Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Rattle When Cold

Recently my car will have a rattle when starting up cold. The sound goes away after the car is warmed up. Besides that the car runs fine. I think it is a heat shield that is vibrating when the car is warming up but I would like to know if there is anything else going on.

I had a similar rattle on my other car (a Bimmer) and it turned out to be an exhaust support bracket under the car. The bracket had rusted through and was not supporting the exhaust anymore. Thus, the muffler would vibrate against the bracket.

I like his idea. Don't mean to scare you or anything but I had the same noise on my old car (probe) and it was because I blew out my cat. And the rattling was the pieces vibrating inside the resonator. But if you dont have a CEL you better off than I was.

I had a similar rattle on cold idle when my car was new. The dealer said it was caused by bad spotwelds on the exhaust heat shield and supposedly replaced the shield. The problem remained but occrued at a higher rpm than fast cold idle rpm. Funny thing is, it went away on its own. I guess maybe a little road dirt did the trick.

not serious, its probably the heat shield. it was on mine. check your exhaust system anyway though.

Check the fan clutch on the coolant fan...might need lubed or replaced.