Heat Shield Rattle (I think)

[2010RogueSL]

2010 Nissan Rogue SL operates normal but rattles from what I think is a heat shield near the catalytic converter on the underbody or the exhaust pipe. I can't pinpoint the source. The shields attached to the underbody are not touching the exhaust pipe. The rattle occurs on and off at idle while in park, while fluctuating the throttle in park and while driving. I'm confident it's not the CVT.

- Has anyone removed the shields that are attached to the underbody?
- Should I have someone reinforce the welds ? I don't see any screws/bolts or any broken welds.
- Is it possible something inside the catalytic converter broke and is causing the vibration? No check engine light.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Rogue One]

A quick search of the Rogue Forum turned up three pages on the topic of a "heat shield." The general consensus is that it's a bad design, and just take the vehicle to the dealership and have them fix it.

[2010RogueSL]

That was the consensus I picked up as well. I was hoping to be able to fix it on my own rather than taking it to a dealership. Any cost estimates to have a dealership repair it? Has anyone had it repaired by a shop?

[lne937s]

One thing to try is to take a rubber mallet and gently bang around down there and try to pinpoint what rattles. Sometimes, you can just bend something back or use a metal zip tie/hose clamp to secure it better.

The other thing to check with an intermittent rattle is the motor mounts. If your engine easily moves back and forth when you shove on it (make sure your are shoving on something solid and metal), then you may have a bad motor mount. Sometimes, that excess play can end up with the exhaust pipe rattling up against something. My father had a motor mount issue on a car with an intermittent exhaust rattle that we had a hard time pinpointing.