fiesta mk4 diesel - Front end rattle

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Sat 13 Jul 2013 19:36
fiesta mk4 diesel - Front end rattle - pullgees

Well I really thought I'd found the source of the rattling but it's still happening. All the plastic air inlet stuff is nicely secured now so i can forget that. Nor is it brake pads as the noise still continues when braking.

The rattling starts up after I've done about twenty miles on the nearside. If was anything to do with the suspension surely the rattling would happen straight away not wait twenty miles and then start. So I'm thinking driveshaft, yet it's not making the familiar clicking sound on tight turns. Then if it's not that, then possibly coming from the gearbox. After the oil has heated and become thinner, whatever is loose in the box would be likely to show up more, I guess. This chattering rattle happens at all speeds whether in or out of gear. Negotiating a bump the rattling increases slighty and when that happens my thoughts swing back to it being a suspension problem. It sounds like a loose bolt dangling down and flapping about, but loose bolts don't wait twenty odd miles to make a noise.

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Mon 15 Jul 2013 13:31
fiesta mk4 diesel - Front end rattle - Peter.N.

Sounds as though it could be suspension drop links if it has them. If its anything to do with the gearbox it might well do it with the engine running when stationary, if its only there when moving its most likely to be suspension related although it could also be something loose in the exhaust system, although again that should show up if you rev it when stationary. The drive shaft inner joints can cause a vibration but only when moving and on light load.

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Tue 16 Jul 2013 09:56
fiesta mk4 diesel - Front end rattle - pullgees

thanks for helping.

The drop links are new and the exhaust has been checked for rattles. I've taken it to a garage who test drove it and the mechanic was also perplexed , he dosen't thinks it's gearbox though and that is reassuring because I wasn't going to spend any more money on the car if it needed a major job. Your point about light load is interesting as this noise only occurs at slowspeed up to about 35 mph, not at all speeds as I previuosly thought and then gradually diminishes as you go faster and only happens when all moving parts have warmed up.

Edited by pullgees on 16/07/2013 at 10:00

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Tue 16 Jul 2013 12:54
fiesta mk4 diesel - Front end rattle - Peter.N.

The vibration from the inner drive shaft joints is not usually speed sensitive only load sensitive but only occurs when the transmission gets hot and the grease thins, if you set the throttle so its niether pulling or on the overun you will feel rather than hear the vibration, as soon as you increase the load it will stop as this closes the gap due to wear.

Did they check the exhaust when it was hot and the fault present?

I think its unlikely to be the gearbox.

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Tue 16 Jul 2013 13:06
fiesta mk4 diesel - Front end rattle - madf

I would check:

all engine and gearbox mountings: they will soften with heat. Perhaps enough to allow movement - hence the noise.

Suspension top mounts fail and rattle.

Your garage are incompetent.

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Wed 17 Jul 2013 00:09
fiesta mk4 diesel - Front end rattle - pullgees

No exhaust wasn't checked when hot and the noise occuring, I will check that. In or out of gear it happens, pulling or deaccelerating makes no difference. It chatters a bit more when going over a bit of rough road. I'm thinking cv joint, the only thing with that is that it doesn't make the familiar clicking when turning a tight lock. If it's mountings I don't know how to test that

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