the oil pump with a primer, then I'd suggest removing the timing cover. Not sure what they used on marine engines, but Ford was fond of using nylon toothed timing gears in the old days. Those would come apart, and develop terrible slop in the chain, and dump chunks of plastic in the oil pan. They came to their senses by the mid 80s, but since you didn't mention what year the engine is I toss it out there for informational reasons.

Also, make sure the timing pointer isn't bent and contacting the balancer. Seen that before, it makes an annoying racket.