Ticking noise

[chevy06burban]

Hello everyone. I have a 93 k1500 with a 350. The other day I started hearing a ticking noise and oil pressure was reading lower than normal. My first thought was low oil, so I checked and it's at correct level. Listening more for where the noise was coming from I could hear in the front of the engine. As it sat idling it suddenly stalled and now won't crank over. The check engine light didn't go on before stalling. After looking in my repair manual, I'm thinking its maybe the timing chain. What do you guys think?

[777stickman]

When you say it "won't crank over" does that mean it won't start or won't turn over at all?

If it cranks but won't start it could be the chain. You can pull the dist cap and see if the rotor turns while "cranking".

[chevy06burban]

It won't turn over at all. Like the battery is completely dead except I know there is juice to the battery since the interior lights and stereo are working. Something to also note is I never had any issue starting the truck up even after the ticking noise started. No hesitation on acceleration thou did have a hiccup like it may have misfired while sitting idle at a stop light kind of like a indication of low fuel. I fueled up as a precaution even thou my gauge said I had plenty of fuel. Got the truck home and popped open the hood to listen closely then after a few minutes that's when the truck stalled.

[Stealthee]

Just because interior lights come on doesn't mean the battery voltage is good and/or connections are good.

[chevy06burban]

Ok. But a low voltage battery wouldn't be the cause of the ticking noise I was hearing? I would think that if the truck is running and the battery had low voltage the truck would still run off the alternator. Or am I wrong?

[chevy06burban]

By the way the truck has 102K miles.

[Stealthee]

Unless the alternator crapped out and killed the battery to where there wasn't enough juice to crank it over.

When it comes to diagnosing an issue you can never assume anything.

[777stickman]

Turn the headlights on and leave a door open for interior lights on. If all that goes out when you turn the key to crank, you've got a bad batt, bad cables and/or bad connections.

[Schurkey]

"Ticking noise" at the front could be anything from major problems to a rock chip in the fan belt.

The bigger issue right now is why the engine won't crank.

Test voltage at the battery terminals. Fully charged is 12.6--12.7. 12.5 is about 3/4 charged; 12.0 is hopelessly dead.

Charge battery as needed. Disconnect, clean, and reattach battery cables at the battery. Do the same for the cables at the other end--at the starter or the engine block or wherever they attach. The terminals at the battery, and on the cables, needs to be bright 'n' shiny. Green and fuzzy is bad, BLACK or grey is bad.

Put a long ratchet or breaker-bar and socket on the bolt at the center of the crank pulley. Try to turn the engine clockwise looking from the front. Is the crank locked-up?

[chevy06burban]

Thank you everyone for your input.
@Steelthee you got me thinking when you mentioned the alternator. I've never had one fail before so I didn't know the warning signs. I did a little more research on the alternator. Then I checked the volts on the battery. I was getting a reading of 12.04. Examined the alternator and found metal shavings on the back of it. So I replaced both the battery (that was 6 yrs old) and alternator.
@Schurkey I even cleaned the battery cables even though they didn't really need it. Always a good idea nonetheless.
Turned the key and my truck is running again. The noise is gone.
Again thank you.