Rattle noises under our 05 Pilot...

[FTLOSM]

Hi, our 05 pilot has just over 90K miles and so far so good overall, just the dealer recommended service and tires brakes etc, BUT one problem we have had for the last few months that is driving me crazy is a rattle somewhere under the hood/car, I have checked everything i can see under there felt around etc, almost sounds like a heat shield vibrating but i cant seem to find anything "loose".

Took to our mechanic and he said there was some gravel inbetween the heat shield and engine and he blew that all out but the noise was still there, took to dealership and they too blamed it on gravel inbetween a shield area and wanted $160 to clear it out and put a hoseclamp over it to stop the noise, (Passed on that)...

Only thing is I can't seem to find anything else that rattles by touching it under there....

I know this sounds kinda vauge but has anyone else had a rattle like this that nobody seems to figure out what it is?

Bill

[rocky]

When does the rattle occur? Where on the car does it sound like it's coming from?

[2010exl]

Heat shield rattles are usually associated with engine vibrations. They usually occur at the same engine RPM. See if you notice the rattle at a certain engine speed. If so, you should be able to reproduce the rattle in the driveway by simply reving the engine to the speed that produced the rattle while driving.

There are 4 heat shields on the front catalytic convertors, and it is common for the bolts to rust through allowing the heat shield to vibrate.