engine rattle from right passenger wheelwell
 

Any ideas what this could be? I only notice it from outside the car on the right side. At first I was thinking maybe a water pump or pulleys, but not likely since belt is mounted on the front. Maybe an exhaust rattle? Or something worse like timing chain?

Only 78K miles in 9 years, oil changed every 6 months with valvoline full synthetic 5W/30. not burning oil and no coolant loss.:confused2:

it's time for an oil change so if it's something that needs fixing will go to independent shop instead of dealer.

thanks, the idler tensioner pulley is part of the timing chain right? which means it's under the rear cover?

i was assuming the water pump was belt driven in the front, but just looked at FSM and the water pump is in the back and appears to be chain driven. is the water pump a common failure item on this car at 9 years? i know it's smart to replace it on other cars at this age whether needed or not.

i just asked someone else about this.. mine has don't this since day one of me owning it. I though its always the transmission. My car is still under warranty and will be taking it to the dealer next week and I'll let you know what they say. And if you've figured it out will you give me Info... thank you!

I solved part of the problem. Was poking around with a yardstick looking for loose exhaust components and realized that a few of the screws and washers in the belly pan were loose, so tightened those up. So not as bad as before. But still hearing strange noises, likely related to the exhaust. Due for an oil change soon so will have independent shop check it out. I suspect I'll be told it's normal.

Update on this

Rattle has slowly gotten a little more obvious and annoying at idle. 89K miles.

I asked the dealer about this a year ago and they said it's normal. I asked one location of the independent shop I use and they thought it might be an exhaust rattle, like heat shield (but they only listened briefly, didn't check it out). I finally took the car to the other location of the independent shop (during starter and LR wheel bearing replacement) and they assured me it's 100% normal as well. Through some youtube searches it appears that lifter noise is the best way to describe this (don't ask me to explain this) The suggested fixes are seafoam or marvel mystery oil prior to an oil change, but I found this oil additive which is targeted at lifter noise.


Added half a can today and seemed to help slightly, will add the rest after my next oil change. May also try BG MOA oil additive. Not planning to do seafoam or marvel mystery oil yet but may try that if problem continues after several oil changes.

Here's another video of before the additive:


Sadly I just had a coolant hose/connector break the same day I put it in (totally unrelated, I'm assuming) so getting that fixed and an oil change, will post an update of noise continues or not.