[darwin666]

guys.. my car 1999 mercury tracer.. it was having some wierd problems. when I used to idle, i would hear loud knocking, as if engine is mis firing and a rumbling. but when I was moving. no noise.. it got worse and the local mechanic coud not figure it out.. .Some posts here told me I needed new spark plug wires and THAT did the trick.. so far.. no more noise.. may be something that we all need to do 10 years or 70- 100K miles. thought I would mention it

 

[EscorGo]

Glad it worked. You don't have a distributor cap BTW. Hope you didn't get charged for one.

 

[LOWETGT]

Good stuff! Yeah, be sure you weren't overcharged. I had a bad wire once and after car wash or while raining, I'd lose a cylinder. It ran like a shiity lawn mower.

 

[Strycker]

Curious.. did the sound occur when you started the car? Mine just started making an awful noise, which sounded like metal on metal tapping. When I rev the engine, it goes away, but when idles down it's a loud tapping again. Starts fine and sounds fine till it idles down, then the noise occurs, but goes away when revving. I'm starting my own topic on it but just wondering,

 

[LOWETGT]

Sounds like dirty/sticking hydraulic lifters. I have a mild idle tick, but the '91 BP is known for it since it has smaller oil holes than the '92+. If it is a HL issue, they need to pulled and cleaned; maybe even replaced.