Hi there,
Firstly, great forum. This is my first post although I have been reading for the last month as I have just bought a 1999 diesel tray-back Navara with a rebuilt engine (15 000km ago) and want to learn about the old girl.
I had the all too common diesel rattle complaint around 1500 rpm.
Anyway, it is now resolved and wanted to post my experience in case others might benefit.
So it was a resonant sounding rattle that sounded like plastic on metal, it went away when the clutch was in and was loudest when slowing down from 4th or 5th to around 50-60 km/hr.
I pulled apart the dash and looked all through the engine bay but couldn't find any of the loose bits that others had located.
The sound came from the glove box area of the passenger side and was present both when the engine was hot and cold.
SOLUTION
So by chance i grabbed the front lights and gave them a gentle shake.
The front left was secured properly but had some play where it fitted into the body of the car. Specifically, the indicator part of the light assembly that fits into the front quarter panel was wobbly.
I got some sticky, draught stopper tape (stuff you use around house door seals), wrapped the plastic light housing in it and put it back in.
There was just one screw that held this on, found once the bonnet is up.
Nervously, i started it, no noise. Went for a drive, no noise!
It had gone.
The tricky part was that the rattle sounded right in the cabin with me not at the front of the car.
It may be a unique rattle to my car or maybe it's very common and I'm rehashing a well known solution but I just wanted to put it out there in case this is the origin of others' rattles.
I only hope some other people's rattles are so easily fixed.
Cheers!
Firstly, great forum. This is my first post although I have been reading for the last month as I have just bought a 1999 diesel tray-back Navara with a rebuilt engine (15 000km ago) and want to learn about the old girl.
I had the all too common diesel rattle complaint around 1500 rpm.
Anyway, it is now resolved and wanted to post my experience in case others might benefit.
So it was a resonant sounding rattle that sounded like plastic on metal, it went away when the clutch was in and was loudest when slowing down from 4th or 5th to around 50-60 km/hr.
I pulled apart the dash and looked all through the engine bay but couldn't find any of the loose bits that others had located.
The sound came from the glove box area of the passenger side and was present both when the engine was hot and cold.
SOLUTION
So by chance i grabbed the front lights and gave them a gentle shake.
The front left was secured properly but had some play where it fitted into the body of the car. Specifically, the indicator part of the light assembly that fits into the front quarter panel was wobbly.
I got some sticky, draught stopper tape (stuff you use around house door seals), wrapped the plastic light housing in it and put it back in.
There was just one screw that held this on, found once the bonnet is up.
Nervously, i started it, no noise. Went for a drive, no noise!
It had gone.
The tricky part was that the rattle sounded right in the cabin with me not at the front of the car.
It may be a unique rattle to my car or maybe it's very common and I'm rehashing a well known solution but I just wanted to put it out there in case this is the origin of others' rattles.
I only hope some other people's rattles are so easily fixed.
Cheers!