Capri Quirks

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Arya2.0S
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Capri Quirks

Post by Arya2.0S »

The other day my Capri started making a horrendously annoying rattle from behind the dashboard.

I am very sensitive to noises, especially rattles and squeaks due to sensory processing issues i have.
I have spent an unhealthy amount of time trying to eliminate all the rattles and squeaks my car made inside and out.
There's inevitably a few you just cant fix due to the way the car is designed (like the parcel shelf rattling as you go over bumps for example), but for the most part i can confidently say my car is rattle free and quieter than some Mercedes I've been in (my parents used to own a Merc, and it rattled like an old van in comparison).

I despise and loathe rattles and squeaks with a vengeance, and i can pick up on the most subtle and slightest of squeaks that most people (like my wife sitting in the passenger seat for example) cant even hear.

Anyway, in the past i had a rattle coming from behind the dash, it was the most annoying sounding thing and made me want to poke out my ear drums.
It sounded like someone was twanging a piece of string or a spring every time i went over a bump, i thought i had fixed it once in the past (around 5 months ago) not knowing what i did to do so, it just stopped after i fumbled around behind the dash for a bit, and had left me uneasy and fearful it would come back ever since.

Well the other day it did come back, and i once again wanted to scoop out my inner ear with a spoon because it was so annoying!

I took the whole dash apart for what must be the 20th time by now (no joke) and luckily this rattle i could recreate just by striking the steering wheel with my palm.
So here i am with all of the lower dash out, valuable, brittle old Ford plastic parts everywhere including the fascia (so radio had to come out too, as well as all the switches for the fog lights and rear wiper etc), pounding on the steering wheel while i contort my body to fit in the drivers side foot well so i can get my head under the dash to look up behind it and see whats what, without knocking my head on the pedals.

Its a spaghetti junction of wires and cables under there, and dark so hard to see anything obvious that could be causing it until i finally (by accident) managed to stop the noise once again.

I have no clue how i did this once again, but decided i had won the battle as the noise wasn't there anymore no matter how hard i banged on the steering wheel.
Just as i get most of the dash screwed back together and the steering column bolted back up as i dropped it down to get the fascia off, i wack the steering one more time just to be sure and low and behold the noise is back! :banghead: :banghead:

So, repeat the entire disassembly process all over again, what fun! Eventually i located the source of the rattle to have something to do with the wiper motor, which as we know is a pain in the arse to get to.
For some strange reason if i held on to the wiper motor with one hand and struck the steering wheel with the other (try doing that while your body is contorted to fit in the foot well) the noise goes away, the second i let go however it comes back! WTF?!

So in the end i made sure all the cables coming off of it and those that are near it where separated and not touching each other or anything else for that matter, and i tightened up the only screw i could see holding the wiper motor itself on and so far it seems to have fixed it at least for a while. Still, if it comes back at least next time i have a rough idea what its coming from now.

So yeah, thats my long-ass rant about the quirks of my Capri and the joys of ownership everyone! :lol:

I swear these cars have a mind of their own and just love to f#*k with you.

On the bright side, i can probably now remove all the dash panels with my eyes closed, having done it a thousand times so thats a neat trick i guess? :doh: :lol:
Not_Anumber
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Re: Capri Quirks

Post by Not_Anumber »

Im wondering if it could the wiper motor's rubber mountings/ washers have deteriorated. When the motor moves the bolts could be vibrating against the side of the mounting holes
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Re: Capri Quirks

Post by Jasonmarie »

Don't talk about Mercedes they are the worst car in the world as our bus as I call it has gone wrong and things falling of since we have had it is a joke . I also hate noises like you ,my wife says it's my OCD coming out but I remember when I was young 6-8 driving around with my grandad in the boot of a mk5 cortina looking for a rattle ...

