Metallic rattle | Ford Explorer Forums

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Metallic rattle

jeannette752

New Member
Joined
December 29, 2009
Messages
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City, State
St. Louis, Mo. 63125
Year, Model & Trim Level
mercury mountaineer 2001
My 2001 Mercury Mountaineer has a metallic rattling sound when ideling after being driven any distance. ? Its coming from underneath the vehicle from what I can tell....
 



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The first thing I would check would be the heat shields on the exhaust. Wear a pair of gloves so you don't cut yourself when you check them.
 






I had a similar noise.

spent about 6 months between ignoring it and chasing it down... turned out part of the heat shield on one of the cats had a broken weld. Took a hose clamp, and clamped it back down. Been fine every since.

Short story: I agree with X6StringerX

either wait until after it's sat for several hours (ie, overnight), or wear some leather gloves. Then check the heatshields on the catalytic converters.
 






Had a rattle appear under on my '97 5.0 soon after I got it. I spent a lot of time upside down under the Mounty whacking on things with a rubber mallet before I found the cause of the noise. It wasn't any of the heat shelds - the rear O2 sensors were loose!!!

They are in an obnoxious location where they are difficult to see (and get a wrench on). I ended up following the wires back to locate them. Probably the previous owner had them replaced and they were never tightened down.
 






mine has a rattle at idle right now, it seems the exhaust is bent a little and hitting on the floor heat shields,
going to fix mine today, a little bending should take care of it, and a clamp on a heat shield,
 






As mentioned, a common cause is a heat shield on the cat, but there are other shields that can rattle loose too... On the SOHC, there is one between the exhaust and the transmission that clips to the flange on the trans housing. My trans shop seems to have a complete inability to securely reinstall that shield after a fluid/filter change. I have to re-clip it myself after every trans service.

-Joe
 






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