ok fellas... ever since i bought my iroc, i've heard this noise coming from the rear when i hit bumps. a few people said the exhaust, some said the sway bar bushings, and most said the discs brakes in the back. I decided to fix the problem once and for all this past week... I took the brakes off... MAJOR PITA PASSENGER SIDE!!!, and inspected for improper installation. I found a bad pad so I replaced those. These came with a sleeve that went on the back of the inner pad which I noticed the old ones didn't have. I hoped this would solve the problem. I was a little p1ssed. While i was trying to compress the piston, since the chilton book didn't explain how, the metal brake line broke. *****!!! I had to buy another one and bend it myself. Everything back on, bled all the brakes, drive down the road. Tink......tink..... tink, on the bumps. Like metal hitting metal, not too loud, but enough to be embarassed about with a chick in the car and the windows down. The sway bar bushings don't look the best, but not bad enough to where metal could contact metal. Exhaust is perfectly fine. HELP!!!!!!!!

 

A waste of time? I wouldn't say that. You at least found a bad brake pad and replaced the brakes, not to mention the experience gained in doing so.

But anyway, trying to diagnose the cause of something causing a rattle is very difficult to do without actually being there to hear it. It'd be a lot easier if the location of this noise can be pinpointed to an area more specific that just in the rear, something that can be done only by actually being there and hearing it.

I'll take one guess. Check the spare tire and ensure that it is securely attached and nothing in this area is loose. It's "in the rear" and if not secured properly, could produce the noise as you stated.

[This message has been edited by Stuart Moss (edited July 07, 2001).]

 

thanks for the suggestion but I don't have the spare tire in there. It's definitely coming from underneath the car. Anyone changed rear sway bar bushings before? Could it be bushings on the bar that stretches from one side to the other?

 

I had a metal "ting" sound coming from the front of my car a long time ago. I was greasing my car one day and saw the problem. The one sway bar endlink bushings was totally gone, causing the washers to hit each other, causing the noise. You might want to check for a similar problem with your car, and while you are at it. If that is the prob, go ahead and replace the stock rubber junk with poly. Hope you find the noise.

 

if you don't have the e-brake adjusted as tight as possible,the pads will "jingle" no matter what. this is the case with my rear brakes......drive over some rough turf and listen for the noise,lightly apply the brakes,enough to tighten the pads,to see if the noise stops. that will isolate the noise to the brakes,and that's not a big deal. check around the exaust pipe,you'll know if it's been touching. also check the e-brake cable.

 

Check the heat shield on your gas tank.One of the corners may be bent down.My GTA did the same thing.

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92Z28
89GTA

 

again, I appreciate all the suggestions.
I know my e-brake isn't as tight as it shoudl be. I can pull the handle all the way back and it barely applies any pressure. How do I adjust it? Will tightening the cable keep pressure on the discs at all time? Any ideas why it's louder when I have people in the car?

 

What kind of mods do you have? A friend of mine had a driveshaft loop and a poly trans mount. The mount came with a thick shim and he didn't know not to use it, and eveytime he had a passenger in the car and hit bumps you could hear the driveshaft hit the loop.

There are a million sources for a rattle. On my personal car, the anti-rattle clip for the rear disc pad is missing and it rattles real loud over bumps. Could be the sway bar endlinks, but if the bushings are there, and its not broken, I don't think it will be the problem. could be a heat shield, and believe it or not, could still be the exhaust. I had the stock exhaust w/ a flowmaster that always made noise, but could never find the source. Then when I put on headers and a Dynomax catback, it was gone.

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