Noise at the front o of the 225

My 225 has been very noisey in the area of the timing chain since I acquired it. It is almost like a loud ticking sound coming from the area where the distributor enters the timing case. First I thought it was the distributor but the noise was still their after I replaced it With a HEI.
Now I'm replacing the time chain. I found the chain that was on it looked pretty good. Not much wear on the tensioners either. I'm wondering if there could be another source for the noise. Like maybe a bad front cam bering. Any suggestions?

 

does it have the spring loaded button the end of the camshaft to help prevent cam walk? this could be causing the noise. on three out of five 225 chains i have replaced the front cam bearing was worn out.they had a groove cut in them by the oil passage cut in cam to carry oil to the lifter gallery.it is simple to replace the front cam bearing,just be sure to line up the oil holes when installing.

 

I would ck the fuel pump. it rides on a bolt on lobe to the cam.
cheep and easy.

 

I'm still in the process of installing a new T chain. There was little, if any , evidence of wear inside the time chain cover. I'll check out the other suggestions this weekend. Thanks.
Sparky, I haven't taken the oil pan off as yet but I will before I'm done. When I do I'll take a snap shot of the crank.

 

I had the same noise, drove me crazy!!! thought it was the fuel pump, got an electric pump and covered the hole, not!! still had the noise. I took both valve covers off and ran the motor, low and behold #1 cyl had very little movement on the exhaust rocker I had a bad lifter, caused the end of the pushrod to dimple and it caused the cam to wear. I had to replace the cam, lifters and the pushrod.
Doug

 

Bruce, If it will help any--I have NOS Jeep V6 cam bearing sets--PM me if you need a set.

 

Seems to me that this is very common. My Dauntless has some play in the #1 valves as well, producing a noticible "tick." In talking with others, many have had the same experience.

Pop off the valve cover and check for play in the push rods. You may have to manually rotate the crankshaft in order to close the valves. With the valve seated (closed), try to spin the push rod with your fingers. They should spin with some amount of effort.

 

Thanks for the responses. The valve cover is definitely coming off and I'll check out the other possibilities as well.

 

Make sure the dist. cap is on right it will run but makes a loud ticking noise

 

I had those exact same symptoms. Check the water pump. I just purchased a nice little cj for cheap because it had a "knock". Turns out it was the water pump bearings. I changed the pump and all was well for about 20 minutes, then that cheap auto zone piece of crap went out. Looks like I'll be hunting a better source for a pump.

 

Did you ever figure out the source of the noise? It seems mine is doing the same thing. I never did figure out what it was. I checked the lifters, and they seem fine. Here is a clip of the noise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8R840QGC7k

 

Replacing the timing chain did the trick. We checked the push rods on # one cylinder and found no damage or excessive wear.