I recently had an ATS final drive installed and have had a persistent rattle from the engine area at speeds over ~40mph since installation. I didn't really notice it initially because I was driving on suburban streets to break in a new clutch.

The rattle is only present at part or zero throttle and only when in gear. It disappears when the throttle is depressed more than half way. It is hard to localize - it sounds like something is loose in the engine bay and is rattling or resonating. I double checked all the bolts that were loosened in the installation and everything is tight and there are no leaks.

This noise is not like gear whine (which is also present, even at low speeds, but is common with the ATS) and does not seem to vary in pitch with RPM. Everything feels fine and there is no loosness or vibration in the driveline.

Anybody else with an ATS have this noise?

 

heat sheild or exhaust component? thats the first thing I look for when I hear a rattle thats hard to find

 

I have no heat shield in the engine area (using a Comptech header) and it is definitely not the cat heat shield. (Had a rattle from the cat heat shield once and it did not sound like an engine area rattle.)

 

clutch? my clutch makes a rattling noice when I am not in gear and the pedal is depressed.

 

When I depress the pedal, the noise goes away!

 

the only noise ATS finals make is a slight whine upon deceleration (under 30mph or so) rattle? it is either something stupid or an bad install. good luck.

 

Mine does it, but mine is the buzz of the jdm header. Not sure why it does it, but it only does it on deceleration... kinda weird.... just turn of the radio and enjoy

 

.....go up to say 8k rpms and then slowly back off the pedal in 3rd or 4th gear:

you will hear a loudish rattle coming from inside the dashboard... it's always been there...

Now go out and drive your car HARD.

 

Don't have a radio.

And this noise is constant at part throttle above 40mph. A continuous rattle from the engine bay is not something I can live with. Will have my own garage in a while (yahoo) so will will the tranny myself to see if I can find the problem.

 

Maybe your mainshaft bearing is taking a crap.

If the rattle goes away when you depress the clutch, there's a very good chance it's either mainshaft bearing or throwout bearing.

 

I meant, when it's not depressed (not stepping on the clutch). The rattle is definitely intermittent and occurs most often when the radiator or ac fam turns on. I can make it go away by stepping of the clutch several times.

Throw out bearing most likely.

 

I just installed the my ATS final drive and Toda flywheel/clutch last weekend. I first noticed the tranny making a whining noise when decelerating. When I rev near redline I hear a metallic rattling noise. Just today, rattling started to occur when rpms are low....it turns it it was the catalytic converter heat shield that came loose. The heat shield fell off on the road. By the time I turn around the block a truck had already crushed it into tin foil
At least no more rattling...