Small little rattle

I was just curious cause I’m very paranoid person, but when I’m accelerating at low rpm’s or reversing I tend to hear a small rattle and was just curious if I should worry. It’s been this way since I bought the truck 4 months ago.

 

I have a buddy who went through the same thing. He paid a tech $500 to a tech to go through and check the torque on every bolt on the truck. Couldn't find the rattle. Took it to two more garages, same thing. Still, no one could find the rattle source. My buddy asked around and found the best journeyman master mechanic in the whole county and he took it in there. The old mechanic said it would be $1000, but guaranteed he could find source of the rattle or money back. After being paid, he walked over sat in the front seat and looked around. He lifted a coffee mug out of the center console and checked underneath. There it was. Two nickels underneath causing the mug to rattle.

 

Cat cover. Go under and check the heat shield

 

Heat shield would be my guess too. I have older vehicles, they all seem to develop rattling heat shields at some point. Subarus are the worst.

 

X3 on a heat shield

 

I had a small rattle that was driving me nuts. I would only here it a low speeds. Turned out I installed a new tonneau cover and the clips up near the rear window was rattling up against the moulding. But i also would check the heat shield. Sometimes you can get a rattle from the wheel arch liners. The clips come loose

 

I have the rattle as well and am pretty sure that it’s the cat heat shield, what is the easiest way go fix this? Can I just remove and run without it?

 

Take a look at the exhaust system and check for loose heat shields. Also, a loose skid plate can cause a rattle.

IMO, I wouldn’t remove a catalytic converter heat shield. They get pretty hot. If it’s loose, tighten/replace the hardware.
https://www.ferberstireandauto.com/blog/why-does-my-catalytic-converter-overheat

 

X2, had the same problem on mine. Picked up a hose clamp of the right size and took care of the problem. Guess we will see how the "fix" holds up.

 

How many miles on the truck? Idler and tensioner pulleys can create a rattle if they go bad.

 

The cat shield was loose on my 2014. The bolt holding the clamp tight had rusted away. I bought a new clamp (900080-46121), a bolt, and a washer. My rattle is now gone.

A hose clamp would work too I imagine.