Had an intermittant rattle from under the car for some months. Half way to my exhaust guy couple of weeks ago it went a way. Now its back and I'm wondering if its a baffle plate or the cat?
Sounds like a pebble in a tin.

Had an intermittant rattle from under the car for some months. Half way to my exhaust guy couple of weeks ago it went a way. Now its back and I'm wondering if its a baffle plate or the cat?
Sounds like a pebble in a tin.

Chris,

First thing I would check is a pebble in the tin. Seriously!

Around the middle of the exhaust pipe, where it passes under the cabin, in the central tunnel, is a thin metal heat shield, between the exhaust pipe and the underbody.

One day I was under mine faffing about with something, I tapped this panel and heard a huge rattle.

A found (or more precisely heard) two small pieces of gravel floating about on the top of the head shield.

A bit of judicious tapping and I got them to fall out the side of the heat shield.

KJ.

Chris,

First thing I would check is a pebble in the tin. Seriously!

Around the middle of the exhaust pipe, where it passes under the cabin, in the central tunnel, is a thin metal heat shield, between the exhaust pipe and the underbody.

One day I was under mine faffing about with something, I tapped this panel and heard a huge rattle.

A found (or more precisely heard) two small pieces of gravel floating about on the top of the head shield.

A bit of judicious tapping and I got them to fall out the side of the heat shield.

KJ.

Mmmmm! I have a gravel drive. I will check, could be why its intermittant

i know its a 3rd gen, but i had a screw missing from the heat shield between my exhaust and the car body and it would make a terrible rattle at certain RPM and i found it and it was perfect after that :-D

I'm wondering if its a baffle plate or the cat?
More than likely, it was what was causing a very loud rattle on start up with our 2005 GT, but don't take it to an exhaust guy, all you need is a 12mm and 19mm socket/spanner, some high temp silicone gasket sealant and possibly some WD40 or "persuader" (rubber mallet).

Get the car up on ramps and use your 12mm socket to remove the brace
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt239/iamhe77/380/IMG_5291.jpg

19mm socket to remove the nuts from the exhaust flange (you may need to use a ring spanner + gentle persuasion to loosen the nuts)
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt239/iamhe77/380/IMG_5290.jpg

Next use the 12mm to undo the support bracket. You don't need to do this but it helps with getting a better angle to remove the baffle.
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt239/iamhe77/380/IMG_5288.jpg

Remove baffle which should be bouncing around (a bit of wire bent at one end makes this easy)
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt239/iamhe77/380/IMG_5286.jpg

Put some of the gasket sealant on and put your exhaust back together and screw on the nuts loosely.
Do up the support bracket, then the exhaust nuts, then the brace and you're done.

Of course, if you've already got yours sorted...

Thanks
Great pics