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.

 

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 **** 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 **** 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.