Rattling Noise In Starlet

TechHater · June 2, 2011

hi guys, i have a starlet Ep91 made in 98.it has 106K on the clock. It has this rattling noise coming from the front for sometime.It has no EPS. the noise comes only in rough roads even when driving straight. i Have shown this to my mechanic who has no clue on this.he first tightened the steering. Then replaced lower arm bushes,both shocks,shock mounts and all engine mounts.Sill no luck.the rack ends have no detectabe play detectable to hand.ball joints are fine.the mechanic suggests to go ahead with rack replacement anyway. I doubt his diagnosis.pls help

TheClutch · June 2, 2011

hav u done the wheel alignment and balancing?? if not do it it may reduce lot of noise problems...

TechHater · June 2, 2011

yep done that before dismantling again for replacing mounts.didnt notice much of change.

The Don · June 2, 2011

On 6/2/2011 at 2:48 PM, TechHater said:

hi guys, i have a starlet Ep91 made in 98.it has 106K on the clock. It has this rattling noise coming from the front for sometime.It has no EPS. the noise comes only in rough roads even when driving straight. i Have shown this to my mechanic who has no clue on this.he first tightened the steering. Then replaced lower arm bushes,both shocks,shock mounts and all engine mounts.Sill no luck.the rack ends have no detectabe play detectable to hand.ball joints are fine.the mechanic suggests to go ahead with rack replacement anyway. I doubt his diagnosis.pls help

Well is this a very metallic rattling noise. Is it always there or does it only come when going over pot holes bumps etc?

TechHater · June 2, 2011

exactly.it comes only on bumpy roads with pot holes etc.this feels like a heavy hard object colliding with another.had a close inspection under the engine bay during service.no obvious clues.

can rack ends give away noise even when there is no movement felt at hand?

The Don · June 2, 2011

Have you checked the engine mounts ?

Shehan_WCC · June 2, 2011

On 6/2/2011 at 2:48 PM, TechHater said:

hi guys, i have a starlet Ep91 made in 98.it has 106K on the clock. It has this rattling noise coming from the front for sometime.It has no EPS. the noise comes only in rough roads even when driving straight. i Have shown this to my mechanic who has no clue on this.he first tightened the steering. Then replaced lower arm bushes,both shocks,shock mounts and all engine mounts.Sill no luck.the rack ends have no detectabe play detectable to hand.ball joints are fine.the mechanic suggests to go ahead with rack replacement anyway. I doubt his diagnosis.pls help

Were the shocks and all worn out ,Was the mechanic replacing everything he guessed the sound came from,Check your stabilizer bar

Samanl · June 3, 2011

It may be a problem of the steering column. In my FB13 i had that kind of a problem and got solved after fixing a new column.

asanka424 · June 3, 2011

On 6/2/2011 at 2:48 PM, TechHater said:

hi guys, i have a starlet Ep91 made in 98.it has 106K on the clock. It has this rattling noise coming from the front for sometime.It has no EPS. the noise comes only in rough roads even when driving straight. i Have shown this to my mechanic who has no clue on this.he first tightened the steering. Then replaced lower arm bushes,both shocks,shock mounts and all engine mounts.Sill no luck.the rack ends have no detectabe play detectable to hand.ball joints are fine.the mechanic suggests to go ahead with rack replacement anyway. I doubt his diagnosis.pls help

Have they checked sway bar (stabilizer) links and bushes?

Ripper · June 3, 2011

i don't think your mechanic is good from what you've written here.

Dont see any reason to replace the rack for a suspension noise issue.

the common issues with racks are things like oil leaks which leave teltale signs.

Why don't you get the car checked from another place.

AutoForce seems to be good with suspension realted issues even on high-end cars with lot more complex systems.

A friend got a v35 and a mark X checked up with them.

Edited June 3, 2011 by Ripper

ShintaroX · June 3, 2011

Also have a good look inside yourself. Maybe it is something stupid like a mechanic has left some small tool inside there after some earlier job.

