Irish Mini Owners Club

Was heading into town this evening in my 1990 Mini 998cc when a very loud rattle started from under the front of the car ...not an engine rattle, it sounded like 1 of the front wheels was lose and about to fall off. Pulled the car over and both front wheels where tight, track rod ends and balls joints all look good.

Do they give drive shaft trouble or could it be something in the gearbox or maybe it's something totally different...any idea's what it might be

Thanks

Jim

maybe your engine steadies need replacing, could be you exhaust rattling off the bottom of the bulkhead?
also could be a shock mounting, up under the front wings, grab the top of the shock and give it a good shake, any play and they might be the culprit

macker wrote:maybe your engine steadies need replacing, could be you exhaust rattling off the bottom of the bulkhead?
also could be a shock mounting, up under the front wings, grab the top of the shock and give it a good shake, any play and they might be the culprit

Thanks Macker

Will check engine steadies and shock mountings, deffo not the exhaust.

Is it normal when you grab the inner joint on the drive shaft that it feels lose in the gearbox...it will sortta rock if that makes sense

wheel bearing
cv joint
shock mount
exhaust
brake pad down to the metal

it could be absolutely anything, WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF "minis"

miniireland wrote:wheel bearing
cv joint
shock mount
exhaust
brake pad down to the metal

it could be absolutely anything, WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF "minis"

Thanks for the Welcome MiniIreland

i usually just ignore it and if the rattle stops then the part in question has fallen off......

gareth wrote:i usually just ignore it and if the rattle stops then the part in question has fallen off......

Come on Gareth, you da man that should have the answers I seek...any idea

gareth wrote:i usually just ignore it and if the rattle stops then the part in question has fallen off......

sounds bout right!! and if it doesnt stop the car working then it doesnt need to be there anyway!

Drive her on and buy a loud sound system. Problem solved!

Stone in the disc dustshield?

would it be something hitting of the fan blade?

dos it rattle when the engine is ticking over or when the car is moving?

Thanks

No stones in the dust sheilds.

Car has to be moving for it to make noise.

Got the car up in the air earlier today and noticed a nice bit of oil coming from the R/H driveshaft oil seal and there seems to be alot of movement in the shaft...do Minis give driveshaft trouble or can something happen in the gearbox that might cause the shaft to rock so much

I have the same problem i think. It is coming from behind the passenger side front wheel. Its just a rattle i would imagine something is loose around the brake housing or something. I have been meaning to jack it up and have a look. When i do ill tell you what mine is.

Car - 1988 - 998 Austin mini

What year is the car? MPI diffs give trouble.

woody wrote:What year is the car? MPI diffs give trouble.

1990...998cc

Any more thoughts any1

The inner CV should be tight, it sits in a bush in the diff housing and is not something that goes suddenly. Is the noise ther constantly? .Have you tried jacking the wheels and driving them slowly?

woody wrote:The inner CV should be tight, it sits in a bush in the diff housing and is not something that goes suddenly. Is the noise ther constantly? .Have you tried jacking the wheels and driving them slowly?

Hey Woody,

Thanks for giving me a shout...

Jacked the front of the car up this evening and it's all quiet but once the car is on the ground driving it's making a hell of a rack

It's now stuck in the air with the 2 drive shafts out of it and there's alot of play in the shaft that the drive shaft slides onto in the diff, especially the drivers side 1...What does that tell ya

Cheers

Diff bearins are shot i d say, does the noise get louder the faster u go

joebe1 wrote:Diff bearins are shot i d say, does the noise get louder the faster u go

I think so

Sounds like the diff, unfortunitly its an engine out job so if your not sure get a second opinion.