corolla 96 making a rattling noise when accelerating hard

[hungt1999]

My corolla 1996 is making a rattling noise (pinging?) when I accelerate hard, with gas pedal fully depressed. The rattling noise is most noticeable when the Air Conditioning is ON and on 2nd gear. If I give less gas or accelerate gently, the rattling noise stops.

Is there any adjustment I can make? Spark plugs are new, ignition timing is OK: about 10 deg Before Top Dead Center at 750rpm. By the way, it seems that timing is not adjustable because there is no way to rotate the distributor housing to adjust for timing.

If anyone have any idea, please share your input

thanks

[sjr8ut]

If the rattle is like a shimmy, then it may be a worn inner CV joint. But that should not get worse with A/C use. Check for signs of leakage around joint and play in the joint.

[phantastic1]

does your car have exhaust heat shields? do you hear the rattling if you rev the engine in park/neutral? if you do....it could just be the exhaust manifold or exhaust pipe heat shield. wrap your hand w/ a thick piece of cloth (so you won't get burned) and try pressing different points of the shield to see if that helps stop the rattling.