I get this rattling sound that comes from the front of the car . It is intermittent, but can happen only when I am accerlating from a stop. It stops after I have gathered speed.

I looked around at the exhaust system, everything seems firm. The heat shield aroundbthe exhaust manifold was a little loose ( one of the bolts). I took it out and retightened all the bolts. Iwa spretty confident it would fix the problem, but it is still there. again it does not happen all the time.

Any ideas ?

I had atwo fold problem. The shield on the exhaust manafold is actually two pieces. Mine would rattle on the ends even though the bolts were tight. I tried everything BUT the solver was when I found that my motormounts were shot. that gave the engine just enough vibe against the chassis to makr it rattle. Check the motor mounts. They replace easy.

Is this something easy to inspect? If so, where do I go about looking for it ?

thanks

zakir

Yes you can check it. You have to slide under the car (I would look at the passenger side first). Right next to the oil filter you can see the motor mount. It looks like a hockey puck with a thin piece of metal on both sides like an Oreo cookie . If these pieces of metal look as though they slipped down off of the black rubber then you motor mount is shot (that is if the hard cookie outside slipped off the cream filling). You may be able to see this without removing the belly pan, I'm not sure.

sorry for the delay in the answer but the network here at work was down yesterday P.M.

thanks , will look for it.

I think every Volvo my family has is suffering from heat shield rattle somewhere. I don't have time to make the rounds and tighten or remove things.

Certain other things that can rattle are the fan shroud, the water pump shaft if the bearings are really beat, and that silly preheat hose that goes from the exhaust manifold to the intake box. That thing is NOISY if it is a little bit loose against the frame rail especially.

Heat shields around the exhaust pipe or on the cat? Those have given me trouble on several Volvos, and I finally chiseled 'em all off.

If an automatic, be sure the cooling lines from the tranny to the radiator aren't vibrating 'n rattling in the brackets. Beyond the annoyance factor, they'll eventually chafe through.

Motor mounts OK?

Alternator still hanging in there?

Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

will go through the items you mentioned.

I had the motor mounts replaced last year ( when I never did any work on the car myself). But where is it, can it be easily inspected ?

all the heat shields seem firm enough. I am saying this because I tugged at them and they remain firm. I assumed this is a sufficient test.

I replaced all the belts about 9 months ago. Also changed all the bushings that the alternator/ac compressor and the power steering rotates about.

>Alternator still hanging in there? what do you mean, they can fall off ? if so what do I check ?

will inspect the tranny lines. I have a 1990, 240 automatic.

thanks

The heat shields: instead of pulling on them, take the palm of your hand and smack them or the pipe itself. Then see if it resonates. the welds, crack and even though it feels secure..it isn't.