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Sounds of silence - peculiar 116 rattles

Started by WGB, 18 April 2010, 06:13 AM

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 qt the leading edge of the sunroof when it 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 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

TJ 450

That's lucky. That sort of noise would "freak me out"!

When I had the rusted out 500SEC, I once put my foot down and after a few seconds hear a "whop, whop" type of sound... That was absolute heart attack material. It turned out that it was the muffler bandage I put over the huge hole in one of the mufflers letting go and wrapping around the tailshaft! ::)

My Mum was passenger in the car at the time. Hahaha.

Tim
1976 450SEL 6.9 1432
1969 300SEL 6.3 1394
2003 ML500

MB_Mike

I am certainly experiencing an orchastra of sounds from my 280SE. Everyone I consult either doesn't hear the noises, denies that it is anything to be concerned with or the car is silent at that particular moment. The rear end falling out is familiar to me as well...perhaps I'll investigate that hand brake cable.
1987 Home market 560 SEL