99 intrepid help needed

I have a 99 intrepid, have luckily not had as many issues as most on this site. it has 160,000 and I just replaced plugs and cam sensor. The mech told me the noise in the front of the motor could be either the water pump, timing chain or both. For him to fix is quite costly. Is it possible to tell by looking at the pump if it is going bad or not. The noise was not near as bad just before we took it to the shop. We had to take it in because it would not run.

oh, by the way it is a 2.7.

Other quite frequent possibiities: A/C compressor idler bearing, serpentine belt idler bearing, alternator bearing: just remove belt; run motor without belt: you will hear if there is a difference. If noise still there, then the timing chain is probable suspect: see THIS (www.faqs.org/qa/qa-10055.html )

If noise is gone , try components by hand one by one.

If it is the timing chain,do not let it go and get it fixed asap.If you continue driving it with a bad timing chain and it breaks:bends the valves.The 2.7 is an interferance engine,you have two options if this happens:do a 2.7 to 3.2/3.5 conversion which is cheaper or replace with another 2.7 if you want to go through this again.An used 2.7 is hard to find,about $2,500.00-$3,000.00 if you can find one and there is no warrenty at all