When I had the valve cover off to check and adjust the valves, I checked the chain at the same time and it appeared nice and tight. I wasn't really able to check the guides/rails at that time as I couldn't get a good look at them but from what I could see they looked OK. The sound that I have doesn't appear to be coming from the front of the engine as I would expect a bad chain or rails to cause. But I could be wrong as I can't really tell where the noise is coming from with my head under the hood. When in the drivers seat, it sounds like the noise is coming from the driver's side of the engine. When I stick my head under the car, it sounds as if it is coming from the bottom end somewhere. The noise started about 4000-5000 miles ago. I have since gone through a couple of oil changes and I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary in respect to the oil with no visible metal particles before or after the noise started. Is it possible that the tensioner is bad and is there anyway to check and adjust it? How should the rails look and what would be a way to get a good look at them without having to tear the front of the engine down?
~DJ

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012