2003 Camry 4 cyl rattling noise

[jrp5101]

I have a 2003 Camry 4 cylinder with ~143K. When I start the engine I can hear a slight rattling noise. When I rev the engine the noise seems to go away (or it is just masked). I noticed the noise after the check engine light came on twice and I had it checked by an exhaust shop. The code was for an O2 sensor, but the exhaust shop said everything looked fine to them. This was about 7K ago. I jacked the car up a few weeks ago to check the exhaust for anything obvious, but couldn't find anything loose to explain the rattle. I hit the exhaust pipe with my fist and heard a rattle a few times, maybe from the catalytic converter, but I am not certain. Everything runs/operates fine, smooth acceleration, fuel economy is unchanged, engine temperature is unchanged, but the noise persists. I don't know if it is just normal due to age and nothing to really worry about, or if it is the first sign of trouble. I have also noticed that I am using about 1/2 quart of oil between changes, but I'm fairly certain that started before this noise. Your thoughts and input would be greatly appreciated!

[TRD VVTi]

Originally Posted by jrp5101

I have a 2003 Camry 4 cylinder with ~143K. When I start the engine I can hear a slight rattling noise. When I rev the engine the noise seems to go away (or it is just masked). I noticed the noise after the check engine light came on twice and I had it checked by an exhaust shop. The code was for an O2 sensor, but the exhaust shop said everything looked fine to them. This was about 7K ago. I jacked the car up a few weeks ago to check the exhaust for anything obvious, but couldn't find anything loose to explain the rattle. I hit the exhaust pipe with my fist and heard a rattle a few times, maybe from the catalytic converter, but I am not certain. Everything runs/operates fine, smooth acceleration, fuel economy is unchanged, engine temperature is unchanged, but the noise persists. I don't know if it is just normal due to age and nothing to really worry about, or if it is the first sign of trouble. I have also noticed that I am using about 1/2 quart of oil between changes, but I'm fairly certain that started before this noise. Your thoughts and input would be greatly appreciated!

Without being able to hear what the noise sounds like there's no way to accurately help you out. Can you make a video of the noise? Can you tell exactly where it's coming from? What code was stored for the O2 sensor? You can buy an automotive stethoscope for about $10 that will help you pin point where the noise is coming from.

[Aceventura9586]

One thing you might wanna check cuz I found this out on my car with a strange rattle at first start and idle. There's an inner plastic shell for the intake manifold and if ur car has enough mileage on it that shell could be falling apart. Mine was so I replaced that and it took care of the sound.

[dorman68]

Originally Posted by Aceventura9586

One thing you might wanna check cuz I found this out on my car with a strange rattle at first start and idle. There's an inner plastic shell for the intake manifold and if ur car has enough mileage on it that shell could be falling apart. Mine was so I replaced that and it took care of the sound.

Aceventura is 100% right. Toyota has issued a TSB addressing this issue. One more thing to look at in addition is also the belt tensioner, some of them were prone to making at rattleing sound.

[BlackCamSe]

check the exhaust manifold heat shield, and the cat heatshield.

[jrp5101]

Aceventura9586 wrote, "There's an inner plastic shell for the intake manifold and if ur car has enough mileage on it that shell could be falling apart."

Is there a DIY somewhere for this? How difficult and expensive was this?

Thanks!