Q: Why is my car making a rattling noise when i accelerate

asked by on December 26, 2016

This might be long. So around November December of 2015 I messed up my transmission it had no transmission fluid so the gears were slipping. I had gotten it fixed by one of my mom's friends who is a mechanic and has his shop. he charged me 1300 to rebuild it i think whatever i was happy it was fixed. Then around march the following year my car suddenly started to make a rattling noise when i accelerate i was so scared i thought it could explode or something. so i took it to the same mechanic and all he did was a visual inspection while i hit the gas he said it was the catalytic converter. Then when i wanted to get it fixed he couldn't do anything about it anymore becuz he got his shop taken away and there goes my damn warranty. So he directed me to another mechanic so i went and this guy told me that the sound is coming from the transmission. he wanted to charge me $400 just to check it out plus parts. screw that. the car works tho. the gears shift just fine its just that noise.

My car has 184000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

Hello, thank you for writing in. The vehicle may be having a catalytic converter issue. When the catalyst inside of the unit fails, it can chip off into chunks and rattle around in the case. The sound amplifies when the vehicle is accelerating because the airflow out of the exhaust increases with engine speed. The transmission is located under the vehicle in a similar area, however the noises should be able to be deciphered with an inspection. The units are far enough away from each other, you would know if the catalytic converter was the cause. It is isolated and easier to pinpoint. Finding the area of the noise should be enough. Contact our service department for more help, or to schedule an appointment.

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