So to take some of the mystery out of the questions posted.
you indicated a knocking sound when accelerating under load at a certain speed.... that could mean you have pinging happening where ignition is happening too quickly before the piston has reached where it should in the rotation (the top). this is adjusted by timing often, but can also be fixed by using more ping resistant fuel, such as a higher octane.
Some of us use a non standard timing setting for better performance, and since you don't have a timing light you can't see if that was done on yours or not. It also means that you can't adjust it back to a more conservative setting on your own. I would recommend you get a timing light just as it isn't a complicated process and even if you are adjusting, takes a few minutes at most.
the engine light should come on after a number of pings are detected and the engine timing i believe will be retarded by the engine control unit (ECU). So that is one of the reasons you've been asked if that has come on.
There are a few things that tick. I can hear my injectors cycling at idle with the hood up, this isn't a concern but it is noise one could hear and be concerned about if they didn't know what it is.
Also if someone dents the power steering gear when installing the pump or swapping etc, it will tick as well (the gear metal seems to be very soft).
leaking exhaust manifold gaskets also make a ticking noise (not something I would expect in your case and really isn't a known common problem for 80 series engines of any variant that i know of.
I also recently tracked down a rattle in my engine that wasn't very uniform in sound which ended up being the oil pump, also not something i suspect is an issue with your vehicle.
In short we don't know what you are comparing the noise against.. for example if you are comparing to a brand new japanese or korean vehicle... you might find it hard to hear those run and this may sound loud and abnormal..
anyway nothing wrong with you asking these questions and checking things, just giving you some extra context around some of the questions and what i am guessing is in some people's heads who are asking you.
you indicated a knocking sound when accelerating under load at a certain speed.... that could mean you have pinging happening where ignition is happening too quickly before the piston has reached where it should in the rotation (the top). this is adjusted by timing often, but can also be fixed by using more ping resistant fuel, such as a higher octane.
Some of us use a non standard timing setting for better performance, and since you don't have a timing light you can't see if that was done on yours or not. It also means that you can't adjust it back to a more conservative setting on your own. I would recommend you get a timing light just as it isn't a complicated process and even if you are adjusting, takes a few minutes at most.
the engine light should come on after a number of pings are detected and the engine timing i believe will be retarded by the engine control unit (ECU). So that is one of the reasons you've been asked if that has come on.
There are a few things that tick. I can hear my injectors cycling at idle with the hood up, this isn't a concern but it is noise one could hear and be concerned about if they didn't know what it is.
Also if someone dents the power steering gear when installing the pump or swapping etc, it will tick as well (the gear metal seems to be very soft).
leaking exhaust manifold gaskets also make a ticking noise (not something I would expect in your case and really isn't a known common problem for 80 series engines of any variant that i know of.
I also recently tracked down a rattle in my engine that wasn't very uniform in sound which ended up being the oil pump, also not something i suspect is an issue with your vehicle.
In short we don't know what you are comparing the noise against.. for example if you are comparing to a brand new japanese or korean vehicle... you might find it hard to hear those run and this may sound loud and abnormal..
anyway nothing wrong with you asking these questions and checking things, just giving you some extra context around some of the questions and what i am guessing is in some people's heads who are asking you.
