I got the rattles

[digitaldragon03]

1.) Recently there has been rattling noises from underneath the car when going over cracks or uneven surfaces on the street. One thing i have noticed is that the rattling goes away when i get on the brakes. Even if the car is still in motion the rattling goes away with the brakes, then resumes when i get my foot off the brake. Whats the diagnosis guys?

2.) My left rear speaker is rattling with base heavy songs. Any ol tips that can cure this stuff? Mayonaise? Gum???? Thanks guys.

[Jeff N.]

Hmmm. Checked the front sway bar link arms lately?

[nyc525iTe34]

Have you checked your wheels?

[skr]

did u change your brake pads lately? there is a metal clip preventing the pads from rattling. worth checking

[LMUNick]

If the cone in the speaker is torn, put some rubber cement or gaskasinch on it. Or, turn the base down. Or better yet, replace it.

[digitaldragon03]

I havent changed my brake pads, but im leaning to this explanation because of the dissapearance of the rattle when i press the brake. Would the sway bar link also stop causing the rattle under braking? Thank LMUNick, i think ill try the rubber cement.

[skr]

i had a sway bar link that gave me an extreamly irritating sound , but it was more like a "bump" sound than a "loose piece of metal" sound. however it did it less while braking but still did. the only time that it didn't do it was going over bumps during turns.

[glen-sj]

You might want to also check the collar nut on the front strut housing to see if it worked loose. This was the case on mine. Take a large plier like a channel lock and see if you can tighten it, you don't even have to take off the wheels.

[632 Regal]

brake pads gets another vote.

[digitaldragon03]

Crap, i forgot about this thread, sorry. I wanted to ask if anybody had a pic of the clip, i might just try to nab some from a junkyard instead of buying new. i cant seem to find anybody that sells them new.

[Kalevera]

Crap, i forgot about this thread, sorry. I wanted to ask if anybody had a pic of the clip, i might just try to nab some from a junkyard instead of buying new. i cant seem to find anybody that sells them new.
?!

Buy a new one; it's a wearable part that will...ha ha...wear out over time.

34 11 1 157 687

Expect it to cost around $10 from the dealer.

EDIT: did some more research for you. There are 330 of them in the US. Retail price (could be more or less depending on what the dealer's part pricing structure is like) is $10.40.

best, whit

[digitaldragon03]

Haha, you answered my question before i asked it. I went to see if any of the clips popped off and saw that they were all still there, so i was going to ask if the clips wear out and allow rattling even if they are still in place. Thanks lowell, ill make the trip to the dealer to try to grab some.

[SRR2]

Those sway bar links are evil. I just replaced them in the iX and had them replaced under wty in the 540. If you have 'clunk' in the general area of the front suspension, it's almost a certainty that those links are the culprit. It was funny, while I was at the dealer waiting for the links to be replaced, I happened to see the parts guy retrieve them from the store room. They have a huge supply of them, as if they can count on needing a dozen of each part number every day.

[Kalevera]

Sure thing. The clip could fall out when it wears out. There'd be funky things going on prior to that happening, though. It falling out could have serious consequences, but it happened to my moms and her minivan earlier this year after *somebody* (yes, me) did a brake job. It seems unlikely that I would've forgotten to reinstall the clip, but she never complained about it and the car still runs like....well...a grocery getter should.

Now for a tirade:

The car went into the dealer for an oil change and so my mom could complain about the **** smelling HVAC issue (thing is still under warranty). The idiot service manager (probably after seeing the high quality raybestos brake components on there and not the shitty mopar dustalots) popped a mean boner over it and gave my pops the great inquisition as to whether someone had done brake work on the car. He's a good guy -- he claimed ignorance.

Did you know that Chrysler finds it convenient to not replace the HVAC filters in their cars? Sounds like this is an epidemic in the industry. In fact, the (idiot) service manager claimed the car didn't have an HVAC filter, until I pulled out the window sticker and asked him what it said.

Oooops.

We called the salesman (we're GOOD customers of his). He took a fight to the service manager and won. The car went in on Wendesday...during which, I'm told, there was an interesting exchange between my moms, the salesman, and the service manager:

Service Manager: Who ordered these parts?
Salesman: I did.
Moms: [Salesman], please be sure to replace the air filter as well.
Salesman: Oh yes, we'll do that
Service Manager: (clueless) Huh?

Later that day, the car still wasn't done. In fact, the dealer rented the high quality Chevy Cavalier for my parent's use and claimed that "parts haven't arrived." Three days later, the chevy's still in our garage. I think I figured it out: the service manager doesn't stock the filters because he doesn't install them in cars as part of service.

</tirade>


best, whit