3.8 exhaust damper 5g209

[parkerb]

hi all,
around about the time I started to hear an exhaust rattle when accelerating through 1800 rpms, I found the remains of the donut/ counterweight that hung off the passenger side exhaust flange (where the flex pipe attaches to the cats) on the garage floor. i've been underneath and checked for loose heat shields, etc., nothing.
the CD just spec's it as 3.8 specific and calls it a damper. no p/n. google found a diagram with 5g209 identifying the part.
2000 with 259k miles.
Has anyone else dealt with this?

tia,
parker

[tomj76]

Although I see that you checked for loose heat shields, that's been the #1 cause of exhaust rattles on my Windstar. However, I also had a problem once with the rear section making contact with the rear axel. I think the problem was solved with a new rubber isolator.

I don't know for certain what you're refering to as a counterweight, but if it's what I think... an eyelet attached to 2-3" long wire on the side of the passenger side converter, I think it might be there to secure the y-pipe to the bottom of the transmission. It wasn't on my OEM y-pipe, but it is on the aftermarket one that's there now. I don't think it would cause the rattle... I get the impression it's not rattling when you are underneath looking at it, so maybe you need to get a helper to set the engine rpm where the rattling happens, then you can track down the cause.