Originally Posted by losiglow

I had a similar sound on my '93, a noise that sounded like it was coming from behind the engine, but it was only when the engine was under a hard load, like high throttle in a low gear or going up a hill. I cleaned out my intake with carb cleaner and tightened all the hoses and stuff associated with the intake and it went away. I think it was something dirty in the intake. But it's hard to tell what yours might be without being there.

Originally Posted by ItsaHonda

My 96 made a tapping noise at idle (as well as the ticking of the valves) and I had a slight knock between 1500-2000 rpms. Always had these noises from the time I bought the car w/ 40k miles to the time I sold it with 170k. I maintained the car by the book, still runs great today... F-series engine is just noisy. Even my new K-series isn't particularly quiet at idle. Don't know what else to say without hearing it for myself..