Steering column rattle

[Captain Jack]

Ah, the V6 is also a solid one but it's a different diameter (see this).

[grasmere59]

Well i'm suitably confused now as my 53 has a V6 one fitted and according to servicebox it should be an S4 and the guy selling the ones in your link says there not interchangeable I just popped out and had a look under the bonnet and my pulley looks like 0515P2.

[Captain Jack]

These engines are a minefield when it comes to parts. Too many variations...

Anyway, I am due to visit a forum member local to me (Busman) to see (hear) what his 406 sounds like. I tried recording mine on the phone but it's not really heard or see in the video - just a diesel clatter. At least I'll be able to compare what it should be like...

[Captain Jack]

Could this be another suspect to my woes?

[steve_earwig]

That was what I was thinking when I said running on 3 (ok, running on 3.75...)

[Captain Jack]

Ahhhh! Yeah, the injectors are original at nearly 152k. I never used any cleaners on it. OK, so I have three suspects now.

1) Crankshaft pulley
2) Eccentric aux belt pulley
3) Injectors

[Captain Jack]

OK, spent a couple of hours with Richard/Busman listening to rattles and here are the findings:

1) His HDI sounds silky smooth despite being started for the first time in 3-4 days.
2) His steering wheel is rock solid.
3) My bonnet rattles! I suspect this is due to when I got whacked and had my bonnet shaped out of alignment. Nothing a little padding won't fix.
4) The automatic tensioner wobbles up and down constantly at idle but fairly steady once revved. Richard's is stable at all times.
5) With A/C switched off the rattle appears to be better but not 100%.
6) When turning the steering wheel when stationary, the rattle appears worse and there's a "groaning" noise.

Potential causes:

1) The belt is too tight causing extra load. This is exasperated further when A/C compressor is er... compressing and the steering wheel is turning making the PAS pump "work harder".
2) One of components driven by the belt is faulty/seizing.
3) Crankshaft pulley.
4) Something else.

Plan of action:

1) Remove the aux belt and see if the rattle disappears.
2) Drive each of the aux belt driven devices to see if they turn freely - apparently, the A/C compressor can have its oil changed if it's running rough.
3) Er.... it really rides on something aux belt or aux belt driven related - else I am stuck.
4) Pad the bonnet rubber grommet things so it doesn't rattle.

[Captain Jack]

Turning off the air con helps a little but not much. In the evening, I adjusted the rubber bonnet stops a little higher, so that the fit is tighter and it's not loose. Inside the cabin, it certainly sounds quieter but the steering wheel still vibrates.

Friday! My girlfriend will be sleeping from her night shift and I am off as it's Good Friday. I have a convection heater, which I will bring into the garage to warm the area up a little otherwise I'll freeze. I don't have any lights there (it's just a hole with a door) so it'll have to be some desk lamps providing the light! Will do the aux-belt investigation then.

[Captain Jack]

Removed the belt today and the engine run a lot quieter without it. The noise is coming from the spring tensioner as it moves up and down. When I moved it up to loosen the belt tension, the spring was making a click/click/click sound. The PAS, alternator, A/C compressor and all rollers themselves were turning smoothly by hand - don't think there's an issue with any of them. Looks like I need something like this. I know the roller was replaced but not the tensioner - no idea why my garage did that.

Also, I am not sure if the correct belt has been fitted. When I put it back on and tried to tighten it up with the idler/eccentric roller, it was still very loose. I could easily remove it. The idler roller was at the limit of adjustment. Does that mean that the belt is either the wrong size or simply been loosened up by the constant wobbling of the tensioner? I looked on ServiceBox (VIN VF38BRHZF81529511) but it lists two different belts depending on the compressor used. The car is back on the ground so need to crawl under there again to see what compressor is used.

However, even with the belt off, there's still a small amount of vibration on the steering wheel. Actually, when I adjusted the bolts on the bonnet to stop it from rattling, the vibrations decreased as well.

Lastly..... I noticed that my bottom mount has been fitted with the rubber bits lying almost horizontally, so there's almost no movement in it. I am sure that's not helping the whole thing. Not a job I want to undertake myself to change it though

Oh... I also couldn't undo any of my wheel bolts today! It's as if they were seized solid! The handle bar was bending and I thought it would break off if I put any more force on it.... how do I get them off?!

[steve_earwig]

Find a garage that'll let you use their air tools? Take a tube/tin of copperslip and do them up with your wrench...

Any use? viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15634&p=151849&hilit=sanden#p151849

[Captain Jack]

Thanks Steve! Will take a look.

[Captain Jack]

Looks like it's a Sanden one Time to order the bits.

[Captain Jack]

New Dayco belt and tensioner arrived today so will be fitting them later!

If anyone wants to buy reasonably priced parts on eBay, use this chap. I bought a few things from him and he is very helpful and knowledgeable.

[Captain Jack]

The monologue continues.

It's the bottom pulley. It has to be. I replaced the aux belt with the correct one(!) and the tensioner pulley. Much quieter now but still the tensioner rattles up and down. I noticed that the bottom pulley is sliiiiightly wobbling in and out so I am guessing it's the rubber lining that deteriorated enough to cause the "wobble" and upset the auto-tensioner. Pulley ordered.

Right - if this doesn't work, I am throwing this bloody car out of the window!

[Busman]

Fingers crossed Alex. From what I saw of it the other day, I'm confident you're in the right area.