1997 Engine Rattle

Hi, I have a 1997 3.9L Dakota with 26K miles on it and the engine seems to have some sort of rattling noise. If you stand in front of the engine, it appears to be on the left side. The truck runs great otherwise. The rattle appears to be more noticable whe the car is in drive and even more when put into reverse. After a while the noise seems to either go away, or quite down a good bit. Any help or sugestions would be greatly appreciated. I tried to check the visual things and couldn't find anything too obvious.

Thx, fastlife1

Probably a little late but did you check the catalytic converter?
When some of them go bad, they rattle...

Hi, I have a 1997 3.9L Dakota with 26K miles on it and the engine seems to have some sort of rattling noise. If you stand in front of the engine, it appears to be on the left side. The truck runs great otherwise. The rattle appears to be more noticable whe the car is in drive and even more when put into reverse. After a while the noise seems to either go away, or quite down a good bit. Any help or sugestions would be greatly appreciated. I tried to check the visual things and couldn't find anything too obvious.

Thx, fastlife1

Engine ping probably. Mine does it.

If it sound like a can rattle, it is your cat. It is very common. your cat might be loose or it might be worn and needs replacing. I've owned three dakotas and all have had this problem.

Thx for teh replies, I haven't checked the cat converter because the sound seemed to be coming more form the engine on the passenger side versus underneath the truck. I will definitely either try to check myself or get a muffler shop to check out the converter. I had read in another post that some others were having a similiar sound and they mentioned the timimg chain. Any thoughts?

Thx, fastlife

Thx for the replies, I haven't checked the cat converter because the sound seemed to be coming more form the engine on the passenger side versus underneath the truck. I will definitely either try to check myself or get a muffler shop to check out the converter. I had read in another post that some others were having a similiar sound and they mentioned the timimg chain. Any thoughts?

Thx, fastlife

I've got the exact same sound in the same place. As far as I can tell,and read, it's the timing chain. Please let me know if you're able to find what it is!