hi there,

my felicia 1.3mpi started to make a rattling noise on the front right when driving over speed bumps or uneven roads. the shocks seem to be fine (hasn't collapsed as described in other posts) and i can not replicate the noise when rocking the car while stationary.

any ideas where to start looking?

thanks

id check for play in lower ball joint first, though its not always obvious under inspection.

usually sounds more like knocking

have a look at these 2 very well made videos by EricTheCarGuy.

How To Find Suspension Noises 101

How to Find a Bad Wheel Bearing

many thanks, will get to it the weekend

My money's on top mounts.

I've had rattling (cheapskate) brake pads, 'adjusting' ie bending to give more tension to the antirattle? springs fixed it.

I have since read a dodgy wheel bearing can cause this, and or a distorted brake disc.

Likely better to replace, but negligable wear to the pads and it passed it's MOT afterwards.

Found a previous ref here

Edited 12 July, 201213 yr by iansmith

just jacked the car up and checked, no play in the bearings or strange noise when rotating the wheel. when i hit the wheel with my hand i can replicate the noise i am hearing when driving. it seems to come from inside of the wheel, most likely the brake area.

will take the wheel off tomorrow and check the brake pads.

on another note there seems to be oil under most of the engine and gearbox, not enough to drip and cause a puddle but still quite a bit. are there common places on that engine to check?

many thanks

on another note there seems to be oil under most of the engine and gearbox, not enough to drip and cause a puddle but still quite a bit. are there common places on that engine to check?

many thanks

It's 12 years old, they get a lil' leaky as they get older. Oil gets spilt when topping up / changing. Wipe it down and keep an eye on it....is really the only way to track it down (without UV additive and lamp).

i keep forgetting its age, it runs so well and has only 43k on the clock. just remember that it lost its oil filler cap a while back and caused quite a mess..

need to give it a clean and as you say keep checking.

many thanks

hi there

like RainbowFore said "It's 12 years old, they get a lil' leaky as they get older" have cleaned both my engines 1.3mpi and 1.6mpi i have in there now with TFR traffic film remover to find the leaks my 1.3mpi leaked oil from timing chain gasket and the 1.6 ends up with oil on top off spark plugs still trying to work out how it gets there but do it running when you jet wash it and make shore you don't get water in air intake

try exhaurst brakes i found when i kicked my tyre the calapor would rattle or could be top mounts

whats the millage on her

just 43000, only used for shopping and transporting items too big to cycle with. kept in a garage most of the time. best place for a car when living in london.

just remember that it lost its oil filler cap a while back and caused quite a mess..

That would do it. Oil will happily get into odd places and then just trickle around when the engine is warm. A steam cleaner would be useful for cleaning the engine down, and blasting those little nooks and crannies where a rag won't reach.

^ + 1. You really need to start from a relatively clean engine etc to work out what's going on. Mine leaks from the rocker cover & I'm sure a really minor weep from the gearbox. Had a Mazda 626 quite a few years back that oil fouled the timing belt and that eventually resulted in slippage but luckily got away with it! As long as it's not serious most people tend to live with some leakage & on vehicles of an advancing age it's generally a given.

...i found when i kicked my tyre the calapor would rattle...

you're spot on, drove over bumps with the brake lightly applied and no noise at all. will order brake pads and replace when i get them.

many thanks, you all saved me potentially a lot of money...

if brake pads are worn even and have enough meat, there's no need to change them.

it's more like a seized bush, guiding pin or seal.

see this also: http://www.howstuffinmycarworks.com/Front_brakes_rattle.html

Edited 15 July, 201213 yr by masster

I don't suppose it possible to just replace the spring on the brake pads?

There is loads left on the pads, don't think they did more then about 2000 miles, but having checked the disks are past their limit anyway.

update:

all done, new disks, brake pads and 1.5 hours work. cost just under £40 from eurocarparts (special offer)

Edited 17 July, 201213 yr by joch1

I hope you've solved it with the new bits. Mine rattled from the brake pads last year before I changed them.

Ben

yes, fixed it

only noticed that one of the cv joint boots is ripped, more work to do...

how about creating a new topic and showing how you replaced the boot(s)?

record all steps and post the result on youtube.

Thanks for the posts.Had a look at pads and one of the metal clips had come off. Still plenty of meat on the pad.I put some grease on back of pad and it stopped the rattle.Wouldn't have thought something that small and simple would make that much noise. That will do me untill I have to change all the pads.Thanks again.