When I start the car it rattles for about a minute then goes away, but when I give it certain amounts of gas it rattles pretty loud and if I let up and put the gas back on it goes away. Any clue on what this could be/can I fix it on my own? Also sometimes the rattle sounds more like a squeal but i'm pretty sure it's a rattle.

 

It could be from the exhaust head shielding being loose.
There is shield bolted to the catalyst, and there is a shield that runs down the center of the car above the resonator pipe.

 

I checked and nothing seems to be loose. It stops rattling after ten minutes or so and when I give it certain amounts of gas it gets pretty loud. Any other ideas of what it could be?

 

Can you post up a video of it to help us see and hear the issue that you are hearing?

Pop the hood, start the car, get out and do a closer inspection. For us to speculate on a "what is this noise" question without hearing it is 1 in 100 guess. It could literally be anything that has come loose or it could even be something internal engine related.

 

I can get a video tomorrow but now it sounds more like a squeak/squeal and only happens when I accelerate between 2000 and 2500 rpm. Could it just be a belt?

 

it could very well be.

Pop the hood and start the car, lightly spray each accessory belt with some WD-40 one at a time. If the squeal goes away you know the belt needs to be adjusted or replaced. To tell if it needs replaced twist the blet and look for cracks and/or a glazed/shiny friction surface.

 

Here's a video. It's very faint in the video for some reason. It sounds somewhat like a rattle. And I did notice a belt had a couple shiny/glazy areas on it.
http://youtu.be/3IjXtgoGueg

 

Just realized that that link doesn't work. Here's a working one.

And here's one where you can hear the sound better

 

I had a sound recently that that sounds like and it was the tensioner bearing. Mine would be worse if I revved it and let it down. It would sound like if I put some rocks in a coke can and shook the can.

What had happened was I had tightened the tensioner nut too much and over time it made the tensioner bearing that sits behind it go bad.

There are two there, I replaced both so I'm not sure which one it was. You could try gently loosening just about an eighth of a turn the tensioner nut and see if that makes a difference in the sound.

If you listen really closely you will narrow it to the timing belt side but it won't be completely obvious that it's the tensioner bearing because it sits behind a few things.

Again, this is just a thought. Without being there I can't really narrow it down completely. It could just be a loose component somewhere.

 

That description actually fits the noise I've got pretty well. I'll try doing that and see if it makes a difference. Which tensioner should I loosen? The one on the power steering or alternator or something else?

 

its a 14mm bolt on the timing belt side ... only loosen it an 1/8th of a turn just see if the noise subsides a lil or changes ...its going to be below the mount

 

first narrow it to the timing side ... i listened on the intake side and the exhaust side and i could tell it was coming from the timing side .. but it wasnt easy ... if its a bearing it cold be the ps bearing or alt bearing u can remove the ps belt to be sure its not the ps bearinv but obv u cant do that with the alt belt u can remove that belt and turn it with ur hand and it might have play if its real bad but might just be rough ... also perhaps ac bearing u could get a belt that bypasses the ac to test if its the ac

 

Finally got in a did a full investigation on it. It took a bit but I found the problem. The shield over the cat converter rusted out and was shaking around. Got it to hold back up with some wire and now the noise is gone. Thanks for the help guys.