Ben,
thanks for the information.  I have a spare cat and muffler that I
plan to swap in this weekend.  I thought it might be the cat too.  I
did have a problem with extremely rich, sooty, exhaust that probably
killed my cat.

Thanks also to Ken Wilford and Karl Wolz with their suggestions for
loose nuts.  I did take the valve covers off and inspected the rocker
assembly.  Looked okay on Sunday night.  At least, I thought they
looked okay.  I will check again.

I swap out the cat and report back.  It appears that I probably don't
have to worry about a broken exhaust valve.

BTW, what day is van o' rama?

Thanks.

Regards,
Craig

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 12:32:07 -0700, BenT <syncro@gmail.com> wrote:
> Clanking sound sounds like broken pieces in the catalytic converter to me.
>
> BenT
> http://members.aol.com/bentbtstr8/myhomepage/index.html
>
>
>
> On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 09:43:03 -0700, Craig Oda <craigoda@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I'm trying to plan out my weekend and upcoming camping trips and am
> > trying to get a feel for how much time I'll have to spend to get my
> > van back on the road.
> >
> > I have a loud clanking sound from my engine.  It's not the tick from
> > lifters.  It is considerably louder.  There definitely seems like
> > metal is rattling around.  It appeared to sound  like a nut was
> > rattling in the exhaust.  (I don't think there is one, but it sounded
> > like this).
> >
> > The problem occurred 30 miles from home last weeknd and I drove home
> > on the freeway with the loud rattling sound.  No power loss and no
> > drivability problems.  However, the sound is really loud.
> >
> > Joel Walker was kind enough to suggest that one of the pushrods might
> > have come unseated from the lifter.  This situation is possible since
> > I just changed two lifters about a month ago and had the pushrods out.
> > Also, I adjusted the exhaust valve on cylinder 3 considerably.  I had
> > a problem with air in the lifter and the valve was about 5 turns too
> > tight.  So, I loosened it up so that it was barely touching, then
> > tightened it down about 1 1/2 turns.  I wonder if air was still in the
> > lifter and somehow the pushrod became unseated.
> >
> > I may not have time to take out the pushrods until the weekend.  If a
> > pushrod is unseated, what else should I inspect for damage.
> >
> > Also, do other people suspect a pushrod?  The problem began while I
> > was driving on the freeway.  I continued driving for another 30 miles,
> > so I don't think it's a valve clanking around in the exhaust.  I took
> > off the u-pipe for the exhaust and there's no metal in there.
>