Initial rattle when shifting to Drive Mazda CX-7

[tookien]

I have a immediate rattle noise when shifting into D.

Does it for a second or two.

The annoying rattle problem was there for a while now, since I purchased the vehicle (Mazda CX-7 2.5L, automatic) and put 60k on it.

I recently wanted to look into it.

Happens about 8/10 times.

I already looked at heat shields, axles, or anything that could be loose.
I could not find anything.

Without testing these I've sort of narrowed it down to a possible bad front strut mount or transmission mount.

My final thought (worse case) could be a rattle at the torque converter / flex plate.
But I'm not sure, the transmission shifts great.

Any ideas?

 

[dumkid]

Transmission or motor mount, or exhaust mount would be my first guess.

 

[tookien]

Transmission or motor mount, or exhaust mount would be my first guess.

Thanks, good idea.

Although I have no vibrations inside the car or at the steering wheel.

It's just a rattle for a second or two, and then it's gone.

I could swear it sounds like a loose heat shield rattling but I already checked them all front to back, they are solid.

Motor or transmission mounts could still be bad somehow, without necessarily causing vibrations.
I'll follow some troubleshooting procedures and get back here with the results.

But now that you mention it, it could most likely be an exhaust mount.

 

[dumkid]

Little rattles like that can be anywhere. If you can't find anything else that rattles listen to the timing cover, it could be a phaser or chain rattle