Mysterious Exterior Rattle: Finally A Diagnosis & Fix

[Barto85]

Posted elsewhere, I mentioned I recently purchased a new GT about 6 weeks ago.

After putting a few hundred clicks on the clock, I noticed an exterior metallic rattle which could only be heard while driving with a window down and when travelling over bumps at a range of speed 30 - 60 kms/hr. The noise sounded like a set of keys or Tamborine rattling from underneath the car. Whilst only a subtle rattle, it was EXTREMELY IRRITATING, particularly considering the car was only a few weeks old and given I was hoping the bulid quality would be better than a Ford Festiva. Off to the dealer service department for diagnosis and fix.

First visit to the dealer: invoice cited “2 exhaust heat sheilds found to be incorrectly installed, overlapping and causing rattle. Vehicle road tested and noise found to be no longer present”. I drove the car out of the dealership and could hear the rattle over the first set of bumps.. I quickly dreaded where this journey was headed so I asked a friend of mine (veteran diesel mechanic with decades of experience) to come for a ride and help diagnose. His first suggestion was to hover the brake pedal while driving and see if the noise was still present over bumps. After about an hour of road testing, we determined the rattle could not be replicated while the brakes were being applied - obviously a brake related issue and likely to be rattling pads. We were further able to determine it was rear brake related and probably only coming from the driver’s side.

Second visit to dealer: advised them it was rear driver’s side brake related. Sadly they didn’t listen to what I told them and instead literally started taking the car apart.. They removed the underbody trays and started bending exhaust heat shields.. After running out of time within business hours they called it a day and asked me to drop it back in so they could start pulling the wheel arch guards out..

Third visit to dealer: I’m pretty jacked by this point having learned what they got up to the previous day. So upon dropping the car off I refused to leave without talking to the workshop foreman. I spoke to him and re-emphasised the brake hypothesis and our amateur testing results. My diesel mate said an old trick is to place a dab of silicon behind the pad to “fill” the void and stop the rattle which I relayed to the foreman. The foreman agreed they would finally focus on the brakes so they took the rear brakes apart and applied some “anti-rattle spray” to the back of the rear brake pads.

I picked the car up hoping third time, $65000 car half dismantled lucky..
Voila, NO MORE RATTLE! My diesel mechanic mate was right. It was definitely the rear pads. Not sure what Brembo would have to say about this..? I’m told Brembo’s are fitted to Ferraris..

I hope this post is helpful for others who may have had this issue, saving repeat trips to a dealer and having your new car pulled apart.. If you have had the same issue, please comment accordingly and if there are a few responses I will email Kia Australia to advise.

 

[DaJackson]

I’m told Brembo’s are fitted to Ferraris..

I’m sure there are Brembos on Ferrari’s and Lambos and Bugatti’s but not the Brembos we have.

Brembo is a parts supplier, they make many different types for brakes for different cars.

That’s like someone with a Kia Rio saying Kia makes the Stinger so my car should have the same engine/brakes/etc.


Good work figuring out the issue though.

 

[AV8R]

Thankyou Dr Holmes for that brilliant investigative work. We will be better off for it! Great job!

 

[robz32]

Glad to hear it was that easy. Sometimes I dont understand why certain service departments dont listen to what the owner of the vehicle says.

Also another thing to keep in mind that Brembo, as stated above supplies the parts, but it is a the factory where these parts have to be assembled, so someone skipped a step when putting the pads on your rear calipers when the car was being built.

 

[Barto85]

I’m sure there are Brembos on Ferrari’s and Lambos and Bugatti’s but not the Brembos we have.

Brembo is a parts supplier, they make many different types for brakes for different cars.

That’s like someone with a Kia Rio saying Kia makes the Stinger so my car should have the same engine/brakes/etc.


Good work figuring out the issue though.

Thanks guys. Yep I realise that. What I was getting at was that regardless of how many variants of brake models a manufacturer makes, Brembo is supposed to be a premium manufacturer (hence the reference to Ferrari’s, and me implying that they would be unlikely to fit a product unless from a reputable brand).

What I didn’t add too was that while I was at the dealer service department and we were discussing the brake rattle issue, the foreman goes “yeah we have issues with Brembo brake noise all the time, often on our high end Mercedes”. Again this just makes one curious about the quality control, or even design, of some of the Brembos. They do however look great and people go “ooww it has Brembos”.

