General Steering Rattle

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General Steering Rattle

jadensnell

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So I have been hearing a rattle on my 08 grande punto for the last 2 days and had no idea where it was from until I worked out it was a steering issue and when I turn my steering wheel there is a knocking sound and a rattle when going over bumps. Was just wondering what this could be and if it’s safe to drive as long as I get it sorted soon?
 
It could be a few things in all honesty..BUT its all well intentioned guesswork from our end..only way to be sure is to lift the front in the air and inspect...
OR you could go into Halfords and ask them inspect it..play dumb and ask for a quote.Then take it away and sort yourself.

And I would personaly sort it asap. But thats me.
 
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So I have been hearing a rattle on my 08 grande punto for the last 2 days and had no idea where it was from until I worked out it was a steering issue and when I turn my steering wheel there is a knocking sound and a rattle when going over bumps. Was just wondering what this could be and if it’s safe to drive as long as I get it sorted soon?
From your description I would almost bet on it being a track rod end. This is exactly how I would have described the noise my son's 2012 Punto 1.4 8 valve was making a couple of months ago. Very easy to find with car jacked up and front wheels "waggled". Of course a bottom suspension arm ball joint has the potential to make a very similar noise as does the inner "knuckle" joint where the steering arm meets the rack (inside the convoluted rubber dust cover) Drop link is more of a "chattery" noise usually - but who knows? You definitely need to sort this immediately as if its any of the above (except the drop link maybe) it's potentially very dangerous.

Do let us all know what it turns out to be won't you.
 
Thank you for your replies I am going to take it to a garage to get a quote and to have a look at the problem today. Whatever it is shouldn’t be mega expensive should it?? Yeah I’ll let you know what they say at the garage
 
Track rod end slightly worn on passenger side and creating the rattle through the system. Annoyingly it has caused the drivers side tyre to wear unevenly so that will need changing before it can be repaired. Thanks for the help, booked in for repair at a local garage.
 
Track rod end slightly worn on passenger side and creating the rattle through the system. Annoyingly it has caused the drivers side tyre to wear unevenly so that will need changing before it can be repaired. Thanks for the help, booked in for repair at a local garage.
A great relief for you to know that the problem is a relatively simple and cheap to repair one. Doesn't surprise me to hear of the O/S tyre wear. Worn components in any part of the steering can have knock on effects on any other part of the steering/front suspension. I seem to remember my boy's 1.4 8valve Punto is on 185/65/15's - Yours too? If so, at least they are quite moderately priced with a good range of brands.

Make sure the front wheel toe setting (called tracking by some people) is checked and adjusted if necessary after the track rod end has been replaced. This should be done as part of this operation but it's always good to mention it to the garage as it lets them know that you know what you're talking about! Failure to do this could well lead to rapid wear of your front tyres if the toe setting is incorrect.

The only other thing I can think of is that, whilst not worn out, the N/S tyre may now have a "strange" wear pattern due to having run under the influence of the worn track rod end. This may manifest itself, after all the work is done, new tyre fitted and tracking set up correctly, in the steering pulling to one side. If this happens - lets say it pulls to the left? - swap the front wheels over N/S to O/S and O/S to N/S - If it now pulls to the right it's got to be the tyres, right? (You did check tyre pressures first didn't you?) Of course, in this situation, you have a new one on one wheel and the "suspect" old one on the other. The simplest way out of this is to swap front and rear tyres. The rears should be evenly worn so won't make the steering pull to one side. There are other much more obscure things we could consider (I've had weird results even with brand new tyres which after hours of "mucking about" have been cure by just trying another couple of exactly the same tyres! - easier not to go there, it probably won't happen to you?
 
Track rod end slightly worn on passenger side and creating the rattle through the system. Annoyingly it has caused the drivers side tyre to wear unevenly so that will need changing before it can be repaired. Thanks for the help, booked in for repair at a local garage.


Thanks for the update !

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)
 
Good you found a solution.. :)

But the tyre will have taken hundreds of miles to scrub away.. :(


So it had been on its way to failing for a while ;)


Look on the brightside.

My gp's failure was the steering rack :(

Replacement rack.. 2 hours labour.. and plugged in to recalibrate.
MUCH better for it though :)
 
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