Rattle under car

[ejosh1438]

Im not very familiar with the Vibe i've only had mine about 6 months but i have a rattle underneath my car right around the heatshield and cat converter.. it happens when i Start my car and take off from a stop.. sometimes there is a smell after i turn off my car and get out too.. has anyone had this problem or know where i should begin to check to fix this?

[Lancer]

There's not much under the car to make a rattle, so it's most likely a heatshield. You can jack the car up and tighten it yourself. But just to make sure, while your under there, give the catalytic converter a good rap with your knuckle. I had a burned out pre-cat and a clogged cat that rattled like what you described.

[ejosh1438]

thanks man, ill be checking soon and ill post results

[jamesmetairie]

another rattling car-my vibe has about 88,000 miles. the sound seems to be coming from the passenger front near the a/c ,etc. when i start it cold it makes some rattling noises. it clears up as the car warms up. but then when you go to put it into drive it rattles constantly untill you get moving.the sound reminds me of a compressor bearing getting ready to go out.

[jamesmetairie]

what should happen when you tap the cat converter with your knuckle?

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by jamesmetairie »what should happen when you tap the cat converter with your knuckle?Well, if you have a loose heat shield or a cat that is broken up inside, you "should" hear a rattle... the problem with heat shields is that they expand and contract with the heat, so it MAY not rattle when cold, but as it warms up it could be lose, than after it gets hot it "could" get tight again... You'll just need to do some looking/tapping...

[Lancer]

Quote, originally posted by jamesmetairie »another rattling car-my vibe has about 88,000 miles. the sound seems to be coming from the passenger front near the a/c ,etc. when i start it cold it makes some rattling noises. it clears up as the car warms up. but then when you go to put it into drive it rattles constantly untill you get moving.the sound reminds me of a compressor bearing getting ready to go out. That almost sounds like a belt tensioner pulley gone bad. Pretty common for our cars, unfortunatly.

[ejosh1438]

james i have the exact same problem, except im not sure its comming from the passenger side.. sounds like right under my feet around where the cat is... but same problem non the less.. where are you from?? im from Indiana, and the weather here is crazy.. summers are very hot winters are very cold and everything in between is well up and down all year round.. so yes theres ALOT of hot and colt going on, plus i drive a short distance to work which is basicly every day.. i usually let me car warm up about 3-10 mins before i take off but not sure that matters..

[jamesmetairie]

thanks guys for the response. would the noise of a bad belt tensioner change pitch when shifting into or outta gear? can you usually change just the pulley or do you change the whole assembly?

[Lancer]

Not sure about the noise pitch. I picked up just the pulley from http://rockauto.com for only $8. You can just replace the pulley, but it's a little complicated cause it's in such a tight area for power tools (impact driver). If I remember, the easiest way is to take out the whole assembly, put it in a vice and take the impact driver t the nit holding the pulley on. I think some one did a write-up on it at http://matrixowners.com.

[Ninja_Logan]

Rattling, what about clicking? There is a clicking coming from my drivers side. The only thing i can think it might be is the axles but i only have 25,000 miles on it so it can't be those can it?

[jamesmetairie]

could it be the hub caps?rocks in the tire threads? also sometimes brake parts can be loose and make a clicking noise . does the noise change when braking or when turning a corner,etc. does the noise speed up as the car speeds up?

[ejosh1438]

hub caps no, and mine does not click.. and the pitch or the rattle does not change so im going to rule all thos out for me anyway.. and heatshield i dont belive its that either.. i do belive its the cat though.. is there performance one's for the Vibe.. since a good moto to go by is Dont fix it if it's not broke.. but upgrade!!

[Ninja_Logan]

its not the hub caps, and there's no rocks in there that i can find. the pace does increase as i accelerate, and when i turn, sometimes when i slow down. so should i have them check out the brakes and the axles?

[jamesmetairie]

hopefully you have a trusted mechanic. i would not take it to pep boys or good year or any of those types of places for this kind of problem. it can get expensive with no good results.ask around to try to find someone that specializes in front end work and be careful about it. or just live with for awhile if you think it,s safe for now.

[sagekai]

i've got another rattling problem coming from the area of my cai ever since i installed it... it rattles whenever i'm stopped, but the rattle stops if i put it into neutralany ideas?

[ejosh1438]

im begging to think its the pulley on my caris there any way to maybe test to see if it needs replaced?

[Whelan]

The only time my heat shield around the piping rattled was because it rusted out around one of the bolts. I just removed the stupid thing anyways.One way is to just run the engine, and listen to that area. Give it some throttle by pulling back on the cable pulley up front to see if it happens at different rpms.