Agree with you robz32. It’s probably as assembly related error (and only a minor one). Further giving rise to curiosity about quality control. Also, alot of Brembos have anti-rattle clips from caliber to pad. It only takes one to be slightly bent or misaligned and an issue like this can start.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Glad to hear it was that easy. Sometimes I dont understand why certain service departments dont listen to what the owner of the vehicle says.

Also another thing to keep in mind that Brembo, as stated above supplies the parts, but it is a the factory where these parts have to be assembled, so someone skipped a step when putting the pads on your rear calipers when the car was being built.

Because most service departments assume the customer is a dumbass with the IQ of an earthworm, who wouldn’t know a thing, they will tell you any BS in the hope your gullible enough to believe what they tell you.
I love leading them down this path, I then go on the attack & call them on it when I’m through with them insulting my intelligence....which is not a lot to insult BTW...lol.

 

[Thang]

Wow I'm going to have to try this. Took my car in 3 times over the last 1 1/2 months for various issues and this is one of them.

 

[Coast GT]

Because most service departments assume the customer is a dumbass with the IQ of an earthworm, who wouldn’t know a thing, they will tell you any BS in the hope your gullible enough to believe what they tell you.
I love leading them down this path, I then go on the attack & call them on it when I’m through with them insulting my intelligence....which is not a lot to insult BTW...lol.

Agree, I asked mine to check the fuel system due to several times filling the car and the bowser indicating I only had a few litres left in the tank despite the fuel warning not activating in the car. They claim they checked it and all was fine, then to explain why the bowser said I took 58.8L for a 60L tank they claimed the tank was slightly bigger than 60L but Kia only publish that it’s 60L to allow a few extra litres for the idiot factor so owners don’t run it dry. So basically implying I was one of those idiots. When I questioned that then they claimed the bowser at the service station was wrong. I think they’ve got a dartboard of excuses out the back and before they return the keys they throw a dart and run with whatever it says hoping the customer believes them.

 

[my19rattler]

Posted elsewhere, I mentioned I recently purchased a new GT about 6 weeks ago.

After putting a few hundred clicks on the clock, I noticed an exterior metallic rattle which could only be heard while driving with a window down and when travelling over bumps at a range of speed 30 - 60 kms/hr. The noise sounded like a set of keys or Tamborine rattling from underneath the car. Whilst only a subtle rattle, it was EXTREMELY IRRITATING, particularly considering the car was only a few weeks old and given I was hoping the bulid quality would be better than a Ford Festiva. Off to the dealer service department for diagnosis and fix.

First visit to the dealer: invoice cited “2 exhaust heat sheilds found to be incorrectly installed, overlapping and causing rattle. Vehicle road tested and noise found to be no longer present”. I drove the car out of the dealership and could hear the rattle over the first set of bumps.. I quickly dreaded where this journey was headed so I asked a friend of mine (veteran diesel mechanic with decades of experience) to come for a ride and help diagnose. His first suggestion was to hover the brake pedal while driving and see if the noise was still present over bumps. After about an hour of road testing, we determined the rattle could not be replicated while the brakes were being applied - obviously a brake related issue and likely to be rattling pads. We were further able to determine it was rear brake related and probably only coming from the driver’s side.

Second visit to dealer: advised them it was rear driver’s side brake related. Sadly they didn’t listen to what I told them and instead literally started taking the car apart.. They removed the underbody trays and started bending exhaust heat shields.. After running out of time within business hours they called it a day and asked me to drop it back in so they could start pulling the wheel arch guards out..

Third visit to dealer: I’m pretty jacked by this point having learned what they got up to the previous day. So upon dropping the car off I refused to leave without talking to the workshop foreman. I spoke to him and re-emphasised the brake hypothesis and our amateur testing results. My diesel mate said an old trick is to place a dab of silicon behind the pad to “fill” the void and stop the rattle which I relayed to the foreman. The foreman agreed they would finally focus on the brakes so they took the rear brakes apart and applied some “anti-rattle spray” to the back of the rear brake pads.

