Wow, I was just typing a reply to Pickle suggesting the same thing when your
email popped up.  I had a top bolt of a rear shock work loose enough to
cause a random clunking sound.

I say grab the rear shocks and twist form side to side to check for this.

Jim
Wilmington, NC

On Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 2:55 PM, John Rodgers <inua@charter.net> wrote:

> 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<http://people.cs.uchicago.edu/%7Ewes/vanpics/sample.mp3>
>>
>>
>> Thanks!!!!!
>> Wes
>>
>>
>>
>>