Rattle / noise over bumpy ground!

[christhemann]

Hi all,

Gradually getting used to driving the rocco again after being off the road for some time during engine rebuild.
It's got an annoying rattle that appears to not be going away.
Happens over "rough" ground, but not over smooth speed bumps.
Seems to be coming mostly from drivers side and almost sounds like a marble in a tin can.

Been trying to rule it out, so far done the following to rule out
-Front suspension was replaced last year, including new top mounts, new wishbones with front and rear bushes + ARB bushes a nd lower ball joints
-Brake pads replaced last year
-Shaking and bouncing the car when stationary doesn't show anything
-Taken all tools and and stuff out the boot / dash!

Only thing coming to mind I was going to check is Tie / Track rods? I didn't replace these, but the car does wander quite a bit over bumps so making me think they might need doing...
Any chance they could cause the rattle? Otherwise i'm pretty stumped.

Cheers.
Chris

[wasted]

Can't beat 80s cars for rattles! To be honest, it could be anything; the best thing to do is narrow down where it's coming from, ideally by having someone in the car with you when driving to confirm your thoughts (bit like having wide stereo to pinpoint the location!).

Narrow down to:

- Front or rear? (If it's in the rear, get someone to sit in the back and listen whilst you drive.)
- Inside the cabin or outside?
- High or low?

This should allow you to give a rough estimation of whereabouts on the car you need to look - then just check everything in that area.

I had a really irritating squeak/rattle from the back of mine, and it turned out to be lack of grease in between the boot catch and the plastic 'buffer' that it rests against. Really simple, but took me about two weeks to track down!

[Risocco]

Just to throw something else into the mix, no chance of it being the exhaust system somewhere?

[christhemann]

Thanks for the comments. Will take a look at exhaust, hmm.
Actually just changed the backbox and downpipe clamps, it seemed ok.

Any chance the rear beam bushes would cause this? The rear suspensions about the only thing i've not delved into just yet.

[ghost123uk]

the car does wander quite a bit over bumps

The rear ARB mounting brackets on our 92 car broke (corrosion) causing a rattle over bumps and a wandering rear end when pushed a bit.

Apparently they are a bit scarce to come by but our local VW garage had some new old stock ones they fitted :)

[mark1gls]

With everything that has been replaced could something "worked its way lose" might be worth just checking those nuts and bolts.

[christhemann]

An update to this finally!
Also related to my previous post (http://www.sciroccoregisterforum.co.uk/ ... 10&t=11297) that related to loose steering rack.

Got the car back today after a session at my local VW specialist.
He removed the rack and welded the broken O/S mounting. Then fitted new inner + outer track rods along with new rack bushes.
Just gotta get it tracked, but already the wandering steering feels much improved!

One issue, the rattling noise persists. If anything it's got louder over the last few weeks (over rough ground it sounds like a faint lions roar)
Garage has looked over all front suspension and bushes, torqued everything up and can't locate it.
I checked the rear shock top mounts which seem ok, but not sure what else. It just still seems to be coming from the front or middle of the car.
Checked the exhaust which is secure and doesn't touch anything. Brakes are all good.
Difficult to tell if it's inside or outside!

Oh well, will keep hunting.

[Nate]

brake pad loose in the caliper?

[christhemann]

Hmm did have a look at the calipers.
The brake pad clips seem to be in place, but not sure what else to check?

Also the noise is still present even with brakes applied.

[Nate]

Also the noise is still present even with brakes applied.

assuming the brakes work as they should, then it ain't the pads rattling