I picked the car up hoping third time, $65000 car half dismantled lucky..
Voila, NO MORE RATTLE! My diesel mechanic mate was right. It was definitely the rear pads. Not sure what Brembo would have to say about this..? I’m told Brembo’s are fitted to Ferraris..

I hope this post is helpful for others who may have had this issue, saving repeat trips to a dealer and having your new car pulled apart.. If you have had the same issue, please comment accordingly and if there are a few responses I will email Kia Australia to advise.

Doubt you're still around mate but I'm going through the same issue as you.

I've had a mysterious rattle since I bought my Stinger, and it's been into the dealership... *sigh*... five times for it.

I made another thread about it, and someone suggested it could be coming from the driver's side brake assembly:

I've got a sixth dealership visit booked in for next week and I'm so bloody over them ignoring my suggestions. I've told them it sounds like an external rattle and it's weather dependent, and instead of listening and trying to diagnose it that way, they replaced the HUD.

What's interesting is that today (a rainy day), the sound is completely gone. Only happens on dry days. When the weather clears up I'm going to try and replicate your brake pedal hovering tests. Fingers crossed, and thanks for posting this.

 

[JSolo]

When car shopping, one of the 2.5L stingers I test drove had a rattle on the passenger side. Couldn't tell if it was the front door or rear. Sounded like some marbles loose in the door panel (or likely a screw/bolt). I wasn't going to buy this car any way as it was the wrong color (white). Main purpose of that visit was to determine if there was adequate power.

Needless to say, I feel for who ever bought that car because such a rattle would drive me nuts.

 

[Stevol]

Posted elsewhere, I mentioned I recently purchased a new GT about 6 weeks ago.

After putting a few hundred clicks on the clock, I noticed an exterior metallic rattle which could only be heard while driving with a window down and when travelling over bumps at a range of speed 30 - 60 kms/hr. The noise sounded like a set of keys or Tamborine rattling from underneath the car. Whilst only a subtle rattle, it was EXTREMELY IRRITATING, particularly considering the car was only a few weeks old and given I was hoping the bulid quality would be better than a Ford Festiva. Off to the dealer service department for diagnosis and fix.

First visit to the dealer: invoice cited “2 exhaust heat sheilds found to be incorrectly installed, overlapping and causing rattle. Vehicle road tested and noise found to be no longer present”. I drove the car out of the dealership and could hear the rattle over the first set of bumps.. I quickly dreaded where this journey was headed so I asked a friend of mine (veteran diesel mechanic with decades of experience) to come for a ride and help diagnose. His first suggestion was to hover the brake pedal while driving and see if the noise was still present over bumps. After about an hour of road testing, we determined the rattle could not be replicated while the brakes were being applied - obviously a brake related issue and likely to be rattling pads. We were further able to determine it was rear brake related and probably only coming from the driver’s side.

Second visit to dealer: advised them it was rear driver’s side brake related. Sadly they didn’t listen to what I told them and instead literally started taking the car apart.. They removed the underbody trays and started bending exhaust heat shields.. After running out of time within business hours they called it a day and asked me to drop it back in so they could start pulling the wheel arch guards out..

Third visit to dealer: I’m pretty jacked by this point having learned what they got up to the previous day. So upon dropping the car off I refused to leave without talking to the workshop foreman. I spoke to him and re-emphasised the brake hypothesis and our amateur testing results. My diesel mate said an old trick is to place a dab of silicon behind the pad to “fill” the void and stop the rattle which I relayed to the foreman. The foreman agreed they would finally focus on the brakes so they took the rear brakes apart and applied some “anti-rattle spray” to the back of the rear brake pads.

I picked the car up hoping third time, $65000 car half dismantled lucky..
Voila, NO MORE RATTLE! My diesel mechanic mate was right. It was definitely the rear pads. Not sure what Brembo would have to say about this..? I’m told Brembo’s are fitted to Ferraris..

I hope this post is helpful for others who may have had this issue, saving repeat trips to a dealer and having your new car pulled apart.. If you have had the same issue, please comment accordingly and if there are a few responses I will email Kia Australia to advise.

I have an orating rattle that sounds the same as yours. Coming from the front wheel. Already been to the dealer who found nothing wrong. Mine is a 2.2 diesel . That still has the rattle.

 

[Stevol]

Many thanks.