slight rattle at idle

[Wisch95]

I have noticed a small rattle at idle on the 97 I am about to purchase. After looking under the truck, My only conclusion can be that it is maybe the exhaust from the engine. Everything looks fine and the noise seems to be coming from under the driver side. Any ideas?

[Disco Mike]

The truck has one or two bad catalitic convertors most likely. A heat shield can make a little rattle but more then likely the engine has been running too rich, maybe from bad plugs or wires, and fouled out the cats.
If you are buying the vehicle from a dealer, most state laws say he has to replace them prior to sale, if from a private party you may want to start dealing.
If you can get them to pay for the repair, find out what caused the problem and get a new Y pipe, otherwise deal down the selling price, fix the repair and weld in a new replacement cat.
Good luck,
Mike

[Wisch95]

Thanks Disco