jmmorgan82

This past week my car started making all sorts of noises. 99% of the time in idle it's quiet. And, when I first start driving its barely noticeable. After my car is warm though, and I am accelerating and I get above 1500k a rattling and/or ticking noise starts. As soon as I push the clutch in, the noise goes away. Do you guys have any idea what this noise could be? I know this is very vague but I'm looking for any input before I have it diagnosed.

steelybuns

maybe the throwout bearing? just a shot in the dark.

jmmorgan82

Nah i've had that go out before and this is completely different. It almost sounds like it could be a catalytic converter, but i have the heat shields removed and when I bang on the converter it sounds solid, no rattles coming from it. It's just very hard to diagnose because it's only there 99% of the time when I'm moving.

jmmorgan82

Alright. Check out the video. I don't think catalytic converters are supposed to sound like this. I removed the heat shields just for good measure and they rattle like a SOB whenever you bang on the pipe. Let me know what you guy's think.

tempoffroad

how old is your cat h pipe?

jmmorgan82

it's been on my car for about a year and a half I'd say, almost 2. I bought it and it had about 10-15k on it. I figure about 50-60k miles on it, if not a little bit more. damn thing hits bumps in the road/parking lot all the time, might have accelerated the converter deterieration

blackstallion666

lol i also have a bassani catted x-pipe rattling away as well. I welded the shields back on since the crapy tack welds rusted away about a year ago. And now the cats are starting to rattle now and then. Now im debating to gut the cats or just get new ones and weld them in.

bluepony4.6

That my friend sounds like a broken cat. I had the same sound a year ago. I banged on the cat the same as you did. I finally dropped the h pipe to inspect and saw that the substrate ahd completely come loose and was rattling around inside the converter shell. It had rattled aound inside the shell for a while because the substrate had worn down to a ball shape (about the size of a tennis ball). When I would take off from a stop slowly or tap the gas in park I could hear it rattle around. When I would take off, it would stop because it was forced back into the converter outlet therefore clogging the cat. Thats probably don't hear it at higher rpms.

Take your mid pipe off and inspect.

jmmorgan82

its not a modular pipe, the cats are welded in, so i'm not sure how well i'd be able to inspect it? I'm looking on some local forums for an off-road pipe that way I don't have to worry about it anymore. sucks though because my inspection is about to be due.

jmmorgan82

Update: I got the catted x-pipe off and put on a BBK o/r H, now the ticking/grinding is gone but it still rattles like all hell once the car warms up and I am accelerating. If i rev it up with the clutch in there is no noise and when I'm slowing down (not on the gas) the noise goes away. anyone suspect a clutch/flywheel issue??