Rattling along

[Ellie]

Hi there, I have been enjoying my "new" spider for a few months now having finally pursuaded the missus to let me have one.

It is a 1982 model very similar to the one pictured on the banner of this website. It has developed a tinkling rattle type sound when driving over the usual lumpy imperfections on the road. its quite loud and seems to be coming from the front. I am thinking suspension but it could be anything and thought I'd ask the question before I go crawling around under the car.

Thanks

[Blast]

Hello and Welcome Ellie,

The noise could be a number of things, something loose or broken. I think a visual inspection would be the first and best place to start though. Try to bounce the car up and down by pushing on the bumpers to see if that reproduces the noise. Jack the car up, and put it on stands, or at least something under the tires for safety, and use a flashlight even in daytime, it helps in the crevises, and give it a good looking over. Look at all the suspension parts, and engine pulleys. I bet it won't be hard to find.

[ga.spyder]

Squeaks and rattles from the front seem to be fairly common and usually easy fixes.Make sure it isnt the ball joints!! They are a safety issue,and a failure could be very serious.The shocks ,bushings and ball joints can all 'squeak' and a little silicone spray can delay the eventual front end rebuild.Also,check that a brake caliper isnt hanging a little.
Craig

[manoa matt]

" A tinkling rattle type sound " It sounds like the brake hose support bracket...or like others said a number of things.

Due to the acoustics and location of the glove box, items rattling around in the glove box sound like they are comming from the pass side wheel well. Alternatively if the jack/tools and misc. are not well secured in the trunk it will rattle, hit the fender, inner wheel well, and sound like something is loose. Remove this stuff then take another spin on the bumpy roads.

[Ellie]

Hey thanks for the input, it certainly helps to have a few points to start with when heading under the car with a torch. I'll let you know where it ends up.

Cheers

[mbouse]

STOP !!!

What part of Oklahoma are you from, Ellie? Since you own a Fiat Spider, i know that you are not confusing this forum for a LBC forum. So, it must be either your accent, or your country of origin that i am hearing.

Torch? We dunn use no stinkin' torches around here unless we need to cut metal.

Welcome to the site. I am sure we can help you figger out how to find your "tinkling rattle"

my first thought is that there are rattles, jingles, pops and groans...all associated with different front end parts. My second thought was that many noises from a "new" car can be deceptive in origin.

What i heard you describe may also be a loose exhaust shield, or exhaust bracket.

and, anytime you need help with the vernacular and changes from British speak to Italian-American, let me know. Being a former (thankfully) LBC owner, i can help translate.

[Ellie]

You got me! well spotted though, I am actually in Brisbane Australia.

Having listened to it closer I also had my bets on the noise being something to do with the exhaust as it is quite loud and has a tinny ring to it that sounds exhaust metal ish or a bracket of some kind.

Having said all that, I took the car for a ride last night to try and isolate it further and it didn't make the noise!! very annoying but I'll have a better look on the weekend. Must just need the right type of bumps in the road.

Cheers

[ga.spyder]

The 82 has springs that support the weight of the cat. convertor.They wear and allow the cat to vibrate against the floor.Mine was doing that at high rpm ,I got a couple new springs from Vick and that solved it.I am like you ,little noises drive me crazy until I locate them!
Craig

[mbouse]

i think that all Fiat Spiders with cats had springs to support the cats, not just the infamous '82.

if you are missing springs, give us a holler and we can measure them. no sense sending away for "special" springs all the way to OZ from Texas.

lack of the springs at that location generally creates an annoying clump rather than a tinkling rattle. that tinkling rattle quite often turns out to be the heat shields.

[adrians]

Ellie
After my big repair job in September, my Spider developed annoying rattles under the car as well.
It turned out it was the springs that hold the cat in place, so I cable tied the spring hooks to the mounting holes and the noise stopped immediately. I also sourced the bracket that goes between the header pipe and the gearbox and fitted that.

Also my exhaust pipe had a lug welded to the pipe just under the back seat, this was then bolted to the chassis rail, so was told to remove it as it was transferring vibrations from the exhaust to the body.

Finally, I WD40 the rubbers holding the rear muffler, as they also squeaked.

All quite now !

[mbouse]

I also sourced the bracket that goes between the header pipe and the gearbox and fitted that.

and, i have specifically removed that bracket to rid my dashboard of an annoying rattle. neither of my spiders have that bracket installed.