(G) Finally the rattle is gone! JTD owners read here

couldn't be any more specific unfortunately... as a very good mechanic I know found and fixed the problem.

Anyone in the Manchester area? I'd gladly direct you to him.

This guy is a legend, he doesn't speak the best English but bloody hell does he know his cars. Many people have been to him with all sorts of problems which have been taken round garage after garage... All he needs is a spin around the block and he's always bang on.

Edit- He said his fix is as good as new as it's pretty secure, just rattling metal on metal. A complete replacement will do the job though as he said he could do that If I wanted. Shouldn't be too difficult but requires taking out a few other bits to get to it

Wicked, thanks for sharing that. My JTD has done this since i got it & id have never thought of the gearbox mounting. Will point Fiat in the right direction when she goes for her service

Please give us the picture of the place that you mounted that 1 square inch of rubber!
If not possible, please describe it so we can locate it easily!
I am eager to stop it rattling!
thx

just an update... the rubber part may have come loose as the rattle is back. Going to have another look tomorrow. May have to do a complete change of the gear box mount.

Will keep everyone posted

Have a look to this thread from the Panda forum...
http://www.fiatforum.com/panda-class...box-mount.html

Could be useful...

Flipin tickin & squeaking on tickover, my car going in to garage (not main dealer) on Friday, but anyone know anymore yet ? I hear it could it be the camshaft bottom pully/or a gearbox mounting or engine mount. I even went to the main dealer today as it was very noisey, but guess what after the 10 mile drive it was totally quiet on tickover. I even tried to tape the noise but it did'nt work. I am 100% sure it is not the engine, thats very quiet even just after start up. I have been all over this car (5 years old & 54K and I cant find the squeak/rattle/ticking noise you can only hear it inside the car which is mad. I have been all over the front of the outside of the car had it up on the ramps and I can find it.

Hi Folks, this is exactly the problem I have. Did you good people find out what it is. I decided to get my timing belt, tentioner & pully done tomorrow. I am asking the mechanic to look at the crank pully, but they are another £95 from Fiat and not available from Partco, (just paid £78 for a cambelt kit, rather than £138 from Fiat). But as others have said all the belts and pulleys are on the drivers side and the noise is on the passenger side. Also the noise cant be heard anywhere outside the car at all, (with bonnet up or down, or when lying underneath when the car is ticking over on my ramps). Definetly sound like coming from behind the glovebox

Strikes me this thread is completely at cross purposes

A loose pulley by all accounts is going to be very noisy indeed and certainly noisier outside the car.

On the other hand the rattle heard inside the car sounds like the very common instrument rattle, which I must admit sounds like it IS behind the instrument cluster when I've heard it, and is certainly no threat to the engine

whats that?

That is regarding the problem, yup. I think the guy who made the original post is the same guy that made this thread originally.

My JTD is still doing it. Damn noise. It's really tranquil inside the car once it's had a run, but my God it sounds like a heap when you first start it up!

I can just about make out a slight rattle from outside when the car is first started, but it's certainly not distinctive enough to be noticeable if i wernt already on the lookout from the racket going on behind the upper glove box.

Seems like a good little bunch of us are getting this problem now. Any age & mileage details of Stilos affected would be good. Mines a 54 plate Dynamic 3 door JTD, with 54,000 on the clock. Just wondered if it was age/mileage/model year specific, tho from scanning down those affected, i don't think it is, annoyingly.

Is your SuperStilo not doing it yet Argo?

I've had the rattle behind the instrument cluster for years but this always goes on a long journey so never bothered to investigate it (I think it's temperature related).

The much louder vibration I think you're talking about is one I've noticed a few times at traffic lights (or in heavy traffic) and appears to come from the passenger side of the engine compartment. It disappears completely if you raise the revs just a little and is certainly something that would annoy me because as you say it cheapens the car. It doesn't happen that often on mine but if I did know what part might be responsible then I wouldn't hesitate to change it.

It's been reported that cleaning/moving the anti-vibration material between bonnet and bulkhead can help but this is something I've not really investigated

Mine's a multiwagon Dynamic on 54,000 miles and on a 53 plate (Nov 03) . Her engine is sweet and quiet, even on start up, but something else is for sure not right. I even thought of increasing the tickover speed from about 700 to 1000rpm to get rid of the problem. When cold it squeaks and rattles (only inside the car) like a 15 year old diesel, and it sounds as if its coming from behind the glovebox.

I've had this "death rattle" on my 54 plate MW for ages. The car is currently on 105K but I seem to remember it appearing at about the 2 years old mark (35K ish). Must admit though that in the recent mild spell when outside temps have been higher its not so frequent as over the colder winter months. Really must get it up on a ramp and get the gearbox mount checked.

I've had this rattle now for the last 6 months or so (may have been there slightly when I bought the car too), on my JTD '04 56k miles. The sticky thread reminded me to get this looked at - booked it in at my local independant garage for next Wednesday to see if they have any luck finding it on the ramps (although not holding out too much hope unless it's the engine/gearbox mounts with play in them).

It's mostly a loud squeaking (much like very loud plastic trim rubbing / shrieking noise) from directly behind the passenger side glovebox or maybe upper footwell / floorpan, but with a hint of metallic rattle/knock too. Disappears the moment I blip the throttle and reappears on idle, and is not there on hot days or when the engine is at operational temperature, so much worse in winter.

It's quite embarrasing to be honest as my last Stilo (JTD '02 70k miles) never had it at all and it makes my car sound like a battered old LDV van - hope the garage find something to go on. I'll definately let you know if they fix it! Good luck everyone lol - if the collective minds of FiatForum can't find it, there's no hope for humanity

The second noise you describe is the one that affects mine (and i think a fair few others). If you raise the revs to 1000rpm or over it'll stop making the noise & once the car has warmed up thoroughly, mine doesn't do it at all. Though it sounds like yours makes the noise less consistently than mine - mine will do it without fail on a cold start & will get quieter until the car is hot & then finally stop after about a 10 mile run.

This is defo like my problem. These JTDs are trying to communicate with eachother!

Its good news that yours has been doing it for a considerable number of miles without appearing to have caused any further issues. Makes me less concerned that the car is going to randomly die on me coz ive neglected to fix the noise! Definately temperature related tho i agree, thank God summer is on the way!

That's a damn good description fella, id tried to explain it before & just given up. Sounds like a slight incline towards 2003 cars onwards, though Argo's is 02. Mileage seems anything from 35k upwards. Certainly a few around the 50k mark (including mine) which i'll keep an eye on. Very weird!

It sometimes makes me chuckle though, coz all the Fiats ive had have had some sort of defining featute that gives them a type of character & this seems to be the one for the Stilo. If only it didn't make it sound so cr*p inside! Grrr

We'll sort it one day i'm sure!