Is this normal?!?

[treed2 at wsu.edu (T. Reed)]

I jacked up my car today to try to figure out where my rattle was coming
from ..

Jacked it up, started the engine.. and WTF the driver side front wheel is
spinning as if it was in gear!?!

I pushed in the clutch and it stopped. I lowered the car so that both
wheels were touching and nothing spun.

All I can think of is that its so freakin cold that the tranny oil is
turning nearby gears in to a fluid coupling. But man, that kinda scared me
seeing the wheel spin when its out of gear. Never had this happen before,
unless I forgot about it.

...

AFA the rattle, it turns out the rattle is not in the muffler where it was
last time I checked in to the matter. It's up front somewhere, right
around the area behind the front wheels.

I totally suspected a heat shield banging against something but was unable
to find anything. Now my prime suspect might be a busted cat ?!

Anybody know what they sound like? This rattle is horridly loud and only
happens under certain conditions. It is extraordinarily loud when the car
is first started up but then seems to quiet down some (or maybe its just
my imagination)

It happens right around 1100 rpm or so, and again at higher rpms.. tho I
haven't done a close scientific inspection of when because its too cold
to drive with the windows down.

-Toby