TechHater · June 3, 2011

yeah i'll look along those trails you mentioned.maybe a second openion from another mechanic too.im sick of these "trial and error' fellows.thanks for your valuable openions

luckey007 · June 5, 2011

Check your CV joints also....

bycap · September 6, 2014

On 6/2/2011 at 2:48 PM, TechHater said:
hi guys, i have a starlet Ep91 made in 98.it has 106K on the clock. It has this rattling noise coming from the front for sometime.It has no EPS. the noise comes only in rough roads even when driving straight. i Have shown this to my mechanic who has no clue on this.he first tightened the steering. Then replaced lower arm bushes,both shocks,shock mounts and all engine mounts.Sill no luck.the rack ends have no detectabe play detectable to hand.ball joints are fine.the mechanic suggests to go ahead with rack replacement anyway. I doubt his diagnosis.pls help

hi,

apologize for bringing an old thread up.

Techhater, have you fixed this problem. I have exactly the same problem. I replaced all rack ends, tie rods, engine mounts, lower arm bush and tightening the steering. Mechanic mentioned shocks, shock mounts and ball joints are fine. still have the problem. finally he suggested to replace the rack.

I too doubt this.

Do you guys have any idea on this ?

Sierra Charlie · September 6, 2014

Also have a good look inside yourself. Maybe it is something stupid like a mechanic has left some small tool inside there after some earlier job.</p></blockquote>

Give the above a thought too. I also had a major rattling noise from the front. Checked belts, suspension parts, wheels, ac and nothing was wrong with any of it. Randomly kicked the number plate in frustration at the garage and hey presto, it was a loose bolt in it. The noise was like as if the radiator was going to fall off. Eliminate the simple stuff first.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Sierra Charlie

Amila_Silva · September 9, 2014

On 9/6/2014 at 4:55 PM, Sierra Charlie said:
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="ShintaroX" data-cid="161757" data-time="1307107663"><p>
Also have a good look inside yourself. Maybe it is something stupid like a mechanic has left some small tool inside there after some earlier job.</p></blockquote>

Give the above a thought too. I also had a major rattling noise from the front. Checked belts, suspension parts, wheels, ac and nothing was wrong with any of it. Randomly kicked the number plate in frustration at the garage and hey presto, it was a loose bolt in it. The noise was like as if the radiator was going to fall off. Eliminate the simple stuff first.

Yes It could be a simple issue like that.

If not I doubt whether your bumper stops are worn out or damaged. Bumper stop is a hard rubber component residing at the top of the shocks. When you replace the shocks, you have to replace them as well (costs about 800 rupees per each)

bycap · September 9, 2014

On 9/9/2014 at 5:55 AM, Amila_Silva said:
Yes It could be a simple issue like that.
If not I doubt whether your bumper stops are worn out or damaged. Bumper stop is a hard rubber component residing at the top of the shocks. When you replace the shocks, you have to replace them as well (costs about 800 rupees per each)

In the garage they checked the shocks and said they are ok. But I don't think they checked the bumper stops too. Any way I'm planning to replace the shocks. At the same time I may have to replace the bumper stops too. ( warranty can not be claimed if they are not replaced. )

The Don · September 9, 2014

On 9/6/2014 at 12:10 PM, bycap said:
hi,
apologize for bringing an old thread up.

Techhater, have you fixed this problem. I have exactly the same problem. I replaced all rack ends, tie rods, engine mounts, lower arm bush and tightening the steering. Mechanic mentioned shocks, shock mounts and ball joints are fine. still have the problem. finally he suggested to replace the rack.

I too doubt this.

Do you guys have any idea on this ?

It it a heavi matallic thud type of noise or light click click type of noise?

bycap · September 9, 2014

On 9/9/2014 at 10:00 AM, The Don said:
It it a heavi matallic thud type of noise or light click click type of noise?

Kinda intermediate noise. I noticed this happens in two situations. When car goes over a bump, edge, pit etc. basically on rough roads even I drive it straightly. second scenario is (on any type of road), hit the accelerator, get some speed and suddenly release the accelerator then noise again.

