Squeaks and Rattles

[James k]

Hi,
I'm hopefully not alone when I say that my traveller has a LOT of various rattles, squeaks and other noises. Sometimes when I'm driving along it sounds as if the car is about to fall apart! Some noises are okay but some, like a squeak that one of my rear windows is making, are absolutely infuriating, to the point that I don't want to drive the car. I find it very difficult to trace the noises so I don't really know where to start to eradicate them. Has anyone got a good technique for tracing rattles etc? And is it possible to have a fairly quiet Morris?

Thanks
James

[les]

Put someone in the back and get them to put hand pressure on various areas as you drive, rear doors are a likely problem.

[MrIan]

Yes as above or sit in the back yourself and maybe try the old bit of flexi pipe in the '' lug ole'' when you've found the rough area to pinpoint the culprit !! Yes you might look a burke but it's old school and works !!
I actually quite like the old squeaks n rattles as long as they aren't a major concern.

[mike.perry]

Squirt everything with a can of oil!
Don't worry about squeaks and rattles, worry about crashes and bangs

[ASL642]

Try looking at the rear door mechanism? The long rod passes through various holes. This can vibrate annoyingly. There should be "shims" (small bent pieces of sprung metal) that stop this. Often on a rebuild these get forgotten. You can fashion something from a bit of flat rubber to stop this if they are absent.

[SteveClem]

I have exactly the opposite problem with my wife's Golf. It's so rattle free that it sends me crazy. I rather like the funny Morris noises and you eventually get a feel for which are benign versus those that need attention.

[les]

If you like rattles, you are crazy!

[panky]

When I first got Ted the Traveller I too was surprised at the number of rattles and squeaks as we bowled along Since then I've pretty much eliminated most of them by slowly working my way through the car. First to be tackled was the front suspension, new tie bar bushes and a good greasing worked wonders and the rattley steering was fixed by dribbling a few drops of EP90 into the felt bushes at the top (that was particularly satisfying ) One incessant squeak from the back was traced to the spare wheel not being secured properly and a few turns on the clamp bolt sorted that. I did have a bit of a rattle from one of the rear sliding windows but since taking it out for a waist rail repair and clearing the debris from the channels so the glass slides easily into the grooves in the rear pillars that has gone. I then went through a process of sound deadening the whole car with various products staring off with a self adhesive bitumuos matting, the biggest difference using this I found was using it inside the doors and even wrapping a little of it around the locking mechanism - rattle free doors that close with a nice thud I finished off with various layers of sound deadening under the carpet but it was the parts before that made the biggest difference - a rattle and squeak free Minor is very nearly possible

[SteveClem]

If you like rattles, you are crazy!

Guilty as charged!
Not too many rattles though. And only the little ones.

[les]

There's hope for you yet then !

[James k]

My rear door locking mechanism does have the metal shims so it's probably not that that's rattling. I've managed to stop the infuriating window squeak by jamming a bit of cardboard between the glass and the runner. Not a permanent solution I know but it was driving me insane! There are still a lot of noises that I need to track down though. When you fit sound insulation, is it mainly the engine noise that it deadens? When I drive along at 60 or 70, it's so loud in the car. Roaring engine, roaring wind, rattling body. How much better does the insulation improve this? If it's significant then I'll have to look into getting it.

[panky]

At 60 or 70 it is going to be load, even with all my insulation you cant stop the noise of the engine at those speeds The self adhesive bitumous matting has the greatest effect so I would start there and stick it to every panel that can 'drum'. This is the stuff I used, two packs would be enough to do the whole car.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111550371102? ... EBIDX%3AIT

It's a lot cheaper than most similar products I've seen.

Here's some examples, mine is lower down the page.

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=59153

[Larryb]

I too have has lots of squeaks and rattles. The most annoying was the passenger side (my 67 Traveller is RHD) window rattled. It turned out to be the "felt" channel on the side post slips down about an inch or more into the door. Needle-nose pliers were used to pull it back up to the proper location. Another really annoying rattle is from the male part of the door handle that slides in and out as you open the door. It rattles against the striker. I fixed that by adhering a rubber tab to the striker.

New noises turn up each time I drive Mazie but that is OK...gives me a task for the week to find it.