patrEK9

i searched around and it looks like my heat shield is what's causing this annoying rattle under my car. what is the easiest way to remove the heat shield above the cat. will i have to cut it off? remove the cat completely to get to it? a few bolts?

patrEK9

ok thanks alot guys, your feedback made everything nice and easy. so i removed every heat shield from the cat all the way back an the rattle/zinging sound is still there.

is there any other heat shields besides the obvious one on the the header that is known for making these noises? i couldn't seem to find anything and it sounds like the noise is coming from the middle/front.

ReVeNgEd-SoN

Exhaust hitting something? Or a bad cat that has loose internals.

jhammond_82

iTrader: (1)

heatshields are common issues on honda's. lol. glad your one of the few that could actually figure that out.

patrEK9

yeaa i took all the ones i could find off to see if it would get rid of the rattling noise, but just my luck. it's still there. it sounds like it's coming from the front but i can't find anything that's loose or hitting?

ReVeNgEd-SoN

Sure it isn't your hood rattling?

patrEK9

i'm sure it's not the hood. by the way should it be alright to leave all the heat shields off? or is there a certain few i should have on. i seen some rubber hoses underneath one of the rear shields and wasn't sure.

kapoosh valve

I'm honestly not sure how exactly the OEM cats are constructed, but I had a magnaflow (carsound) cat and the catalyst element broke apart inside the cat itself and rattled like a sonuvabitch...

with the car running and on jack stands/lift, get under it and see if you can make the noise stop... wear some gloves, use towels, etc to shield the heat, but that might help you figure out exactly what is rattling.

patrEK9

i only hear the noise when i'm driving at low speeds and taking off, but i'll try an check later with the car running. thanks.

kapoosh valve

is it the speed or the engine rpm that causes it? try slowly changing rpms while car is in the air in an effort to reproduce the noise.

if it only happens when in motion/loaded suspension, you need to look elsewhere.

peekeesh

you may also try to check the suspension arm bushings.. maybe they are busted.

patrEK9

i'm pretty sure it's the engine rpm that's causing it...i've driven slow with the windows down and it seems to happen in the lower to mid rpms. i'm new to all this car stuff and trying to learn as best as i can so forgive me if i'm a little n00bish.

kapoosh valve

if the vibration caused by a certain engine RPM is causing it, you should be able to reproduce it with the car in the air and someone slowly revving the engine. if not, it has something to do with one of the moving parts while the car is in motion, or the engine has to be under load in order to produce the vibration.

it's all good man, we were all n00bs once.

92shade

make sure the bolts from the header to cat are on tight they are the ones with springs on them

nothing_shocking

I'll guess it's the muffler. If you've taken all the heat shields off, check to see if the muffler is hitting anything.

bsmith100

The original heat shield on the factory cat will start to rust and this is what causes the rattle. As the rust gets worse so will the rattle. When it starts to rattle all the time it is about ready to fall off.

kapoosh valve

yes, but he said in the 2nd post that he has removed all heat shields from the cat back.

bsmith100

Oh, well then I am out of ideas.

jooky5

I had a 91 that had a double walled exhaust..meaning a pipe inside of a pipe. Anyway the pipes would rattle against each other.
found the bad section by unbolting the pipe and hitting it with a rubber mallet.. then I drilled holes in the outer pipe and used the holes to weld the pipes together.. Must have drilled 20 holes.