Holding my breath..
Holding my breath..
Will weld for beer.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 45.3 mpg (US) ... 19.3 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.5 mpg (Imp)
Hang in there!
Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block
Current project: DIY Nitrous oxide setup for ~$100
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View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.2 mpg (US) ... 20.1 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.7 mpg (Imp)
Will weld for beer.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 45.3 mpg (US) ... 19.3 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.5 mpg (Imp)
Picked up my car from dealership this afternoon after dropping it there again on Monday.
In my last long post I mentioned a new tech who rode with me to verify last week's epic fail. He was assigned to my car this last week and I'm glad he was.
..first I'm going to say that despite my best efforts to force a rattle from this car today it could not be done.
I'm also going to say he fixed it with less than $20.00 worth of shop supplies.
Last Friday he was in the car for maybe 5 minutes but due to his lack of bias and attention to detail he learned how to successfully reproduce the rattle at will without me there. Something no one previously could do. This is important because he was able to try things and test the results with some certainty.
As it turns out this issue could have been solved last Nov if anyone at the dealership bothered to consider my direction at the time. Just after the install of the new, new exhaust I posted here about the rubber exhaust hangers with a link to a video clip of me manipulating the rearmost one to cause it to bounce on the body mounted hanger stub. This produced a low note thump that matched pitch of the rattle.
I had gone to the dealership and told them about it. They even brought the car inside, put it up on the hoist and had me go in and reproduce it for them. The idea was dismissed immediately by service manager and tech present. They were fixated on the right rear of the vehicle and "we used all new hangers so there's no issue there".
Alrighty then.. here we are 2 months later with many miles in loaners, many visits to dealer, much grief, stress, anger and distrust.
All unnecessary.
Turns out you can fix a 10 month ordeal with an open mind and a couple sleeves of shrink tube. Yup, I said it. Shrink tube.
The issue is in fact the rubber hangers bouncing on the chassis mounted hanger stubs. Not the rear one but the ones near the front of the car. The sound was very efficiently transmitted down the unibody channel making it hard to pinpoint.
The new tech used electrical tape to test his theory, wrapping the stubs to form a tighter fit in the rubber hanger then running the car to reproduce the rattle. He taped, tested then removed tape, tested. Repeating the cycle 4 times to confirm. After proving the fix he removed the tape and used a couple layers of shrink tube on the stubs for the "permanent" fix.
As I stated above, I aggressively tried to force a rattle out of this car tonight to no avail.
I am for the first time in 10 months/24,000 km driving the car I paid for.
Last edited by IchabodCrane; 01-20-2018 at 03:22 AM.
Will weld for beer.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 45.3 mpg (US) ... 19.3 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.5 mpg (Imp)
That's crazy Ichabod. I'm glad you finally have it resolved. Thank you very much for keeping us all updated with your problem and solution. Finally.
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IchabodCrane (01-20-2018)
Wow, what an ordeal. That’s a lot of persistence and I’m glad it all worked out.
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View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 automatic: 40.5 mpg (US) ... 17.2 km/L ... 5.8 L/100 km ... 48.6 mpg (Imp)
IchabodCrane (01-20-2018)
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View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)
IchabodCrane (01-20-2018)
Will weld for beer.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 45.3 mpg (US) ... 19.3 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.5 mpg (Imp)
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View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)
Daox (01-22-2018),IchabodCrane (01-20-2018),MetroMPG (01-20-2018)
Fantastic! Glad to read about the resolution to this.
I wonder if your being in a chilly part of the world, this is something that might not happen to in identical Mirages in warmer climates. In the cold, the rubber hangers would contract and be less pliable, more likely to transmit vibration. Did you notice a correlation between outside temperature and the vibration?
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 62.4 mpg (US) ... 26.5 km/L ... 3.8 L/100 km ... 74.9 mpg (Imp)