grinding noise from the passenger side vehicle of the motor 2.7 v6 2001 it is in the timing chain area. two months ago the car stalled out ran bad (ruff), they changed the oil ran great for two months. It has stalled again runsbad again. this time it has a grinding noiselike metal to metal. or aluminum to metal.Im wondering if it could be the Chain Tensioners or guides that are going bad or are bad letting the chains rub against the aluminum engine block etc. The oil has been changed every 3000 miles no more than 3500. There is no appartent sludge.

Any suggestions, ideas, guesses, (praying is acceptable) I dont really want a motor change...

 

First: Check your alternator. Grinding and electrical nightmares can be caused by bad bushings and shorted out brushes. And it is a whole bunch cheaper than tearing into your motor.

While your timing chain and associated hardware can easily make that noise, I think it is not likely because of how you described the problem being fixed once before by changing oil. The only real suspect inside of there might be the tensioner. Most of your other parts would not react that favorably to an oil change.

Check ALL of your peripherals. (Water pump, Power Steering Pump, Air Conditioning Compressor, Alternator, Idler Pulleys and Tensioners, and anything else you find out there.) The alternator is the first suspect because it has the ability to cause all of your symptoms. (Running bad due to wild electrical spikes and brush or bushing failure can make quite a bit of noise.)

I know that the problem went away in the past with an oil change, but yours wouldn't be the first alternator to play hide and seek.

Good luck.