I am posted in the trucks section as well. I appreciate any and all responses i get and again a big thank you to everyone who has emailed me suggestions. I have to work this weekend(isnt self-employment great) but hopefully i will have a few hours saturday morning to work through some of the suggestions everyone has made. Here are some updates, despite the new thermostat when I exit the van i can smell hot anti-freeze and the temp gauge gets to "m" in normal before kicking back down to the "n". I am getting some anti-freeze in the driveway so i am going to check to see if perhaps the "gasket-in-a-tube" that was used to put it in is perhaps not sealing completely. The knocking type sound that comes from the engine compartment only happens when accelerating. It takes less acceleration to set it off when it is still cold in the morning. The best way to describe the sound would be to roll your tongue to immitate a phone ringing and then drop the pitch really low. Almost like a metal fan blade rapping against something as it turns. The fellow who listened most recently believes it is the "thrust bearing" which he says has two weights on it and if one is worn it will lend toward vibration when the engine is pushed, this vibration can cause the engine to "buck" into some other metal underneath causing the noise. I dont know how reliable that is, until i can get her up on a hoist(tommorrow morning) its hard to get a good grasp of what is happening. Thanks again for all your help and please keep the suggestions coming. For a guy completly inexperienced in mechanical work you folks at this forum have been lifesavers and have been great about not harrassing me for my complete lack of wrench turning knowledge. If anyone ever need flooring or PC help i would be glad to be of service. Thx again. Jon