I've had a rattle for the last couple weeks. Occurs from 1500 to 1700 rpms under light to medium loads. Won't do it while in neutral. It has a sort of pulsating frequency to it that slows the higher the rpms get until it goes away. Like something that is spinning and rattling. Kinda hard to describe.

It's a brand new 3.4. The cam is a stock size replacement from comp-cams and has a 4 degree advance grind. Would that 4 degrees cause my timing to be too far advanced when I set it at 10?

I can't get ahold of the manufacturer today, but I'm tempted to go out and retard my timing a bit to see if that makes a difference.

go pull 2* of base timing,take it for a drive,if it still does it pull 2 more*,if it doesent go away by the time u have pulled around 6-8* more then likley its not
spark knock

btw even though the cam is advanced once u set ur timing its
set if it says 10* its at 10*.and most cams come 4* advanced

Well I set it at about 6 1/2, took it for a drive, and still heard it. Road is wet and it was raining a little so it was hard to hear much, but it was still there. I only adjusted it once because it's a pain on my car. I get shocked if I grab the dist and plug wires while it's running.

So now I guess I get to worry about rockers or bearings probably. yay

I did find out why it doesn't start up on the first crank when it's cold though. My CSI is disconnected. Must've happened when I was fighting with the wiring trying to get my o2 connector to reach, because now I can't get the CSI plugged back in. oh well, I'll deal with it another time.

I was having a simular problem when I did my swap and had to relocate the ground from block to frame( refering to the shocking when adjusting timing). have you tried that?

I'll have to try that I guess.

Also, that sound seems to be coming from the right side of the engine. That's what it sounds like when I shift my body so my head is centered over the console.

if youre getting shocked you need to replace your wires or cap or whatever is shot because you sure as crap shouldnt be getting shocked.

I think I remember getting shocked even when the cap and/or wires were new. I should try a new distributer though. I'll have to take a look at it anyway in case that's the rattle. Or maybe my flexplate bolts.

I found out my idler arm is bad today too. Hopefully when I get it replaced and the tires stay straight, I'll gain a tad more mileage.

By summertime when the gas is better, and I have enough miles to switch to synthetic, if my mileage hasn't improved ( and I have my truck) I might put my 2.8 back in until I can figure out where I went wrong.

I'm still getting about 7-8mpg less than the 2.8 right now.

ur using 3.4 injectors right? i bet u when its cold it prolly runs pretty dam rich,and when its idling its idling as lil richer then normal.which could make up for some of ur mpg loss,not much but a lil,
what gears does the car have?

I haven't really driven mines that much since I put the 3.4 in. I did use the 3.4 injectors though so when I get it out if the exahust shop (couldn't get the y pipe all the way tight to the manifolds) I'll run it for about a month just to check on the mileage to see what I get. I did switch to mid grade gas with 10/40 oil. Don't know what that will do just seemed like a good idea.

Brand new 3.4 accel injectors. The acceleration seems to have smoothed out when I installed the new Bosch o2 christmas eve. I got the other one soldered, but I haven't tried it yet. Then the SES came on 3 times that day. Haven't had it since except for tonight when it came on on the way home. I didnt' have my jumper wire handy, but I'm pretty sure I'll still be getting nothing but 13.

I also haven't tested the closed loop operation since I replaced the o2. It was jumping back and forth before.

The gears are 3.42 I guess. Whatever is stock.