My father's '99 Contour SE started making a grinding noise, it's the best I can describe it anyway. I poked around the engine a little bit, and I think I've found that the noise is coming from the crankshaft pulley. My question is, are their bearings in there that have dried out or something? Or is there something else I need to look in to? It's a 4 cylinder 2.0 btw. If anymore info is needed, let me know.

I forgot to mention it's got around 99k miles on it.

No one has an idea?

Take the belt off and see if the pulley is lose or if it has any play in it.

could be the pilot bearing.

Either way, would I be able to take care of this problem by just taking the passenger side tire off? Do I just need to take off that one nut on the pulley to get at the pilot bearing?

yes

Is there any way, besides jamming something in the flywheel, to keep the engine from turning when I'm loosening or tightening the nut? It's an automatic by the way.

You can try to put a pipe wrench on the pulley