engine rattle on 1993 1.9l Escort

[wmkdarrow]

I have a 1993 Escort 1.9l station wagon with 156K miles.

Several weeks ago the engine started to sound as if it was running on 3 cylinders when I accelerated but was fine when cruising even at high speed.

A week ago I started the engine and it gave off a heck of a rattle sounding as if something had broken loose inside the engine. I turned it off immediately. The sound appeared to come from in back of the 1st cylinder or from the manifold. ( more generally the left side of the engine).

Not knowing much about car engines ( I am the sort of " oil-change-is my-limit" mechanic ) I replaced the sparkplugs first. The points were clean. This did nothing.

I then checked for spark. There was none on the 1st and 4th plugs.

I then replaced the ignition coil. Again no difference.

On the recommendation of a friend I replaced the EEC computer with one from my neighborhood used parts yard. This did not make any appreciable difference.

I don't want to continue with this "shotgun" approach as I don't know what things I should test or in what order to approach these possibilities.

I would greatly appreciate it if someone could give me a list of things to look for and in order of priority.

[wmkdarrow]

I have tried several other possibilities over the weekend.

Using an analog voltmeter on the diagnostic test connector location I tested for error messages on the cold engine as I don't want to run it when the rattle in the engine is so loud. I seem to have got code 33 or 133 or some variation of this. Unfortunately code 33 refers to a running engine. Does anyone have any suggestion?

Next I replaced the crankshaft position sensor. this seems to have returned the spark to all four plugs but did not remove the rattle of the engine.

Is there anything else to try before I have to take it to a mechanic?