A couple of peculiar 116 rattles

[WGB]

Having fixed my "canary" HVAC fan I was left with a recurrence of an old sunroof rattle as well as a new rear end noise which started when going around right hand corners.

1) Sunroof rattle - when I purchased my 6.9 it had an annoying rattle at the leading edge of the sunroof which then appeared to spread over the whole windscreen and dash when the sunroof was fully closed but stopped as soon as the sunroof was cracked open only a cm.

I changed the "sliding Jaws and rubber/felt buffers as well as all the seals and finally made it shut up.
After I replaced the headlining this xmas the rattle returned and on driving along I noticed that very light hand pressure on the leading edge of the sunroof headliner would stop the rattle.

It is caused by the metal clips rattling in the holes in the sunroof panel and when the panel is opened a little the weight of the trim panel on the clips stops the rattle. Simple fix was a dab of silicon on each clip but memo left to buy a new set of clips.

2) Rear end bang-clang - a few weeks ago while returning home (enthusiastically) my 6.9 developed a slow frequency (2 cycle per sec) quite loud banging with a bell like clang resonance which occurred every time it went around a right hand corner.
It had the sound and intensity of a shock absorber parting company but in a 6.9 that would be a definite "failure to proceed" and the car was driving quite well.

I put the car on the hoist but couldn't find anything wrong so continued to use it. The sound wasn't present when the car was cold or on short journeys but would develop after about 30 minutes of fast driving.

It then started making a similar but different noise going around left hand corners and then finally a peculiar rattle on fast acceleration from the lights.

Finally "She who must be obeyed" said "I think the back is falling out of your car."

Spurred into action I put the car on the hoist today and assumed that the rear sway bar was parting company or fouling the towbar but again could find nothing wrong except that the handbrake cables were a little slack and the right cable was resting on the exhaust heat shield.

It made a noise a bit like what I was hearing , although not as loud from underneath, so I removed the heat shield and tightened the hand-brake linkage above the driveshaft and at the same time re-shaped the heat shield a little to give a bit more clearance.

Problem solvered!!!

I would assume there are a number of 116's circulating, driving their owners crazy, when the fix might be quite simple.

Bill

 

[Styria]

Hi WGB, doesn't it give you a good feeling when it is a simple item like this, and the problem is solved.....and now, of course, SWMBO is a happy camper. Regards Styria

N.B. How long do you think it took for you to locate and fix the problem, and if you had taken it to a mechanic, how much do you think he could, or should have, charged you ? Should he have charged you at all ? I am interested in your opinion.

 

[John S]

From your description it sounds like the insulation rubbers holding the rear trailing arms need replacing.

It's hard to tell they need replacing by looking at them, but you will probably note that they are hard and beginning to split or crack. Someone that has experience in replacing them would be able to tell if yours are shot.

 

[WGB]

Hi WGB, doesn't it give you a good feeling when it is a simple item like this, and the problem is solved.....and now, of course, SWMBO is a happy camper. Regards Styria

N.B. How long do you think it took for you to locate and fix the problem, and if you had taken it to a mechanic, how much do you think he could, or should have, charged you ? Should he have charged you at all ? I am interested in your opinion.

I know mechanics don't like fixing rattles because of the time in testing and trying out different options. One of the advantages of driving and fixing things yourself is that diagnostic time is not critical and you have plenty of time for "rumination" so long as the noise is not critical. Also a mechanic usually spends very little time driving and even when he does he is usually only interested in seeing that what he has fixed is working correctly.

"From your description it sounds like the insulation rubbers holding the rear trailing arms need replacing.

Hi John - the noise defenitely was not coming from my arms as it has now been fixed. I do however have four new bushes and a new rubber diff mount sitting in their packing waiting for me to do the brake job I am about to do as at that time I will drop the sub-frame and replace them. I have already replaced the front subframe bushes and this made the greatest noticeable difference to the handling at the time.

Bill