So your not alone .
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Re: Capri Quirks

Post by Arya2.0S »

Not_Anumber wrote:Im wondering if it could the wiper motor's rubber mountings/ washers have deteriorated. When the motor moves the bolts could be vibrating against the side of the mounting holes
Its possible, wont rule it out and will consider it in case it ever comes back but so far ive gone over a bunch of bumps and the noise has not returned yet.
Jasonmarie wrote:Don't talk about Mercedes they are the worst car in the world as our bus as I call it has gone wrong and things falling of since we have had it is a joke . I also hate noises like you ,my wife says it's my OCD coming out but I remember when I was young 6-8 driving around with my grandad in the boot of a mk5 cortina looking for a rattle ...

So your not alone .
Hehe, yes mate its definitely OCD. But i dont really see that as a bad thing, makes us unique i suppose. Just can get frustrating when you know for a fact something is wrong but other people will be like "i cant hear it, maybe you're imagining it?" :lol:
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Re: Capri Quirks

Post by Jasonmarie »

Funny thing but I would spend so long just looking for the noise if you only lived nearer we could make a team up on find that dam rattle .
But the main thing Iam really pleased you have found it .
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Re: Capri Quirks

Post by Arya2.0S »

Jasonmarie wrote:Funny thing but I would spend so long just looking for the noise if you only lived nearer we could make a team up on find that dam rattle .
But the main thing Iam really pleased you have found it .
Dude, we could be like a team and shit! "RattleBusters" "SqueakBusters"? We could have our own logo and uniforms and painted up ambulance and everything!

We could have our own theme tune too! "When there's something squeaky, and you don't know what. Who ya gonna call?"
:lol:

Or, instead of the "A-Team", the "OCD-Team". :burnout:
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Re: Capri Quirks

Post by Jasonmarie »

That is so funny I just showed my wife and she said we must be twins .

They say we have a double .

I bet this gets you as well getting them dam leafs out the air vent I sit there ages with the air blower going trying to get the brown leaf out the vent with really long tweezers .
:beer:
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Re: Capri Quirks

Post by Arya2.0S »

Jasonmarie wrote:That is so funny I just showed my wife and she said we must be twins .

They say we have a double .

I bet this gets you as well getting them dam leafs out the air vent I sit there ages with the air blower going trying to get the brown leaf out the vent with really long tweezers .
:beer:
Funnily enough, i dont get seem to get those. I guess its because theres no trees where i park the car so it doesn't become an issue for me.
I do hate bird poop though, that shit drives me nuts and its dangerous too because if you dont take care of it right away it can actually damage your paint job!
I've accidentally left a dolop of the stuff on mine due to laziness once since i cant really wash the car properly where i live as i live in a first floor flat and theres no hose in the communal car park so i have to drive 10 minutes to my parents and use theirs (or pay to have it valeted) and when i eventually washed it off it left residue in the lacquer which i literally had to buff out with t-cut and wax!
Now i'll wipe the poop off with my shirt as soon as i see it if i have to. Gross i know, but saves running the risk of ruining the paint job ive slaved over twice now lol.
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Re: Capri Quirks

Post by Jasonmarie »

Yes them little birds seem to wait for a clean car now I think they cost about £10 but you can get these .

Image

I have never used them but they must be good .
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Re: Capri Quirks

Post by Arya2.0S »

Jasonmarie wrote:Yes them little birds seem to wait for a clean car now I think they cost about £10 but you can get these .

Image

I have never used them but they must be good .
We'll have to ask our resident Autoglym spokesperson Fordaholic Nick, i bet he has! lol
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Re: Capri Quirks

Post by Fordoholic Nick »

Arya2.0S wrote:We'll have to ask our resident Autoglym spokesperson Fordaholic Nick, i bet he has! lol
:wave: Thankfully I have not had to use these yet, not to say I don't have some handy now, but if they are anywhere near as good as Autoglyms Silicone Hose wipes then you wont go too far wrong with these. Good old Autoglym ! :)
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