1988 911 Cab, rattling noise

[StainlessSteve]

Guys,

I have a strange noise coming from what seems to be the passenger side rear wheel area. I sometimes hear it when I am turning left, but not every time that I turn left. And I have also heard it when I am driving straight. It sounds like a tiny rock banging around inside a hubcap. Anyone have any idea what this might be?

Car has 90k miles on it and otherwise drives perfectly. Appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks!

[Flojo]

did you do any checks by yourself so far on that issue?
sway bar connector loose or tired fix?
maybe you jack the rear up and try turning the wheel and also try to "rattel" it on its hub to see if there is a "loose" feel.
check loose pipes or anything that might move when turning.

but maybe its just a sometimes-tiny-rock-banging-around-inside the wheel hause? ...

[Discseven]

Steve,

I'm not sure about the configuration of your '88... might be the oil cooling lines running forward if you have them. When those oil line's retainers get loose or fall off, there's rattling on the passenger's side from the loose pipes.

Best!

Karl

[darrin]

there's also an ambient air valve located next to the oil fill tube - this is supposed to add heated air from the oil tank to avoid icing the air intake on cooler (50degree) days. Mine's failing and occasionally makes a similar-sounding noise.

[G50911]

i had a rattle that drove me nuts. i put a little lithium grease in the font top latches (above the windshield) and it went away. apparently the latch motor contact points can rattle and the thick grease deadened the sound.

it sounded like a rattle coming from the front dash and sometimes the rear 1/4 panel area.

[glennspiegler]

G50911. I removed the black strip that covers the latch motors and tightened the motor screws. That got rid of my rattle sound.

[Smoove1010]

I'd check every nut and bolt in that general area. I'd also check the rear wheel bearing - jack up the car, take off the wheel, the caliper and the disc. Put the car in neutral, spin the hub, check for play. I had a rattling sound on the driver's side, turned out that the wheel bearing was so shot that when I did this test the hub actually wobbled around.

Good luck!

[StainlessSteve]

Thank you all very much for the suggestions. If it is a rear wheel bearing, would I notice anything in the handling? The car drives perfectly.

[Smoove1010]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteve

Thank you all very much for the suggestions. If it is a rear wheel bearing, would I notice anything in the handling? The car drives perfectly.

Not necessarily. My car was handling fine, I noticed a pulse in the brake pedal, replaced both rear bearings, I still have the pulse! The wobbling hub wasn't detectable until I took the caliper off, though it did have a dry bearing sound to it when it was spun.

Checking the rear bearings will give you a good opportunity to thoroughly inspect the rear brakes, particularly the parking brake. Sometimes the shoes for the parking brake start coming apart - the bits and pieces might cause a rattle sound.

[StainlessSteve]

Thanks again guys. It turns out it was the parking brake shoe. Completely worn out with small pieces of the pad crumbling off and banging around inside.