I cant find most of my nipples even with the visor map. Do I got to take off some covers to get them all?

And I got a nasty rattle like a blender full of marbles. At first I was thinking my rods bearings, or maybe my timing chain. Tonight I did some testing by turning off the motor while I'm driving during the rattle and see if it would stop. Well it did stop, but it seems the rattle also stops when I push in the clutch, at least to my best efforts of listening. And I dont really know what that proves, saw a thread one day where someone did it.
So got me thinking maybe it's actually my drive line. Wishful thinking or can the rattle be something as simple as an un-greased part somewhere. Or maybe the clutch, or the tranny?
I got some time tomorrow so I will try and post a vid to hopefully get some audio of the sound.

 

There are 11 grease fittings on your drivetrain. The hardest are the ones you have to turn the diff JUST RIGHT to see up through the access holes. Don't have pics right now or I'd show you.

The rattle I'm not so sure about. If it goes away when you push the clutch in, I'd suspect something in the clutch assembly...

 

If you open the hood and have it in neutral you, hear the rattle then have someone press and hold the clutch and hold down, noise is gone that's your throw out bearings.

 

Do you only get the rattle when driving? Meaning, would it still make the noise if you had the engine running/revving at a standstill?

I used to get a rattle like that in my Ranger under certain throttle loads. It doesn't really sound like this would be your problem, but I figured out it was the bolts on one of my exhaust flanges. They would come loose on occasion, and in the right conditions (like going up the grade at 70 with 3/4 throttle) they would rattle like crazy.

 

Yeah I only get the rattle when driving. Usually around the 2100 rpm range, and I'd say it's at it's worst or most noticeable when I am going on a slight downhill or dead flat. It either goes away or gets drowned out by the motor when I step on the gas and speed up.

Seems to me the sound is tied in with the rpm's. When it is rattling and I let off the gas it will go away kind of slowly, like 3 or 4 seconds. When I push in the clutch it's more like 1 second.

I have also tried rolling with the clutch pressed in and reving up to where the rattle happens, but it doesent happen that way either. It's like it has to be under load, but also at a point where you can ease up on the throttle to keep the same speed.

 

It might be something as simple as something loose under the hood. Maybe you've already gone over all this stuff ....

I had symptoms similar to yours and in my case it was a loose plate on the valve cover (the plate my VSVs are attached to).

Check for the rattling exhaust manifold heat shield. I read another post about that one earlier this morning.

I also have experienced rattling of the exhaust downpipe where it is attached to the bellhousing.

All of these types of rattles can potentially be rpm dependent, and change or stop with the clutch depressed.

Good luck!

 

Sounds like it might be the pilot bearing as well...

 

Might aswell throw this question in here too.

Whats the thread pitch on the stock grease nipples? I need to replace the factory plugs in the lower balljoints with real fittings..