"daka daka" kinda noise.

It reduced a little, once I replaced the lower arm bush of the driver side. But still its there.

It's really annoying.

The Don · September 9, 2014

On 9/9/2014 at 11:45 AM, bycap said:
Kinda intermediate noise. I noticed this happens in two situations. When car goes over a bump, edge, pit etc. basically on rough roads even I drive it straightly. second scenario is (on any type of road), hit the accelerator, get some speed and suddenly release the accelerator then noise again.
"daka daka" kinda noise.

It reduced a little, once I replaced the lower arm bush of the driver side. But still its there.

It's really annoying.

Has the engine mounts been checked?

bycap · September 9, 2014

On 9/9/2014 at 12:46 PM, The Don said:
Has the engine mounts been checked?

Yes. all the engine mounts replaced recently.

The Don · September 9, 2014

On 9/9/2014 at 1:03 PM, bycap said:
Yes. all the engine mounts replaced recently.

check again, particularly if only the rubbers were replaced, not brand new bolts.

Also check if all the bolts are tightly bolted down. I think it could just be something lose from when you took things off to repair other things like replace mounts.

I asume the suspension bushes and sway bar bushes are all in good order

bycap · September 10, 2014

On 9/9/2014 at 1:12 PM, The Don said:
check again, particularly if only the rubbers were replaced, not brand new bolts.
Also check if all the bolts are tightly bolted down. I think it could just be something lose from when you took things off to repair other things like replace mounts.

I asume the suspension bushes and sway bar bushes are all in good order

That's a good suggestion. I'll check them again before replace the rack.

I actually replaced only the rubber parts of engine mounts.

hiru555 · September 10, 2014

On 9/9/2014 at 11:45 AM, bycap said:
Kinda intermediate noise. I noticed this happens in two situations. When car goes over a bump, edge, pit etc. basically on rough roads even I drive it straightly. second scenario is (on any type of road), hit the accelerator, get some speed and suddenly release the accelerator then noise again.
"daka daka" kinda noise.

It reduced a little, once I replaced the lower arm bush of the driver side. But still its there.

It's really annoying.

Exactly what I have in my car. a ep91 too. It came after replacing the entire steering wheel rack. with some bushings in front arms. When we plugged the new bushings for the arms the guy have put them in the wrong way. so we had to remove them again and re insert. The "BAS" said that these bushings cannot re insert several times. it will give a sound like rubber squiring sound and the sound came eventually.

Rumesh88 · September 10, 2014

On 9/9/2014 at 11:45 AM, bycap said:
Kinda intermediate noise. I noticed this happens in two situations. When car goes over a bump, edge, pit etc. basically on rough roads even I drive it straightly. second scenario is (on any type of road), hit the accelerator, get some speed and suddenly release the accelerator then noise again.
"daka daka" kinda noise.

It reduced a little, once I replaced the lower arm bush of the driver side. But still its there.

It's really annoying.

Check if the accelerator cable is knocking against something or if it is vibrating all by itself at certain RPMs to generate a noise. You may temporarily tie the slack part of the cable to something nearby and see if the noise disappear. If so inspect its route for a missing rubber grommet etc..

Edited September 10, 2014 by Rumesh88

bycap · October 31, 2014

On 9/9/2014 at 1:12 PM, The Don said:
check again, particularly if only the rubbers were replaced, not brand new bolts.
Also check if all the bolts are tightly bolted down. I think it could just be something lose from when you took things off to repair other things like replace mounts.

I asume the suspension bushes and sway bar bushes are all in good order

The noise I mentioned earlier was there for some time. I did not replace the rack even mechanic recommended it. somewhere in the forum I read, for these kind of issues first do a wheel alignment as it will sort many problems including vibrations etc. So went for a wheel alignment few days back.

Once the car was placed on the lift for wheel alignment, front-left tire was shaking. The issue was the loosen nut in the tie-rod. Tight is firmly, did the wheel alignment and voilà all the rattling/annoying noise go away.

Hail ! autolanka...