Squeaks and rattles from the back end...

[67911121km]

Hello.

New on the forum, bought my first Puma a couple of weeks ago - 2000 1.7 Moondust Silver - and I'm loving it.

There is a couple of issues that need looking at; power steering fluid seepage and the one I would like to ask you all about...

Setting off from cold, there seems to be a fair bit of squeaking and rattling coming from the back end, especially when going over bumps, etc. Seems to calm down/stop on level roads. Having no mechanical experience, does this sound like something that needs to be looked at properly? What the best way of checking for potential problems with the rear suspension, etc.

The car doesn't pull in one direction or anything, there's no wierd vibrations, no knocks, there's nothing that feels out of the ordinary when driving and when pushing down on each corner of the car it settles back in the same position without bouncing around.

Any ideas from that?

Thanks in advance

 

[67911121km]

Just reading posts elsewhere and there is one or two mentions of "the soothing sound of creaky decade old suspension and rattly trim" ... This would make sense because the more i listen, the more I hear rattling over the squeaking.

Is this a possibility? I know it's difficult to diagnose something like this without having the car in front of you to inspect :grin:

 

[pipcars]

Mine does this, It's the rear arm bushes on mine. could also be top mounts.

 

[67911121km]

Mine does this, It's the rear arm bushes on mine. could also be top mounts.

Thanks pipcars.

Sorry to be a pain, should I be concerned about doing a 700 mile round trip from Cornwall to Kent with this going on? There's no previous advisories or anything relating to the rear suspension, etc.

 

[skint]

Does it sound like its coming from the rear suspension or the boot?
The bootlid on my Puma squeaks and chirps when it is cold, and having had the rear bushes and rear top mounts done last week I know it can't be any of those. I'm pretty sure the sound in mine is either coming from the boot struts or the rubber sealing around the boot as in only crops up in temps less than 5*c.
I think of it as a frost warning :roll:

 

[67911121km]

Does it sound like its coming from the rear suspension or the boot?
The bootlid on my Puma squeaks and chirps when it is cold, and having had the rear bushes and rear top mounts done last week I know it can't be any of those. I'm pretty sure the sound in mine is either coming from the boot struts or the rubber sealing around the boot as in only crops up in temps less than 5*c.
I think of it as a frost warning :roll:

I'm going to have to do some investigating, I think - take the jack out, check the cage holding the spare is fastened tightly, etc. It's been wet here the last few days so I've not really had the chance get out much... But I have polished up the gear knob, soldered some new switches into the key remote fob (all buttons work now) and sprayed all four alloy centre caps (they were peeling and untidy).

TBH, I am finding it wierd that the noises do come and go, so perhaps it is something like you are experiencing. Thanks for the tip

 

[67911121km]

Looks like one of the sub-frame bushes has dried out a bit and is making the noise as the car rocks sideways... Hence why it seems to stop after a while (the rubber warms up a bit). Got an MOT coming up next month so we'll see if this crops up, either way, it'll have to be changed soon... Will the Fiesta Haynes manual help me with this? Not sure how much this part of the car will differ.

 

[JonB]

Remember now you have a Puma you will want to come up on the A30/A303, using the M5/M4 route will result in great shame!

 

[67911121km]

Remember now you have a Puma you will want to come up on the A30/A303, using the M5/M4 route will result in great shame!

Oh yes, indeed... I have that one planned already :grin:

 

[Spendog]

have the exactly the same issue - it was the spare wheel cage. (identified by bouncing the back end whilst my mate checked under the car) Not done it yet but apparently it's cured very easily by wrapping the spare in an old blanket, and place in a bin bag. Hey presto! silence! :grin: in fact i will do it today now....

 

[67911121km]

have the exactly the same issue - it was the spare wheel cage. (identified by bouncing the back end whilst my mate checked under the car) Not done it yet but apparently it's cured very easily by wrapping the spare in an old blanket, and place in a bin bag. Hey presto! silence! :grin: in fact i will do it today now....

Don't know about you, but my jack bangs around a bit as well - it doesn't tighten in place properly. Check that as well... and is your towing eye clipped to the jack unit? I didn't think I had one when I bought my Puma. Found a secondhand replacement on eBay, then stumbled across another one right round the back behind the boot lining... that was probably jumping around a fair bit and adding to the noise.

Have replaced my rear bushes now (did it yesterday) and it has helped, but I've read that there is always a degree of rattles from the back end anyway.

PS. Note about replacing rear bushes... Once the rear beam is lowered and you have access to the old bushes, use a 50mm hole bit as far as you can! Found that tip here, would've been impossible otherwise (I didn't fancy taking a blow torch to the near side bush).

 

[alexc1983]

have the exactly the same issue - it was the spare wheel cage. (identified by bouncing the back end whilst my mate checked under the car) Not done it yet but apparently it's cured very easily by wrapping the spare in an old blanket, and place in a bin bag. Hey presto! silence! :grin: in fact i will do it today now....

Don't know about you, but my jack bangs around a bit as well - it doesn't tighten in place properly. Check that as well... and is your towing eye clipped to the jack unit? I didn't think I had one when I bought my Puma. Found a secondhand replacement on eBay, then stumbled across another one right round the back behind the boot lining... that was probably jumping around a fair bit and adding to the noise.

Have replaced my rear bushes now (did it yesterday) and it has helped, but I've read that there is always a degree of rattles from the back end anyway.

PS. Note about replacing rear bushes... Once the rear beam is lowered and you have access to the old bushes, use a 50mm hole bit as far as you can! Found that tip here, would've been impossible otherwise (I didn't fancy taking a blow torch to the near side bush).

hi mate,

what centre drill did you use with the 50mm hole saw? did this method work ok?

 

[67911121km]

have the exactly the same issue - it was the spare wheel cage. (identified by bouncing the back end whilst my mate checked under the car) Not done it yet but apparently it's cured very easily by wrapping the spare in an old blanket, and place in a bin bag. Hey presto! silence! :grin: in fact i will do it today now....

Don't know about you, but my jack bangs around a bit as well - it doesn't tighten in place properly. Check that as well... and is your towing eye clipped to the jack unit? I didn't think I had one when I bought my Puma. Found a secondhand replacement on eBay, then stumbled across another one right round the back behind the boot lining... that was probably jumping around a fair bit and adding to the noise.

Have replaced my rear bushes now (did it yesterday) and it has helped, but I've read that there is always a degree of rattles from the back end anyway.

PS. Note about replacing rear bushes... Once the rear beam is lowered and you have access to the old bushes, use a 50mm hole bit as far as you can! Found that tip here, would've been impossible otherwise (I didn't fancy taking a blow torch to the near side bush).

hi mate,

what centre drill did you use with the 50mm hole saw? did this method work ok?

I just used the bit that came with it. It worked ok... to a degree. There is a plastic ring at either end of the bearing, the hole bit will shift that and then churn up the rubber a bit, but I was only using a crappy 12V battery-powered drill so you'll probably do better with 240V!

I put a hacksaw blade in there as soon as I could, cut out a section of the bearing's metal casing before hammering the bugger out with a chisel and mallet - take care doing this though! The bearing popped out after a few minutes.

I don't know what the new stock bearings are like to put in but I replaced with polys to avoid having to do it all again - they pushed straight in place.