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This damn 1.8 I got for my truck has a bad top end rattle during accel. If you bring the R's up slowly in nuetral, it's o.k.-but if you punch it, you hear a noise almost like spark ping in mid range . During normal driving it starts to rattle right at the shift points in all gears during upshifts and backfires out the exhaust when you shift. I've switched heads , checked cam timing, de- carbonized the pistons and valves,set the valves, checked all the vacuum hoses, checked all the emissions crap, tuned and timed it, replaced the fuel filter, put on a new muffler and tailpipe and fixed all the exhaust leaks, and tried every grade of gas known to man. My truck's a stock 81 LUV and the motor came out of an 81 Isuzu Pup and I'll be damned if I can figure out what the hell is going on. Oh yeah, when I first put the motor in and got it running, it ran like crap and backfired a lot and I found that the connections to the coil were loose and when I tightened them that stopped. I have a series 5 shop manual, a chiltons's, a haynes, and an old motors manual that covers the truck and they're no help. WTF is going on? ( I'll be patiently awaiting your replies while scratching my head bald and cussing up a storm) Later -TAZ

When you get done scratching your head bald, you can start on mine because I have the same noise. I was told to retard the timing a little, but haven't tried it yet for lack of time...

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Kuranosuke
Grampa's Driving:

1990 Luv 4X4 "Family Cab"
with the big 4 banger on 31" Dueller A/Ts

1989 Dodge Raider with some junk...

"Urban Fighter F.P.C" coming soon to a road near you...
got BOOBIES?

check the vacuum advance make sure it is hooked to ported vacuum and not manifold vacuum. another thing you might check is the mechanical advance sometimes when the weights or springs get worn they will stick. i had that happen on an hei the weights were stuck in the full advanced position that thing rattled like bolts in a coffee can in a paint shaker. something to think about. later

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don`t have the luv no more but I still like em.72 el camino,
00 & 06 silverado one 4x4, turboed vw sandrail,99 banshee, 06 raptor 700, 02 polaris trailblazer.

check the vacuum advance make sure it is hooked to ported vacuum and not manifold vacuum. another thing you might check is the mechanical advance sometimes when the weights or springs get worn they will stick. i had that happen on an hei the weights were stuck in the full advanced position that thing rattled like bolts in a coffee can in a paint shaker. something to think about. one other thing make sure the shaft the weights and springs sit on rotates properly too sometimes the shaft will stick from oil build up. later

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don`t have the luv no more but I still like em.72 el camino,
00 & 06 silverado one 4x4, turboed vw sandrail,99 banshee, 06 raptor 700, 02 polaris trailblazer.

All the advance stuff: Is that if you have or don't have the smog crap on it. I don't have any of the smog stuff...

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Kuranosuke
Grampa's Driving:

1990 Luv 4X4 "Family Cab"
with the big 4 banger on 31" Dueller A/Ts

1989 Dodge Raider with some junk...

"Urban Fighter F.P.C" coming soon to a road near you...
got BOOBIES?

More!...more!...more!.... my hair's starting to grow back!

I don't think it will matter whether you have the smog crap or not. I just had it all available and it all was in good working order so I used it. I think I'm going back to my local boneyard and grab a couble of distributors and coils after I test mine and see if that helps. But I guess you just answered the question of whether or not the smog crap, (or lack of having it hooked up , for that matter), could be causing it. Because if both yours and mine are doing it, then it's got to be something else. I think checking out all of the ignition stuff is a step in the right direction. Besides, if you got timing, got fuel, got compression, what else is left? Drum roll, please..............................SPARK! (Sorry, it must be all the Tazweizers last night.) " l'll try to keep you posted on my progress, and if anyone out there has any other suggestions for me and Kuranosuke, feel free to jump in with your .02. Later -TAZ

I know this isn't much help, but turn your radio up louder....

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03Cobra

Sure hope your not 180 degrees off, you could twist the guts out of it. Backfire is a sign that you are proubly out of time.In turn ...makes your valves rattle and ping.Also check to see if your coil is good and not cross arking.I have seen coils do strange things to engines!Theres a black wire -ground- on your altanator that i unhooked on mine because mine was doing the backfire thing....runs ok now! Does it backfire loud when you turn off your ignition?

