At idle I notice a strange puttering from my exhaust. Any idea on what could cause that?

 

an exhaust leak, maybe?

you'll need to figure out where its coming from...front, middle or rear end.

jack up car, turn on car and find leak.

 

Maybe you're hearing the dreaded EVAP canister noise, No need to replace anything if thats the case.
A video would be nice to be sure.

 

No leak! I think I actually figured it out. I was using 89 octane fuel, where the tl calls for 91. I just added some lucas octane boost for the time being and it has seemed to work out for me (:

 

http://youtu.be/Ot85NG_Suvc
here is the video, this is what it sounds like and it is still doing it, it only happens after the car is warm and at idle, now the engine is as quiet as a church mouse but im getting this noise from the muffler area, my guess is that my j32a2 never got its 105k valve adjustment. But I would think you could hear that from the engine bay too? Any ideas?

 

youtu.be/Ot85NG_Suvc

yer L'automobile sounds like a boat.
- exhaust leak? loose hangers?clogged converter? valve adjustments? incorrect timing?loose/hole in headers? any of teh above.

 

Yea those are all possible but im just trying to see what options I can eliminate based on the fact that it only happens after its been running for ~10 min and at idle. If I just started it it sounds fine. So im leaning more towards exauhst leak or valve adjustment. And also keep in mind this sound is only heard from behind the car, the engine bay is honestly super quiet, no valves taping no pulleys squeaking. It seriously sounds like someone tapping on the muffler, maybe there is something in there ?

 

Yea those are all possible but im just trying to see what options I can eliminate based on the fact that it only happens after its been running for ~10 min and at idle. If I just started it it sounds fine. So im leaning more towards exauhst leak or valve adjustment. And also keep in mind this sound is only heard from behind the car, the engine bay is honestly super quiet, no valves taping no pulleys squeaking. It seriously sounds like someone tapping on the muffler, maybe there is something in there ?

 

could be loose material in the rear muffler or the cat
Stop by a muffler shop and ask for an inspection

assuming you cant climb under the car and ck for yourself