Rear Noise (Banging/rattle)

[Dandy63]

Hi, new owner of a Rav 4 here...on a recent trip an exhaust mount broke causing the exhaust to sag then snap. I managed to limp home & a good friend managed to weld it for me saving a huge bill, however now there is a terrible banging/rattling at the back. Have checked the exhaust, heat shields, springs but cant see anything....the rear silencer was obviously hanging/dangling for a while on the way home but i cant find any visible damage. Totally at a loss & would welcome some ideas...thanks!!

[ALake]

I wonder if the outer skin of one of the exhaust parts is loose now? I've had that before where it looks ok, but the internal parts have collapsed or seperated from the outer part.

In my case it rattled a lot, but the exhaust note was also different as well - more boomy if you know what I mean?

[Dandy63]

Hi, thanks for the reply.....that is what i am thinking to be honest, possible damage to the inside of the rear silencer box. Have gave it a good inspection, the heatshield seems intact & even 'banging' it with my hand doesnt seem to show up anything tho. As it spent probably a good 45 mins hanging/banging against the rear floor of the car something could be damaged inside.

[ALake]

Yeah when I had this I had the box off the car and shaking it revealed the rattle!

[Dandy63]

Small update, at the garage today....after 1hr of going over all the underneath of the car the mechanics could not get the noise to show up, they did however beforehand take the car for a run & hear the noise....good to know i'm not going mad!!!!

A wheel bearing does need replaced however so i have booked it in for that this coming Friday, they are thinking of taking off the rear silencer & going for an identical run to see if the noise is still present with the exhaust off.

Thanks for the help so far

[Grumpy stumpy]

I would check the rear coil springs as I had one snap right at the top and was very hard to see but made a rattle, clonck , at odd times, quite common I believe , worth a look you never know.

Just noticed you have checked them already doh !

[Dandy63]

Hi,yes i've checked them as did the mechanics yesterday.....they gave it a good going over yesterday underneath with pry bars etc but cant find the issue.....have checked trims/rear seats etc also.....just seems such a coincidence with the exhaust snapping.