I took my car to a repair to fix that awful rattling metallic sound (presumably from the right side heat shield(s)) and was told that the rattling noise was caused by a defective engine mount squeezing a heat shield. He started the car and accelerated slightly while pressing the brake, and mentioned that the engine was lifting upward from the driver's side. How can you tell if your engine mounts are bad?

Rattling when idling, excessive movement of the engine...

seeing the engine torque like that is a good indicator. there are some threads here about replacing mounts. it can be quite pricey if done by the book(dealer). but the threads have some shortcuts to save on labor. If I remember correctly, doing the transmission mounts at the same time makes sense.

At this time short of a few seconds when i accelerate, the engine does not rattle at any other speed including while iddle. Seems to be the passenger side mount that's failing since the engine lean on that side during the test and coincidently, this is the side where the rattling sound is coming....

Was looking at this one and it seems that by up-leveling the engine from oil pan could be an much easier/faster than going with the engine removal. Now to find an honest and skilled mechanic to do it, that's another issue....

showing an '08 Starter Replacement - quite a few heat shields indeed!

Somebody stated that it is possible to replace the mounts by losing subframe bolts without removing them. However, you will to need to support the engine from above or below.

Agree, it seems to be possible w/o removing engine but got to found mechanic that will do it properly.

What would be the best way to know for sure if the engine mounts are bad are the first place?

The 3-4 shift under full power will have the engine bang around and you will feel it through the chassis and it will slightly upset the car.

There will also be other signs like the engine moving around when brake torqued and excessive vibrations at idle

Thank you everyone, seems safe to assume it's time to replace mine then, especially since i suspect/hope this also will resolve the rattling noise from heat shields!

Has anyone done it in SF bay area? If done w/o engine removal and i procure parts, what should be the cost for the labor ~?

Am curious as I have a 2007 also, with 67k miles, how many miles on yours? Thanks.

Only 92K :-( Congrats for the mileage on yours! Looking at few local shops but nothing good so far.

Due to wear and tear, the engine mounts will most likely be replaced next, but for now, the rattling noise has been resolved:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...l#post11173648

Problem Solved: It was the rubber between the two pipes connecting the catalytic converter to the right-hand rear exhaust pipe. I'm glad that appears to be a simple fix, and it may benefit someone else to know that the rattling noise could be caused by something other than the heatshieds. Thank you all so much for your help!