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I'm getting a rattling sound from my 2001 Civic when I turn. After driving a reasonable speed (I've been doing 80kph during my testing) for 30 seconds or so, the rattling goes away until the next time I use the car. It seems to be coming from the rear right, but Googling the issue indicates that the acoustics may be fooling me.

And now, the twist: rather than attempting to describe this rattling and failing miserably like so many others before me, I've gone ahead and made a recording. Have a listen, won't you? I'm assuming this'll be an effortless diagnosis for the veterans around here.

 
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Sounds like my cat scratching around in her litterbox.
Nice try. Needs visual to go along with the sound. How fast were you going? Does this noise coincide with the speed of a wheel going around and around?


Got golf ***** rolling around in the spare tire area? LOL

 
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Haha, no golf *****, no. I actually read that post during my research. Too bad it's not that simple.

I'm going 25-30kph during these turns. It seems to occur whether it's a sharp turn or a gentle curve, but it's more pronounced on sharper turns, particularly right turns. I just tested it again, and the noise rate does increase and decrease with your speed.

As far as I can tell, there are no other symptoms of a larger problem; just that disconcerting noise until the car warms up.

 
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Almost sounds like a rotor rubbing. Check your wheel bearings and balljoints.

 
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^and backing plates..

Rear drum/backing plate/rust?

 
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These are all totally new terms to me, but I'll see what, if anything, I can come up with.

Any thoughts as to why it would stop making the noise after driving 80kph for 30 seconds? If it was something rubbing or rusting, shouldn't the noise occur on every turn, always?

Something that just occurred to me: I hit a curb with that right rear wheel turning too sharply from a dead stop a few months back. I can't recall when exactly this started (I've just been ignoring it since it quickly goes away), but it may be tied to that. Does that help narrow down the issue?

 
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Backing plate is the stamped sheetmetal guard behind a brake rotor.

On a car with rear drum brakes, the backing plate is the steel plate the brake shoes are mounted on.
Once you figure out the cause, it may be easier to answer that question.

Not for me, but it might be a good place for you (or someone) to begin looking..




How about exhaust rattle? Cat heat shield rusted apart?

 
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I tried to rattle everything I could in the problem area without jacking up the car, and I wasn't able to find anything loose. My understanding is that everything else I need to check requires wheel removal, so I'll get to that tomorrow.

 
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When you jack it up, wiggle the wheel left-right and up-down. The wheel should not move.