Rattles!!

[jazzdude]

I have an annoying rattle that seems to be coming from the passenger side of the car from underneath and it happens when I go over a pothole, or over uneven surfaces.

Having just dropped the car back down to the ground following a winter-spring clean, while it was up in the air, I went round and checked all of the suspension bolts with a torque wrench, and had taken off and refitted the exhaust and rear arb assembly, hoping that the rattle might have been in those areas. The rattle as it was before the cleaning op is still there though and I can't for the life of me find it.

Banging underneath the car with a rubber mallet has not been able to recreate the sound and I am at my wits end to where it could be coming from.

Any ideas where I might have missed?

The other one that is also doing my head in is coming from the dash. The PO had removed the bolt on the driver's side so he could 'get the dash off in 2 minutes' and I know that is the where the problem is. If anyone else has done this, what have you also done to stop this clattering, short of stuffing lots of foam under there?

[jazzdude]

I checked the front arbs at the wishbone end, it didn't occur to me to check them at the end in front of the car, but I don't remember if I can get to them with the radiator in and the body on. The arb's are not the standard ones, but the ones that look like this

https://tvr-parts.com/tvr-parts/part-details/tvr-c...

The suspension struts are Gaz Golds and I do not remember seeing any rubber pads between the body and chassis when I lifted it off a couple of years ago.

[jazzdude]

rev-erend said:

Sorry to state the obvious but you need to pin point where the noise is coming from..

I know, which I have tried to do, under the car with a rubber mallet, after checking all of the suspension bolts.

Short of hanging under the car while someone drives it along, I am out of ideas.

[jazzdude]

I took it out for a drive down a potholed road near me and it is definitely at the front axle as when the back wheels go over the hole it does not make the noise.

I am thinking either steering rack track rod ends or something to do with the front arb as it the noise definitely has a connection to the front wheels going over a bump.

[jazzdude]

2gins said:

Rose jointed shocks? Famous for it.

Are Gaz Golds rose jointed?

[jazzdude]

Classic Chim said:

Unfortunately yes.

If that is the case, then that would be disappointing as they were refurbed a couple of years ago and I got a new set of bushes from Gaz at the time.

[jazzdude]

Sardonicus said:

Two years in rose jointed terms is plenty , get the wheels just off the ground and using a large pry bar gently lever the tyre off the ground repeatedly whilst someone as a hand on the damper body and watches for movement at the damper mounts any movement is bad no matter how small and can be felt through the damper body also if present , it's easier carried out than explained, sadly if a damper has an internal defect this will be hard to simulate Phazed will testify to this annoyance

Can these rose joints create an audible (over the usual Chimaera noises) rattling/clunking inside the car. Would I not feel it in the steering wheel, as I don't.

I have also had a car in the past with worn top mounting plates which made a sort of knocking sound through the body into the car, but the noise I have sounds like a loose hanging exhaust, or a worn multi-link (both on a W124 Merc, where it is more like a rattling clicking and is definitely easy to recreate going over a speedbump.

My exhaust is tight as I just refitted it and as I said, the sound was there before and is still the same afterwards, so it is not the exhaust.

[jazzdude]

Got the car back in the air this morning and had another look.

The front drop links look tight, no movement on the mountings either. None of the wishbone bushes look loose, nor the ball joints and track rod ends.

The brake pads were also tight, no loose springs there.

If I were being critical I would say the rear drop links could do with changing as they are the rose jointed type and one of them had a split boot so maybe I'll change those anyway.

I thought of changing the front drop links as well just in case it is those as from what I have read on here the noises the car is making sound like those people have tried to describe, even though I can't get them to click when moving them on the car.

I read a recent thread on here where alternatives to the 'tvr parts / racetech' drop links had been tried (Honda and Ford ) and am wondering if anyone now feels that they are successfull substitute.

[jazzdude]

ChimpOnGas said:

I now have Honda droplinks up front and Mondeo drop links at the rear, Mk4 Tuscan S spec Bilteins and Rainsports in a size with a bit more sidewall completes the setup.

This arrangement works really well , I killed off all my annoying rattles slowly but surely by investing in the above package on a step by step basis.

Mines a 95 so will it need the Honda Civic or Accord for the fronts and with the Mondeo rears, did you need to do any modification to the arb, Dave?

I have been through a couple of threads on drop links and there does not seem a consensus in opinion.

I'm going to try running the car around the block a few times with one side disconnected to see if indeed that is my problem and then would like to try a local car parts supplier for the drop links if they need changing.

[jazzdude]

I'm not sure they look like they are sitting right, especially that angle where the bolt goes through the plate in the wishbone.

The ones I have on my car are vertical which with the way the rubber bungs either side of the plate work I would have thought is how they should be?

Otherwise only one side of the rubber bung is fixed to the plate.