# 2000 Subaru Outback Rattling Noise

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/2000-subaru-outback-rattling-noise/42001>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** outback, subaru\
**Created:** [January 7, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2000-subaru-outback-rattling-noise/42001 "2010-01-07T02:22:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CoachSpellman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@CoachSpellman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/CoachSpellman)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2000-subaru-outback-rattling-noise/42001/1 "2010-01-07T02:22:08Z")

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My 2000 Outback seems to have developed a new noise. When the car is moving and I am not giving it gas there is a rattling noise. I have listened closely while accelerating and it’s not there. I have also put the car into Neutral while coasting and the noise doesn’t change. Oh and it hasn’t been above freezing for over two weeks. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2000-subaru-outback-rattling-noise/42001/2 "2010-01-07T02:25:29Z")

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Since you didn’t tell us where the noise seems to be emanating from, this is going to be guess-work, but my prime suspect would be a loose heat shield on the exhaust system.

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**Author:** ![Roadrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Roadrunner](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Roadrunner)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2000-subaru-outback-rattling-noise/42001/3 "2010-01-07T02:26:23Z")

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The heat shield may be loose on the cat converter.

Well dang! Ya beat me to it by uno momento VDC.

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**Author:** ![CoachSpellman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@CoachSpellman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/CoachSpellman)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2000-subaru-outback-rattling-noise/42001/4 "2010-01-07T03:16:04Z")

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Thx, guys… Would it likely be the same thing if there is no noise while the car is at rest and the rattles increase and decrease in intensity with the increase in and decrease in speed? And sorry about the location, it seems to come from underneath, sadly I can’t be more specific.

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2000-subaru-outback-rattling-noise/42001/5 "2010-01-07T05:04:49Z")

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Every case of noise from a loose heat shield is slightly different, so the absence of noise at idle may or may not be indicative of anything. The fact that the noise is coming from underneath the car does tend to support the likelihood that you are hearing a loose heat shield. A muffler shop can fix this for you in just a few minutes by either welding it or clamping it.

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**Author:** ![Roadrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Roadrunner](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Roadrunner)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2000-subaru-outback-rattling-noise/42001/6 "2010-01-07T19:52:19Z")

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Coach,

If you haven’t crawled under for an inspection yet, just give the tailpipe a shake or kick it with a boot, if it IS the heat shield you’ll hear it rattle.