Thanks, Scotty for having this forum!

I own a 2016 Ford Escape SE, Ecoboost (automatic) with 13,410 miles.

Since buying this car new it has always had a front end rattle that the Ford garage could never seem to resolve. This rattle isn’t constant which makes it difficult to find. 
I thought I had found it when I crawled under the car and beat on the under carriage shield which sounded like what I was hearing. Ford garage replaced it and it didn’t rattle for awhile until after driving in the rain. I’m wondering if this was just a coincidence and is something else causing the rattle. I’m wanting to remove the shield and drive it for a couple of weeks to see if the rattle goes away, but Ford recommends not removing it. It’s out of warranty. 
Any advice on this would be appreciated.