Rattling/Tinkering Noise Need Help
 

I have a 97 Protege 1.5L DOHC. About a month ago there was a faint rattling/tinkering noise while I was driving. Lately it has become very loud and happen more frequently. I had my car inspected today, and I asked the mechanic about it, and he said it was some heat cover on the exhaust, and I should just take it off. Does anyone know what else I can do, or give me any help to get rid of this annoying rattling noise. Thanks.

rattling
 

could be antisway bar / steering bushings
not that expensive to fix

Thank you, but how do would I know what it exactly is with out spending the money to bring it to a mechanic?

i have a 96 protege and I have a a rattle like that to. Mine started real faint then within an hour it went all out and now sounds like i have an aftermarket muffler on it. Only while I'm sittin still do I still hear the rattle. if you have the same problem then my opinion of what it is is the exhaust pipes and/or a heat cover like you said.

Well mine isnt as bad as yours sounds. It does sounds like a aftermarket muffler, but I do still think it is the heat shield. My friend had the same problem you seem to have and it was his whole exhaust. This shit was so loud, I knew when he got out of a 10 block radius. Anyways, I was wondering if there was any risk to taking out the heat shield, and if it doesnt get rid of the noise what else do I check and how?

if that doesnt work i'd say do what im gonna do...either jack the car up and see if its the pipes came loose or just say fuck it and go buy a whole new exhaust from the manifold back. yeah the second one is a lil expensive but hey it'll stop the problem and if done properly it'll prevent it from comin back.

For ratteling, it sounds like you guys have broken drive-shafts. Does the noise increase during cornering, or acceleration, or both? For loud noise, then your exhasut pipes are rotted to hell, and yeah, that would be loud as hell. I know you guys do not want to spend the money, but you could spend a lot less now, and prevent any more damage then there is already now.

when you jack the car up , and wiggle under the car , if you look right where the shifter linkage is , you will see two heat sheilds under the car , basically it is one of those , so you will have to remove it . The mechanic told you what was wrong , so why didn't you just go under there and let him show you while you were there and let him remove it .....
I had this same problem , no big deal

Well actually I brough my car in for state inspection, and the place was hopping, plus he was fighting with a lot of customers over the validity of his parts. He was in a bad mood, I was late for work and I didnt really ask. But anyways, im guessing its pretty obvious and easy to take out the problem. Is there anything to watch out for?

I dont think its the drive shaft..in fact im 99.5% certain its not. I know its both the exhaust and the heat shield. I'm thinkin its the heat shield rattlin and the exhaust makin it really loud.

my heat shield was loose a while back and it made a tinking noise. When i went under my car i noticed that the piece that connects the shield to the pipe had broke, so i just took a hose clamp and clamped the shield onto the pipe.