I have a 1996 Honda Accord LX with 110,000 miles on it and it's making a clanking sound when it's at idle AND in gear (reverse or drive). The sound does not appear when it's in Park or Neutral.

I removed the heat shield last night but the sound persists. It sounds like it's coming from the front to mid sections. I lifted the car up on ramps and fiddled around down there but I can't seem to find anything loose.

Can anyone suggest a place to look? The shield under the long straight portion of the exhaust looks and feels secure. Is there a shield in the rear/lower engine compartment that I'm not seeing?

Thanks for any help!

 

is it a continuous noise? or shows up randomly?

 

It's continuous and consistent. It happens every time I drive. It's quite loud, too... like loose metal banging on metal.

 

Check the heat shield for the exhaust manifold.

 

Check the catalytic converter cover. Mine did that, threw some welding on it and fixed that on up.

 

I think I'm going to check this when I get a chance this weekend. A friend of mine at work who has a slightly older accord said that sometimes the rubber bushings that the exhaust hooks slide into under the bottom of the car dry rot and that could be the cause. Either way, I'm going to have to get under there again and check both.

As for the cat conv. cover, I checked that already. The converter is solid. Thanks for the idea, though.

 

That particular heat shield I mentioned is under the hood of the car.

 

maybe you have a bad flex pipe and it's not flexing so the whole exhaust is hitting something.