I’ve noticed a rattling noise coming from under the front of my 02 toyota corolla. I looked under the car and there seems to be a piece of metal under the front of the car thats vibrating and making the noise. The piece of metal is almost directly in the middle front of the car, in-between the front tires. The sound seems to be most prominent when I accelerating or backing up. Any ideas are appreciated!
It is hard to say from your description, but it might be the exhaust manifold shield has some bolts missing or have come loose. I have an early 90’s Corolla and had that problem at one time. For me I just needed to re-tighten the bolts that hold it on. In my case it was most noticeable at idle.
The other thing you may be seeing in that area you mention is the engine splash shield. On my Corolla at least, that part is made of plastic, not metal. But you might think it is metal if you didn’t examine carefully. Again, that part is bolted to the car and the bolts can come loose and could make a noise.
The source of sounds coming from a car is often hard to determine. A mechanic has a tool called a mechanic’s stethoscope which can narrow down the area that a sound is coming from, making it easier to diagnose.
That piece of metal is probably an exhaust heat shield.
You can either have someone try and reattach it, and if that can’t be done remove it.
Tester