V50 heavy rattle at 60mph

[allegro]

Hi all. my v50 has developed an annoying heavy rattle at around 60mph under acceleration from the passenger side front wheel. sounds for all the world like a hammer rattling around on a granite worktop. don't think it's a wheel bearing or tyre but wondering if it's something drive shaft or similar related? I can pretty much control the rattle with the accelerator pedal. doesn't do it at any other speeds or revs at other speeds. worries me that it might be something major and trying to avoid motorway driving at the mo. Any ideas before I ask a garage to pull my pants down while they try and diagnose it.:/
Thanks guys

[E-bmw]

allegro said:

Hi all. my v50 has developed an annoying heavy rattle at around 60mph under acceleration from the passenger side front wheel. sounds for all the world like a hammer rattling around on a granite worktop. don't think it's a wheel bearing or tyre but wondering if it's something drive shaft or similar related? I can pretty much control the rattle with the accelerator pedal. doesn't do it at any other speeds or revs at other speeds. worries me that it might be something major and trying to avoid motorway driving at the mo. Any ideas before I ask a garage to pull my pants down while they try and diagnose it.:/
Thanks guys

In answer to your question, yes it could very well "be something major" and yes you need to get a garage to pull your pants down while they diagnose it.

Oh and yes, you need to avoid driving on the motorway, in fact you actually need to avoid driving it at all until it is diagnosed.

There are many things it could be & from your description, I would say none of them are healthy or worth risking the possible outcomes if driving it.

[Super Josh]

Dual-mass flywheel? What engine does it have?

[allegro]

2008 1.6 petrol

[E-bmw]

If it was a DMF it wouldn't only do it at 60 while accelerating and the DMF/clutch is pretty much in the middle of the engine bay.

[Simon_GH]

E-bmw said:

If it was a DMF it wouldn't only do it at 60 while accelerating and the DMF/clutch is pretty much in the middle of the engine bay.

And it thought the knock would be most evident at idle?

[Simon_GH]

Can you drive through the knock or is it continuous above 60 mph? Is it just while you’re accelerating or is it still present when cruising at a set speed?

I would be thinking CV joint first. Check boot isn’t split - you should see grease splattered inside the arch. Might be worth jacking up the wheel and checking it spins freely. Check discs and pads. I’d check wheel nuts too. Then it may be a garage job to look at the driveshafts.

If you’re careful you could run the car slowly in gear with both front wheels jacked up just to see whether it looks and sounds smooth.

[allegro]

Simon_GH said:

Can you drive through the knock or is it continuous above 60 mph? Is it just while you’re accelerating or is it still present when cruising at a set speed?

I would be thinking CV joint first. Check boot isn’t split - you should see grease splattered inside the arch. Might be worth jacking up the wheel and checking it spins freely. Check discs and pads. I’d check wheel nuts too. Then it may be a garage job to look at the driveshafts.

If you’re careful you could run the car slowly in gear with both front wheels jacked up just to see whether it looks and sounds smooth.

I can drive through the knock which disappears at 70+ in fact it's pretty much non existent under load, just when I back off the throttle around 60mph

[Simon_GH]

I would say it’s a knackered driveshaft if front wheel drive. Shouldn’t be expensive or tricky to fix.