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Rattle

4K views 18 replies 6 participants last post by  mrblanche 
#1 ·
I need some help. For as long as i can remember whenever I stomp the gas then let off, or when I go over bumps, I hear a rattling that sounds like a metal ball in a can, like a really hollow metal clanging. The reason i post this in the A/C section is because ~2 years ago when i had the car in the shop my mechanic said that the compressor was going out and was making a rattling. How viable is that, and, what would be the most likely culprit? Or is it something different? The only others causes i can think of are the exhaust pipes or maybe the brakes? Though I really have no idea whether or not drum and/or disc brakes can rattle. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
#4 ·
A header hitting a control arm wouldn't make a rattling noise. More of bang or scrape. How about a loose or broken shock mount. If the bushings are gone the washers will rattle. So will a bad body mount if the rubber is missing.
The exhaust is easy enough to check. Just get under there when the pipes are cold and push and pull on them and see what happens.
 
#7 ·
Figured I'd update my old thread instead of making a new one. So I never found the reason for my rattle. Today though, I filled up my driver's side front and rear tires along with the rear air suspension and now the rattle is there constantly when I'm at any speed. The only thing I can really say is that it seems to go away for more I turn to the right. Rocks/debris in the brakes? Or could it even be a bad bearing? I can feel the vibration through the floorboard. Also, the frequency of the rattle changes along with the speed.
 
#8 ·
So you fixed the control arm bushings and body mounts? If not it could still be either. The body might tilt on the chassis enough in a right turn or the angle of the wheel in the right turn might pull on the bad control arm enough to quit it down a bit.
 
#13 ·
Here`s what I would do,, remove the A/C belt, did the noise stay or go away?? I would say it will stay,, like Bobby78 stated check the body bushing condintion,, after that I would do a visual inspection of the upper control arm bushing,, are they cracked or look worn?? Hanging out or just look like dog snot?? Place a jack under the lower ball joint raise the cruck check for play by grabbing the tire top & bottom and move back and forth,, any play?? So here is what I do with any new 5th gen,, remove & reseal front & rear glass (yes I know it wont solve your rattle), new ball joints, upper & lower, bushings upper & lower, tie rods, center link, idler arm, shocks. Service the front wheel bearings and look for wear, pits ect,,, since you are not sure of the mileage I would throw in Timken replacemnet bearing and pack with synthetic grease.. It will cost a few $ hundred but now you have a good base line to go off on,, Matty man
 
#14 ·
Okay, so I went out and checked all the body mounts and they were fairly loose but there was only rubber touching metal so I ruled that out. I decided to try my idea of the exhaust so I followed and pipes all the way down trying to find where the pipes got closest to anything else and lo and behold I found this.


The spacing between the drive shaft and pipe(s) is probably around 1mm which is terrible. What's the best/quickest/easiest way to fix this other than refitting the pipes? Or is that my only viable option?
 
#19 ·
I would do some careful checking to be sure your motor mounts and transmission mounts are in good shape.

HOWEVER...the first thing I would check very carefully would be the universal joints. See if you can move it around at all. When you first described your problem in the first message up above, "worn universal joint" is what I thought.
 
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