noisy rattle at idle speed

My 93 Cutlass Ciera suddenly started making a loud, clanky rattle at idle speed. This disappears when the air conditioning compressor engages. I bypassed the compressor with a smaller belt and the rattle is still there, so it cannot be coming from the AC. Starting the motor briefly with no belt there is no rattle. The mechanic I showed this to felt it is the power steering pump. Anyone ever had a problem like this? The rattle goes away at higher RPM and the motor still feels as strong as ever.

Yes! Wow, I have JUST experienced this in the past week. I left the AC engaged, since it is currently blisteringly hot in July. I am currently looking into it myself, but have absolutely no idea what the problem is yet. I have not taken it to my mechanic yet, but I might if I don't get anywhere. He is EXTREMELY knowledgeable and if any mechanic will know, its him :).

I have a 94 Cutlass Ciera S 3.1L V6 (VIN M), by the way. Part of the reason i'm not really looking into it is because i'm going to replace it with a used car soon. Well, soon may turn into next spring instead of late September if it keeps running as well as it is. So thats why i'm merely researching it instead of frantically trying to figure out what is going on like usual. I have been saving up to put a huge downpayment on a 2004 Chevrolet Impala SS. Absolutely fell in love with it after a test drive.

I had a rattle on my Ciera at idle speed. It was a thin alumimun shield near the rack and pinion. It's in the lower firewall area. you can get to it if you reach down behind the motor near where the exaust pipe travels under the car.

I know the shield you are talking about..this is more of a clanking sound. Turns out that I have a bad harmonic balance (vibration damper). This is supposed to be a common problem with these cars when they pass 100,000 miles. It is not fixed yet but my new mechanic showed me where the rubber is separating from the metal causing this sound. He also strongly advised me not to drive the car because the front main seal could be damaged or worse if the pulley flies off while driving. ( the harmonic balance is part of the crankshaft pulley.) It will be replaced on Tuesday. I will post again to tell how it turns out. Thanks for the advice!

Harmonic balancer was replaced yesterday. The car sounds perfect and seems to run better. The rubber on the old one was completely separated. I think the mechanic was wrong about not driving the car though.. That pulley is connected with metal as well as rubber and would not just fly off. It might damage the front seal if left unattended for too long. Total price parts and labor $261.00. Took about 1 hour to fix. If this happens to you shop around. I had one mechanic quote me a price of $416.50 just for the labor.

I had that problem and it got bad.
For anyone with this question may also want to check your engine belt tentioner pulley.
It will ware loose and rub a hole thew your engine block cover. BAD!NEW!
And it did not take long....:banghead:

I had that problem and it got bad.
For anyone with this question may also want to check your engine belt tentioner pulley.
It will ware loose and rub a hole thew your engine block cover. BAD!NEW!
And it did not take long....:banghead:

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