03 Protege LX makes grinding noise when accelerating
 

Hey guys! I've got 2003 Mazda Protege LX with about 69k miles on it. Recently it's been making this grinding/rattling/raspberry noise when I press down on the accelerator. The noise completely stops when I let up, and it happens at any rpm. When it first happened, I was coming off the highway after a 300 mile trip. I thought it was just my car getting used to going at normal speeds so I waited a couple days, but it's been almost a week now and the sound won't go away. As far as history, I bought the car from a "friend" who neglected to tell me it was a Reconstructed vehicle. I've already had to replace the alternator, the front brakes, and part of the exhaust (flange?). My main concern is the noise: any idea what it is and how much it's gonna cost to fix? I'm also seriously considering just selling the thing for however much I can get because I'm sure that as soon as I fix it, something else is gonna go wrong.

Thanks much,
Feeches

does the noise only happen when your moving or also when you rev it sitting still?

Can you hear it more when turning one way or the other?

Auto?

Actually my wife took the car to the mechanic who fixed our flange while i was in class today and it turned out a bolt (or something) had been knocked loose and broke off. they fixed it for free. i'm still a little skeptical but she says the car isn't making the sound anymore. just for good measure, though, the sound only happened while the car was moving and it didn't matter what direction i was going in as long as i was pressing on the accelerator. it's an automatic.

thanks!
feeches

Do you happen to know which bolt was loose?

FYI, you have resurrected a 10 year old thread.