Dean Fisher

Hi I'm new to the site and looking for answers about my 2002 w203 sports coupe. There is a noise coming from under the armrest area, it seems to be there a lot more lately than before either that or I'm noticing it more lol. Anyway as u drive it has like a rubbing/clicking or tapping noise that sounds almost like heatshield or something catching on the driveshaft or something. It speeds up as I speed up and slows down as I slow down, it seems to go away if I turn left around a bend but sounds worse as I turn right. The car drives as it always has which is perfect but the noise is driving me f**king crazy. I had the lower control arms done a few months ago and seem to have had this since but I don't think it was as noisy as it is now.
Any help would be much appreciated as it's really annoying.
Thanks in advance.

andeify

Sounds like handbrake cable rubbing on driveshaft, a clip brakes and is a common problem, had it on mine, my mechanic tied it up with cable tie

02C240

this could be insulation hitting the drive shaft.:

Dean Fisher

That's what I thought, thanks guys time to get her up in the air lol. Perfect drive just annoying sound. Only got 66,000 on the clock and always been looked after, had a new gearbox and torque converter last year so I was sure it was minor and I have confirmed what I thought, thanks ��

Fishngravy

Hi Dean,
Did you get this issue sorted? I have the exact same problem.
Cheers,
Will.

Dean Fisher

I haven't yet but I haven't put it up in the air yet going to be doing it this week coming. Will let u know the outcome.

Fishngravy

Great, thank you :-)
After reading a few of the other posts on here and after doing some more careful listening, the heatshield/insulation hitting the driveshaft theory is sounding more and more plausible.
Good luck with your investiagtion; I'll await your findings with interest :-)

Dean Fisher

Ok so I took my merc into my mates garage who found that she he noise was actually the rear passenger side brake shoe rattling about. Basically the shield behind the brakes had split and broke where the spring anchors itself into, which meant the spring that holds the shoes in place had lost its anchorage so the shoe was just loose inside the drum which was rattling about. Luckily these metal guards are only £40 from the main dealership so it's a pretty cheap fix. I hope this helps u in ur quest to find the noise 😊👍

Boom vang

the part will be cheap but the fix will be quite involved as I believe the drive shafts need to be taken out as well as the complete braking system just to get the shield off and on. I have the same issue as the hole that holds the lock-down springs has rusted slightly to a much larger hole and the spring has nothing to grab on to. Trying to find an easier fix with a washer or tack wielding something on to close up the hole. the rest of the shield is fine

Dean Fisher

appently the shield can unbolt and can slide out, I'm not 100% on the procedure but my mechanic knew exactly how to do it without a lot of hassle. Will update on Monday 🤞

Dean Fisher

ok so the procedure with the plate was to cut it and slide it out which I've seen othe posts on here showing details of how's it's done. The plate was replaced but still had the noise and as previously thought it was the handbrake cable on the prop shaft. A half hour job of removing the heat shields underneath and strapping up the cable away from the prop shaft and pow no more irritating noise 👍
Really easy to do as long as the car is up in the air, and the exhaust isn't hot 😂😂😂