I got home today after filling out paperwork for my new job and surely enough there incomes a car problem. My 1986 Camaro Z28 starting making a constant "heartbeat" sound under the hood. I checked under there and I'm honestly not sure what the name of it is, but the lowest belt rotator has a loose part behind it. Pretend your looking at my 305 TPI engine. Start at the air intake where the "tuned port injection" emblem is, go lower and you'll see the a double belt rotator. The lower one has a piece loose behind it. What needs to be done to fix this? I'm not even sure where it came from. Thanks for the help.

P.S. It's difficult to upload pictures right now, but if need be... I can.

 

To be honest....pictures would make a big difference, seeing you're having a hard time describing the part. But there's a lot of talented people on this board, so you never know.

 

You can see it from under the car. It's right behind the belt on the lowest point of the engine. I believe it's called the harmonic balancer. It's right behind the harmonic balancer. Its another round object directly behind the balancer.

 

Bump, I have to use this to take me to work tomorrow so any advice is appreciated.

 

your timing chain cover seal could have come loose and is rattling on the crank

 

Thats probably it. I see something moving under there.

1. Can I drive it for a few days?

2. Can I repair this (I'm probably a 7.5/10 on the mechanic scale) or should I have a professional repair it?

 

OK I have a back-up car my friend lent me for tomorrow but I really wanna get this fixed. Anymore comments are GREATLY ACCEPTED. Thanks guys.

 

if it spraying out a bunch of oil then i wouldnt drive it. but if its all dry then dont drive it.

 

I didn't see any liquid coming out of it when I saw it moving.

How do I repair it? I want to know exactly what I'll need when I go under there. Bolts, welding material, whatever...

 

you can either get a new timing chain cover at autozone for like 20 bucks or a new seal to press in there for like 5-10. the crank pulley and the harmonic balencer need to come off. i would just replace the seal on the cover...if thats what it is. if u wanted to replace the whole cover you would have to loosen the oil pan as well.

 

OK. I might have someone do it for me. I don't know if I wanna risk really messing it up and having it get worse later on. Thanks.

 

no problem