Timing Chain Rattle Advice

[gj124]

My 1995 E36 318is has been in storage for a few months and was previously running fine, went to start it today and there was a loud rattling noise coming from the front of the engine where the pulleys mount to the engine block, hard to pinpoint exactly where but after a quick look online I think it's likely to be the timing chain tensioner. I'll be changing the tensioner asap and the car won't be driven until then. In the meantime I'd like to take the valve cover off and have a look at the chain/guides - what kind of thing should I be looking for in terms of wear? The engine has 144k miles and has seen plenty of track abuse so I'm a little worried that my timing gear is shot and that changing the tensioner isn't going to cut it.
Any advice is much appreciated, thanks.

[bmwman91]

If it was fine before, and now it is making noise, then it may be that the tensioner is sticking, although a couple of months is usually not long enough to cause the oil to gum things up.

If you pull the cover, turn the crank slowly with a wrench and make sure that none of the chain's rollers are missing / broken. It is hard to see too much else from up top, but if the long guide on the left side looks like it has steel sheet metal as a frame then it is the old original design and should be replaced (it is likely that the tensioner rail also needs replacing, but it is NLA I think). If you can get light down in there and some decent photos, post them up and we can try to figure out what is up.

Replacing the tensioner piston is a good idea, either way. Just make sure that you do not install it in the compressed state that it ships in. Pop it free to its normal extension and install it that way so that the tensioner rail is always handling the chain with some force.

[gj124]

It's been since early August so a good long while and the oil has also been in there a long time by the looks of things. I bought the car May last year and just used it as a runabout for a few months until the MOT ran out, it's now getting a long overdue refresh. Think I'll go with a new tensioner, and a full engine service to begin with and go from there. Thanks for the advice re the install of the tensioner.