3rd Gen Exhaust Rattle???? Updated

So, I was on vacation in Florida and coming off the beach driving past the berms I heard what I thought was sand in the brakes. I didn't think anything of it and then as I drove past walls I could hear a rattle/dinging sound under certain loads. I was able to get it to replicate and when I pushed on the exhaust it stopped. I've read that there is some issues with some models, any with the 3.5L?

 

No insight?????

 

Is there a chance you hit something/got sand into something? Doesn't seem like an exhaust rattle is something that happens "spontaneously".

 

Mine does this too. It's coming from the center of the truck. When it's in gear under a certain load I will get this annoying buzz/rattle. Tried lubricating exhaust hangers.. no go. Kind of annoying, I might just change the exhaust out

 

It's harmonics at a certain RPM/load. The only way I could replicate it and see for myself was put it in drive, set e-brake and let foot off brake.

 

heat shield is #1 culprit

climb under there and check/bend heat shields

 

No. It was just casual beach driving and it may have been doing it before since I don't usually ride with the windows down. It's somewhere related to the exhaust due to me being able to apply pressure and it stopped. But like mesojdm said very hard to replicate on demand.

 

Well, finally took it to Toyota to have the front body mount squeak addressed and asked them about this noise. And of course at first it was the usual we can get it to replicate the sound. So, after some discussion and pushing they were able to replicate. Tech looked and finally removed the passenger side exhaust section between the two converters and found this metallic piece below. Looks to maybe be part of the converter, any observations? It’s about 3/8 inch wide.

 

Looks like a chunk of the substrate from a catalytic converter. They are known to blow these chunks out from time to time.

 

My buddy had a piece like that turn sideways in his exhaust. The car ran like dog shit until we found and fixed it.

 

To me, your photo looks like a small piece of substrate. Does it have the regular geometric pattern it looks like it has in your photo?

 

Did you ever hear a loud pop during, before, or after the rattle?

 

This piece is very small about the size of a dime. It’s not of a honey comb shape where gas could pass through it. My truck only has 7k miles on it and no loud pop. It almost looks like some type of deburring tool or sorts.