Hi everyone! I'm posting today on behalf on my Mom, who has an '08 Toyota Camry LE. It is at about 150k miles, and has been burning oil for the past 50k or so. About one-two years ago, the low engine oil light came on. She did not have any oil on hand, so she drove about 18 miles to have it fixed.
Now, I can't remember if the noise began before this happened or in the months following, but I believe it may (unfortunately) be related to this event. The noise is a hard to place rattling noise, which sounds somewhat metallic, and occurs upon acceleration between 2k-3k rpms. My Mom also complains of the car being down on power during the hot summer months.
My question is whether this is engine related, or could simply be a loose heat shield in combination with a clogged air filter. The shield at the back of the exhaust feels loose (as does the bumper due to a minor accident) but not unusually so. Can this be repaired affordably? Or should my Mom start searching for a new car? Thank you!
Could be alot of things.. where it hit the bumper can u check if air intake is not smashed and clogged?
Air filter box on the bottom will have hose going to the bumper?
A loose heat shield and a clogged air filter are cheap and fast things to fix. Fix them, and if the problem goes away. If it doesn't fix the rattle/loss of acceleration, THEN start exploring the expensive fixes (and if the oil level hasn't been kept up, the could be quite expensive)
