Club 80-90 Forums

I have a growing list of jobs on the van for the weekend, one of which is to investigate a rattling/resonance noise from the front of the van. It sounds as though it's coming from the gearstick or gear selector box, but doesn't disappear when I hold or move the stick, or put the van in gear, or depress the clutch. It's present whether the van is being driven on the road, or just sat on the drive with the engine running.

It appears to be related only to engine speed, and is present mostly while the engine speed is slightly increased due to the choke. As the choke comes off I notice the noise less, but it comes back occasionally as the engine speed rises - I can make it come back if I simply depress the throttle a bit. This makes me think it might be some sort of resonance - perhaps the gear selector box, or spare wheel carrier, or engine fan shroud or whatever is vibrating in response to engine vibration. It's always done it, and it's definitely from the front of the van, so not connected to my recent engine swap I think.

Any one else have this? Any thoughts on what it could be?

on my van some connectors for the stereo rattle on the back of the centre plastic push on housing, makes a right old din, never would have belived it would make so much noise, only happens moving on my van but I supose worth a look.

Yep, right sort of area, so worth a look I agree.

Mine was the number plate resonating in the wind. Only happened over 40mph.

Can be resonance in the heater matrix/valve.

Ah, now that's interesting - the noise has a 'metallic' character, so I could imagine it coming from the matrix/valve. Is there a fix?

isnt the valve plastic?
if its doing it stationary then I'd be getting underneath to listen , suitable precautions obviously.

itchyfeet wrote:isnt the valve plastic?
if its doing it stationary then I'd be getting underneath to listen , suitable precautions obviously.

Is it? I don't know. Could still be resonating through the matrix I guess. But I'm keeping an open mind.

Yeah, that's the plan - I'm going to find the rev range that it happens over, then adjust the idle screw so it keeps doing it even when warmed up, and then just have a good poke around underneath. I always chock the van when I'm working underneath (I've never really trusted my handbrake), especially if the engine's running, since it'll be in neutral.