[pugsly58318]

I would check the fuel pump relay. It's under the hood by the battery. Have someone turn the key to on while your touching the three relays that are there. The fuel pump relay should click. Most of the time you can hear it click. That is probably the rattling noise you would hear from up there as these motors have a timing belt, not a chain. I have the same problem on my dads Acclaim. Everything has been replaced besides the pump and lines and it still only runs when it wants too. If you changed the distributer cap you might want to check that you didn't pinch off the wires to the hall effect sensor. That's the wire that runs under the cap. Some after market caps don't have the notch for these wires.