I have just purchased an 05 with only 14,500 miles. There is a light chattering sound coming from what appears the rear right side of the engine or maybe the drive line, You cannot really hear it when you lift the hood. it is not there when cold but appears when warmed up, I just drove 350 miles and it did not get any worse. I have listened all around the engine and it does not seem to come from there, more noticeable under the car. Any ideas..is there a pump or some such back there? Other than that car is performing amazingly and of course just stunning to look at...maybe I missed the point your are supposed to look at it not drive it :-)...NOT ME!

 

Congrats and welcome - At least one picture is required !! Your right on point- Drive it ! Not sure about the chattering near the rear of the car. There is a vacuum pump that I've heard mentioned is sometimes can be noisy.-?

 

Quite possibly the drive plate between engine and drive shaft. They can chatter at idle. Does the noise disappear as the revs rise? The noise is usually the springs rattling due to a slightly uneven idle.
I have a 2005 DB9 with 31000 miles & service it regularly every 3333 miles app (3 times per 10,000 miles)
You may well find that a full service will help. The slight rattle is not a major issue unless it gets very loud, then replacement is the only option. As far as I know this entails dropping the rear transmission to access the drive shaft etc

 

I have just had a partial service and it seems to have quietened down, but also I was told to drive it a bit harder (I think this car had a very delicate past), the mechanic was sure this was Drive Shaft Chatter and said just ignore it (unless it gets much louder), it really only noticeable at idle (when warm) and as you shut down. It does go away as soon as the revs rise. Thanks for the input

 

hey ajmevans. I'm new to the forum and recently (10 months ago) took delivery of my dream car. 2006 aston martin db9. i as well have the common noise from my db9. I've researched this noise extensively. just wondering if you've confirmed that the noise is actually related to the driveshaft or drive plate???

 

So, the long story to clear the rattle, which after nearly 3 years and several thousand miles finally went from the normal chatter to something much older and persistent. Service showed bad coil packs and 2 cylinders, so did all 12, noise still the same. Hope thought it was the secondary cats...threw those away, still the same. Back to my original idea was the drive plate. It turns out the smaller springs were broken, but the large one were OK, not sure exactly what each does (big ones obvious I guess), anyway, for $3700 all is now good, there still is a little chatter, but I think that's just the nature of the drive line, but the idle noise and clatter when you shut down is gone...finger crossed

 

The early model DB9's did have a service action to update the ECM software(there was a VIN range), which raised the idle to 750rpm, helped prevent chatter. If you have old software in your ECU, might be a good thing to update the software.

The chatter in relation to the faulty coil is common on the V12's, but this is also found by the MIL coming on, indicating a "Misfire". The reason you might not of had the check engine light come on to warn you of this misfire causing the "chatter"..is simply because the misfire correction factors have not been stored..thus no stored misfire correction factors = no check engine light in dash indicating an issue related to a misfire. The misfire correction factors can be easily learned but the vehicle can also go YEARS without leaning them if the drive cycle is not completed. With the coils and/or plugs being faulty over time, this constant hard impact would of weakened the drive plate and slowly deteriorated the assembly. Nonetheless, I would verify your idle is set at 750rpm(don't just eye it by the cluster..hook up a scan tool and datalog), if it's not in range of 750rpm, have your dealer check for ECM software updates...otherwise the chatter will eventually return with a new drive plate/coils/plugs.