02 Taurus with Eng/Tran. rattle

My 02 Taurus rattles when I accelerate. It is particularly pronounced when accelerating up hill. The rattle is coming from under the car in the vicinity of the engine or transmission. It sounds almost like a loose piece of metal vibrating but I think it might be something more than that.

When I hit the gas in park I am not able to duplicate the noise. It only happens when underway.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thougths?

I'd check the cat heat shield or shields first, I know on most of my Taurus cars, the shields eventually break loose and rattle around. sometimes at certain rpm's, the old harmonic distortion action.. maybe the slight movement of engaging the trans is enough to make contact.. I think they're only pop-riveted from the factory, if indeed they are loose, what I did was buy an extra-long hose clamp from Napa and use them,, I think the dealer does the same.. hopefully this is your issue.

I second the thought of a loose heat shield, most likely on the catalytic converter.

-Rod

I have a 98 Taurus. I had the same thing going on back during the summer and it turned out to be a heat sheild that had broken loose. There was no way to replace it, so it was removed.

They make hose clamps big enough to go around your head, or screw two together. I think alot of people use the steel hose clamps to stop them from rattling.

Thanks for the info. Most helpful. I'll give the clamps a try.