Rattles and similar noises in a car drive me mad and I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to trace and eliminate them.
Drove in daughter's car recently and could not believe the noise in the car. An aerosol can in the otherwise empty glove compartment rolled back and forward every time the car accelerated or decelerated; lateral movement was catered for by another can in the door pocket. These clunks were accompanied by the row from cassette cases vibrating against each other - horrendous. Daughter was singularly unconcerned by the racket.
Is it a gender thing?
|
Er perhaps but when I hear a rattle it usually
a) reminds me i bought the cheapest car possible
b) tells me to turn the radio on/up
However my brother once bought a rover metro (or were they 100s or somthing?) from new and it had a loud squeak from new that lastest the whole ten years of ownership. Coupled with the lack of radio that was a killer. Nothing to be heard of course at motorway speeds, it being a 4 gear car.
So I guess its a matter of personal tolerances...
|
You\'ve just sussed the reason people spend £40k on a Mercedes Benz that goes at the same speed as a £14k Renault Clio Sport.
Yes, the Renault might break down more often, but it doesn\'t cost half as much to repair.
Yes, the Renault may not do 250,000 miles - but you could buy 2 more and not spend much more than one MB of similar performance. And who keeps them that long anyway?
The bottom line is that some people like the prestige, comfort and quiet of an expensive motor, and the manufacturers spend hugely disproportionate amounts of money to achieve this cossetted feeling.
Aren\'t we a fortunate society when we can spend huge amounts of money achieving a lack of noise and seats that don\'t exaggerate our piles?
Personally, I think it\'s self-indulgent pink fluffy dice, and I am male.
|
Leather patches
Forgive my ignorance, but perhaps I had a sheltered upbringing, (somehow I don't think so) What does "pink fluffy dice" in italics mean.
Please type your answer slowly, as I can't read very fast.
Regards to all
Don drbe
|
Don drbe, "pink fluffy dice" is the term started by one of the mods (Mark I think but my apologies if it wasn't) as a form of censoring out more offensive terms people use when referring to others they don't agree with or get along with. In this case Leather patches themself may have put in the pink fluffy dice or the moderator may have done it later
|
|
|
|
leatherpatches,
Believe it or not I haven't "just sussed the reason people spend £40k on a Mercedes Benz etc"
I think you have missed the point I was making. The rattles and noises in my daughter's car were of her making and could easily be stopped - but she was totally unconcerned by them.
One might add that cans rolling about and cassette cases rattling would be even more noticeable in a £40K Mercedes.
C
|
|
Fair enough. I take your point. In fact, having today gone to my girlfriend's car to look for something and found: the missing service schedule; can of windscreen-clearer; 7 pens; about £2 in loose change; codes for stereo immobiliser and a folded up bra in her glove compartment, I have developed some sympathy with your argument. :)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Drove in daughter's car recently and could not believe the noise in the car. An aerosol can in the otherwise empty glove compartment rolled back and forward every time the car accelerated or decelerated; lateral movement was catered for by another can in the door pocket. These clunks were accompanied by the row from cassette cases vibrating against each other - horrendous. Daughter was singularly unconcerned by the racket.
All the rattles aren't from the car itself but from the things inside it. The designers may have forgotten that things get put in gloveboxes and door bins and make a noise when moving around.
I had a Fiesta from new where the dash rattled for the first 200 miles until it had bed in but was absolutely fine afterwards. Bits in the glovebox annoyed me in by sliding from left to right as i turned corners. My solution was to stuff the glovebox full - easily done (it could have done with more room) and the noises stopped.
James
|
My glovebox is stuffed too and doesn't rsttle. I tend to worry about rattles and noises until I know whether they're harmless or they need fixing. I once had a rattle I couldn't place for ages and then I realised it was my pile of tapes vibrating in time with the engine and potholes etc. After that I didn't worry any more and I can honestly say I don't know if the rattle is still there or not, although it probably is cos the tapes are still in the same place. We can be very effective at blocking out things we don't need/want to hear or see.
|
|
Back in the mid eighties I had a brief spell working with BSM. I wondered why most of the Metro's the instructors drove, including the one I took over had a flattened fag packet jammed under the perspex screen covering the instruments. When I removed it I discovered why, the screen rattled so badly it drove me up the wall. This was on cars that were only a few months old, God knows why those awful dustbins stayed in production for so long.
|
Ashamed to admit that I bought one of those awful cars in the eighties and yes mine rattled too.
But that was the *least* of my problems in the very short time I had that car.
Did I Just refer to it as a car, sorry I meant "heap of junk".
|
|
My Citroen AX resembles a mobile ?one car band?. I hazard to bet it makes the equivalent noise of an entire symphony orchestra. There are rattles from every conceivable corner of the car and most parts of the engine, giving the impression the whole car is about to fall to piece upon the next application of the steering wheel. Being a diesel, doesn?t help things either. All-in-all if I blind fold a person and give them a test drive in my car, they would either think they are in a 1940s Spitfire or T52 tank. Needless to say it does drive me NUTS, but help was at hand from my faithful WD-40. Everywhere that squeaked, received a swift injection of the stuff and I am happy to say at least the dashboard doesn?t squeak like a headless chicken anymore. By the way I think it is a gender thing too. Men like to exercise as much control on their surrounding as they can get away with, and the idea of a car rattling in your face is often unbearable. Women on the other, rather logically, accept it for the fact that had it not been such a cheap car in the first place there wouldn?t be noise either, that is if they notice it at all. Often they are too busy trying to hit cyclist (oops did I say that? May be its something to with being hit 15 times on the bike, 11 times by women).
|
|
I find most of these rattles go away with a sharp application of the fist! At least long enough to get to B from A. My Megane is nearly 5 years old now and the factory fitted non-optional rattles are getting louder. But I'm with others on this thread who only get concerned if it's a "death rattle"! I have a friend who injects expanding foam into the dashboard to cure all those little "zizzing" noises! Just turn the radio up I say! I don't care if my washing machine "buzzes" so why should i worry about the car!
|
|
|
|
