5 ltr is my balancer slipping

[baza]

there is a noise at the front of my engine , like a scraping noise . all the belts are tight . i bridged the diagnostic terminals , [ paperclip ] connected timing light , timing mark was fairly still when just idling , but when i reved motor the timing mark advanced . but it was not smooth, was sort of erratic and when i backed off the revs , the timing mark came back to around the 10 degree mark. when i removed the paperclip the timing mark was at the low 20 degrees on idle, but when i reved motor the timing mark at first retarded a few degrees , then advanced but not smoothly. does this all mean the harmonic balancer is slipping ? i thought when its in diagnostic mode the timing mark should not advance. i would really appreciate any advice, thanks.

[deanos70]

i dont know about your timing, but i would be lookng at the water pump
the bearing in it might be shot

does the noise increase with revs

[baza]

i dont know about your timing, but i would be lookng at the water pump
the bearing in it might be shot

does the noise increase with revs

there is no play in the water pump pulley when holding the clutch fan and trying to move in or out on the shaft. and no leaks in the cooling system. but there is a bit of side play in the little idler pulley that the AC compressor belt goes on. the engine takes a bit longer to start and is down on power a bit. and no fault codes logged. the noise at front of engine is not allways constant sometimes increases with revs , and at times noisier at idle. i just think the timing mark on the balancer is erratic , and thought that the timing mark should not advance in diagnostic mode. that is why i suspected slipping balancer. any more ideas please?

[delcowizzid]

timing is only locked upto 2000rpm over that and you will get advance.its normal for the mark to shift around a bit the slack in the timing chain and dizzy gear makes the timing jump round a bit