Distributor is rattling internally, what could it be

[89accordlxi]

It sounds like a marble rattling around in my distributor cap. Has anybody experienced this or can tell me what is causing it. Is it possible for the sparks to make a noise like that. It's really annoying me because you can hear it pretty loadly at idle. I don't think it is actually something physically rattling around in there so it has to be the sound of the spark or something hitting something while it is rotating or something..
I do have a spare distributor so I guess i could swap them to see if the sound goes away. than at least I would no if it was the distributor or not. But if it is the distributor, what would be some components to check and how..
Any suggestons

Peace..

[DanG86LX]

Distributors do rattle when u shake them. But when on car, i doubt.. Have u open the cup, anything loose there ?

[OldSchoolSwap]

If it is the distrubutor, it might be the bearings. Some places will rebuild it for you. Hard to find a shop that will do it though.

However it also sounds like your tranny might be doing the rattle sound too. The way to test the tranny is by letting it sit on idle in Neutral and press on the clutch pedal. If the sound "rattle" goes away, then its your tranny that will give up soon.
If the problem is still occuring then it could be what you suspected to begin with.