Excessive rattling sound on idle. What is it?

[Safraz]

Car: 2006 VW Jetta GLI 2.0T FSI MKV
Mileage: 170,000

Over the past few days, my car has been making an excessive rattle. You can hear the normal rattle that’s associated with a bad cat, but now I hear a louder rattle. I don’t know if it’s related to the cat. It basically happens when the car is idle or in park with the engine running.

I did a bit of driving tonight to see what else I could detect. With regular driving ( on the local roads), I could start to smell fumes. At one point, on the highway, I stepped on the gas pedal hard. I got all the way up to 100mph but it wasn’t a fast 100. It didn’t even feel like the car was going 100mph and I could see a decrease in performance. After slowing down, I could smell something burning. I guess it was the gas burning.

The check engine light has been coming on and off for the last few months. At first it would be on for a very long time, but now it comes on once a week maybe and is only on for a few hours before it goes away. I went to the local auto parts store a few times and everything they did a diagnostic, it gave the P0420 code. Since I’ve been getting this code, I replaced both 02 sensors. My compressor died, so I replaced that and recharged my A/C as well.

I recently put oil in my car. The rattle started a day later. I’m due for an oil change. I don’t know if a simple oil change will correct the problem. And I’m wondering if both rattles are caused by the cat or by something else.

I took some vids out tonight. The first is of me driving around where I live. The second is of my car parked with the engine running. Please feel free to provide your input. Any info, suggestions, opinions, etc. will be helpful. Thanks.

Here are the links to the videos:

Part 1

https://youtu.be/ZoAOPT3HSVk

Part 2

https://youtu.be/T75HUWIzFrE

Topic

[Richard Kirshy]

[Author]

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