Alright here it goes. I got my 1993 SSEi a little over a year ago. This rattle started about 2 months after purchasing. Was no big deal it would come and go. It gradually got worse and worse. I have changed everything i can think of. It sounds like it is coming from the belt drive system. I have changed both spring tensioners, both idler pulleys, the supercharger is new reman., No grinding or abnormal noises coming from the water pump nor the power steering pulleys. I am completely boggled by this noise. i was just wondering if anybody has had similar problems and if so if you could help give me a better understanding of what it is and a possible fix for it. I appreciate you all taking the time to read and any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

Does the rattling come from the bottom passengers' side of the engine, or up by the SC? Does the sound go away upon acceleration?

If near the SC, where did you get the SC rebuilt, or if it'* near the bottom of the engine, it may be a Harmonic Balancer.

It really sounds like it is coming from the general area of the lower belt tensioner. I have used a stethoscope. The only problem with using that is the rough idle makes everything jump around so much it is hard to tell.

How many miles? We have seen alot of Harmonic balancer failures on higher mileage 3800s. It is a very high possibility that it is the culprit of the noise.

Well the problem is there is no exact mileage...haha. When I bought this car the gauge panel did not work. I bought one from a junkyard and have yet to get it set to the ECM to my car. It is approx. 130,000 maybe a bit more. The HB is probably my last resort to fixing this god forsaken noise. It is getting to be really ridiculous...lol

With the belt on (engine off...) grab the SC belt and move it. How much can you get the belt to move along its path?

Use a mirror and a flashlight to see if the rubber is cracked on the face of the harmonic balancer/crank pulley around the outer edge.