My 2000 Maxima recently started to make a rattling sound when I go over bumps in the road. It is only audible then. Sounds almost like something is moving around in the trunk. I removed all trunk items, drove around for a bit and noise was still present. I just spent a lot of money fixing an engine problem, would prefer not to have to pay for a whole new exhaust/muffler system.
Thoughts?
The trick is to get someone to get under there and find out what is making the noise.
Joseph means while the car is on the lift…not while driving…
Seriously, somebody needs to get under the car and look at things like the catalytic converter heat shield and aggressively shake things like the exhaust system etc.
have you recently changed a flat tire? alot of times the spare is loose in the wheel storage area.
alternatively, the wheel storage area has a little room in there, it is possible that something fell in there, and is still rumbling around.
on a different note (although i am not sure of you model) most fwd cars have a rear sway bar link equalizer which can give a small clunk or rattle, when going over bumps.
Since you state that you have removed all items from the trunk, I assume that we can ignore the advice to check for a loose spare or other items in the well for the spare. Are you sure that you removed everything from the trunk?
If there is nothing in the trunk, the next thing that I would check for is a loose exhaust hanger. If one of the hangers has come loose, it can allow the exhaust components to hit the undercarriage and make quite a racket. Just be sure to check for this when the exhaust system is COLD!
Worn sway bar bushings?