I hear a rattling sound. It sounds for all the world like a loose shock.
This happened to me once in my '85, and the shock bolts were loose.

John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com

On 6/14/2010 1:00 PM, pickle vanagon wrote:
> I made a recording of my mystery noise.
>
> Just to recap the facts:
> 83 1.9l manual
> Did the pilot bearing a few weeks ago.  This doesn't seem like a mechanical
> noise that could be related but this should probably be mentioned anyways.
> For good measure, let me also state that we recently painted the poptop.
>
> The noise never occurs when you rev the engine at an idle.
>
> It also seems to not have a periodic nature, and doesn't seem to change
> based on engine or wheel speed.
> For this reason, I believe I can rule out CV joints, wheel bearings, etc.
>
>
> (As a reference, almost all the times you hear the sound in the recording,
> the van is accelerating.)
>
> the recording is high quality, but I recommend headphones.  Speakers,
> especially laptop speakers, won't be nearly as useful.
>
> I would REALLY appreciate any suggestions.... I'm going to go crazy here
> pretty soon!
>
> Noise is at http://people.cs.uchicago.edu/~wes/vanpics/sample.mp3
>
>
> Thanks!!!!!
> Wes
>
>
>