[jaguar5229]

For the second problem, try using a higher grade gasoline. You don't need to go to a different gas station, but, use a higher octane rating. Also if that fails, change the oil. Use synthetic oil. I recomend Mobil 5000. Make sure it is FULL synthetic. It should say right on the bottle. If that fails, replace the piston shaft. It is probably not the piston shaft, but, anything is possible. If the noise started all of a sudden without you changing anything (gas etc), just change the oil like I said. Those are basically the only problems that cause knocking. If you do the oil change yourself, make sure you drain both parts of the resivoir. The one in the front is a 3/4 inch and on that same tank just behind the part of the chassis, is a 7/8 inch. Like I said, if that doesnt work, you need a new piston shaft which is rather expensive. If that is the case, avoid ANY hard acceleration as that can crack your block.