When I'm idling I often get a rattling noise coming from the drivers side of the engine just below/behind the dash (gauge part). It sounds like a woodpecker, but it's not too loud. If I up the rpm's to about 1.5k, the vibrations of the car change and the rattling stops for a few seconds... sometimes the radiator fan turning on will cause it to stop. It always comes back after a few minutes, though. It sounds like something is just loose... Any Ideas? Anybody have this problem? Thanks.

-Matt

 

Man, that's wierd. How's your speedo working? I know it's a shot in the dark, but when gauges start to go they make all kinds of noise. I've never heard of a speedo going bad in a seven though. My Monte's speedo rattles until about 30mph. It totally sucks, but I don't care enough right now to fix it.
Good luck.
Jim

 

It seems that the gauges are fine, but at this point it may be worth investigating... Thanks.

 

Have you done or changed anything in the car? Or did it just start happening?

I had a similar sound, however it was my aftermarket shift **** that was lose. It was vibrating at certain rpms and it sounded like it was coming from the dash if you were in the driver's seat..

 

Damian had a similar problem that he just recently fixed. Turned out to be his TCA wasn't adjusted right, and the flapper door was a bit too loose. Under light loads it tends to vibrate and cause noise. Definately worth a look a at...

Here's his thread

Rob

 

Sounds like the brake booster issue to me. There was a good write up about it but I can't seem to find it by searching...

The fix is basically isolating the brake hard line from the firewall near the driver's side by the MAP sensor. Try searching for it, perhaps you'll have better luck than I did. I also have it bookmarked at home, so I'll post it later if you're still looking.

 

"I had a similar sound, however it was my aftermarket shift **** that was lose. It was vibrating at certain rpms and it sounded like it was coming from the dash if you were in the driver's seat.. "

-I did change the shifter *** about two months ago... I'll look into this. But it definately sounds like its coming from the engine bay.


"Damian had a similar problem that he just recently fixed. Turned out to be his TCA wasn't adjusted right, and the flapper door was a bit too loose. Under light loads it tends to vibrate and cause noise. Definately worth a look a at..."

Yeah, I saw this while searching for my problem. He stated that his noise was very loud under the glove box. I have no noise there, so it doesn't seem to be this problem.

"The fix is basically isolating the brake hard line from the firewall near the driver's side by the MAP sensor..."

-If you could post the thread later on, I'd aprechiate it. This noise is truely annoying.

Thanks for the help.

 

Yeah, i didn't think this would be your problem either... oh well, i tried.

As for the brake booster issue, that definately seems like a probably cause. Did a quick search and came up with a thread for you. Basically just a matter of replacing the bolt that holds in the hardline with a damped stud (purchase from mazda at about $11).

Scroll about halfway down this page

Anyone know a better/easier way to fix this? Does any hardware store sell damped studs like that? is it possible just to put a little rubber behind the mounting bracket? Just seems kind of silly to go to the mazda dealer and pay $11 for a stupid stud...

Rob

 

Thanks, I'll take a look and see if this is it...