Mine doesn't backfire. I just have the maddening rattle under hard (or not so hard) acceleration. The exhaurst pops a little when I let off, but I think its just the glasspack (doesn't sound like backfire). Mine does, however, have the "I wanna run even though you turned me off" syndrome though (sometimes). Like taz said, thanks for all the help...

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Kuranosuke
Grampa's Driving:

1990 Luv 4X4 "Family Cab"
with the big 4 banger on 31" Dueller A/Ts

1989 Dodge Raider with some junk...

"Urban Fighter F.P.C" coming soon to a road near you...
got BOOBIES?

I have checked/verified the cam timing and distributor timing, so I know I'm not 180 degrees off,(as stated in my first post), but I think you're on the right track pointing my nose at the ignition parts. I fixed my backfire problem,(it was loose connections at the coil), but now it pops out the exhaust like Kuranosuke's does during upshift. Thanks for all your help guys! It's nice to know that you can depend on people to be there when you're having a problem. You guys are the best!

You might consider readjusting your valves and maybe checking the chain tensioner. Do you have correct oil pump pressure? I Had an early Luv motor and it also had a rattling top end until i finally adjusted the valves correctly. The chain tensioner needs correct oil pressure to work correctly. It's tough to determine what the problem is without having the truck in front of you.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Chain, tensioner and oil pressure are all fine. I've adjusted the valves and re-checked them. I've even changed heads to see if that was the problem because the original head was on the engine and it had a really bad crack in the exhaust manifold(in case it was bad valve springs), but it didn't change a thing. Thanks for your input! This is driving me wacko, but I'm not gonna rest till I whoop it. Ain't no chunk of furiner tin gonna git da best uh me. Later -TAZ

I had an 83 Pup with the horrible rattle problem. I got mostly rid of it by just disconnecting the vacuum advance when I got just really sick of it one day, so I suspect the distributor was the source of my problem. This has been quite a while ago, and I didn't put much into solving the problem since the truck wasn't much anyway. Pulling off the vacuum line got rid of the rattle except under really hard acceleration, so from what I've read here I'd guess the mechanical advance was pretty well stuck. Too bad I don't still have that truck. (Tho I saw it randomly about 60 miles from where I last had it sitting for sale in some farmer's barnyard.) One question to add though, did you use a points distributor or electronic? I had electronic and always suspected I needed to replace the module in the distributor, got so used to points going out all the time that I figured that sucker must go out too. Not like Isuzu to replace one problem without creating another.

There are a ton of sources for rattle in the 1.8 motor though. Not the least is the oil pump. Under hard acceleration with low oil level the pump can suck in some air when the oil sloshes back in the pan. If the oil pickup tube is out of place I suppose it could do the same. Oil pump rattle should be familiar though, it is the noise you hear the first time you start up the motor after changin the oil and filter. Timing chain or tensioner wear will cause a constant rattle coming from the top end, and valves out of adjustment will do the same. Just

Well, I checked the distributor and the magnetic pickup checked out fine, the vacuum advance was shot (replaced it), the coil was bad(replaced it) and I still got a rattler. The damn thing does it whether you're moving or sitting still during acceleration. When you rev it up quickly, it happens about md-throttle. I tell you what - if cuss words could fix an engine, this thing would be purrin' like a kitten. Later -TAZ

Here kitty, kitty...

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Kuranosuke
Grampa's Driving:

1990 Luv 4X4 "Family Cab"
with the big 4 banger on 31" Dueller A/Ts

1989 Dodge Raider with some junk...

"Urban Fighter F.P.C" coming soon to a road near you...
got BOOBIES?

Glasspacks could make your teeth rattle,let alone your engine. O.K. heres an old timers trick you might try. Get a broom stick or better yet get a 2 inch pipe about 4 feet long and start your engine. Now what you need to do is gently place the one end of the pipe on the engine..without hitting the fan or belts...and put your ear up to the other end and listen...now try another place...keep trying untill you hear the loudest noise that sounds different or not right! Bet ya thought you couldnt be a doctor.But really you can tell really clear where your problem is if its in the engine.good luck and watch out for the fan and belts, i dont want to hear that you had to have a pipe removed from your mug!!

park truck close to a dumpster. remove the wimpy little 4 banger and throw it in the dumpster. install 350 chevy and turbo 350. if this does not fix your problem then install a nos system.

lol

how do your plugs look? what kinda coloration is on them?