rattle and a squeak

[Crispy-Astra]

As title says i got a rattle and a squeak....when i put my foot down and accelerate i usualy get a rattle inless i put my foot down REALLY slow! sounds like my exhaust but had a quick look and moved it about but no rattling bits, i was thinking maybe it could be ...i think correct me if im wrong....the heat manifold? the thin bit of metal above the start of the exhuast that has a hose going back to the air box as it has a crack around the pipe connector bit. I dont think this is a bad thing just really annoying and get a few bad looks when i drive past people....Is this needed or should i replace?
Right to the squeak, i think this may be timing belt? was my sis's car before and i think it was changed about 2nd half years ago by a couple of crap mechanics (sorry if you are one but these 2 are my sis's ex and his dad so they dont count as real mechanics). Could this be the problem?
Sorry for my bad technical speach this is my first car but only now am i needing to fix it.
Thanks for any help

 

[astranaut]

The rattle does sound like the manifold heat shield, mine does it now and again, but i havent got a female torx head socket to take it off. i think it can just be removed along with the ipe to the airbox.
I also had a squeak, turned out to be a loose alternator belt, not the normal long squeal just a tiny squeak that got higher ptched with the rvs. Hope it helps!!

 

[Crispy-Astra]

yea! thats exactly the same squeak! how do i fix? Might try a tiny adjustable spanner to get it off, or a pair of pliers if it doesnt have to be there so i wont have to worry about sheering the screw. Doesn't the heat shield stop the underside of your bonnet from going black and also stop it geting hot and the paint peeling or is that just bad luck if that happens? lol, hasnt happend to me but i've heard bad stories of heat nd paint.

 

[astranaut]

on my last astra it was rotten and fell off in my hands, nothing happened then so you should be ok. I just undid the adjusting bolt on the alternator (its on a little track with gear teeth, pulled up the alternator to tighten the belt and nipped the bolt back up. Been ok since.

 

[Crispy-Astra]

okies cheers will have a looky if i get any time this weekend, sucks working 8-5:30 coz there's no daylight so no work on car in the week!

 

[astranaut]

ok for those with a job lol! dont forget the thanks button lol! post back if it doesnt work

 

[Crispy-Astra]

well it's hard work! 45 hours as an apprentice on minimum wage, i get all the rubbish jobs like jumping up in peoples lofts first thing and roll around in the itchy scrathy insulation just so my supervisor can laugh at me itching for the rest of the day and then putting the alcohol get on any cuts i get so 'it doesnt get infected' lol!

 

[astranaut]

I was an apprentice mechanic on 7:30 - 5:30, it was looking after a building firms diesel vans and machinery, but i only did this about 5% of the time. I was sent to mow a schools lawn once. An the mechanic i was with was an old ******* that didnt want an apprentice, still wish i didnt jack it in though

 

[Dunny_]

I reckon it will be altenator belt as well mate, i changed mine last week as it was nackered. squeek gone.

 

[Crispy-Astra]

Go back to college m8 and finish your qualifications, if you can prove to them you good enough to skip first year u will be done nice and quick, or maybe fast track? or maybe go to you local garage and do a few hours a week work experiance then you will learn more and quicker and if you show your keen and good enough you may get hired, did this at my local theatre back stage and got casual work doing get ins and get outs, the get outs paid bout £40 an hour!!! although i didn't usual finish until about 4 in the morn and that was from a 10pm start when the show finished but i was lifting big bits of set onto the wagons so very hard work but paid well for it.

 

[Crispy-Astra]

cheers Dunny, with some luck i will have no squeak and no rattle soon enough!

 

[astranaut]

Thats what i'm looking to do, i've applied to college so if no luck by september, full time student again lol. I've done the first year but they wouldnt let me carry on without a job.
Its a barren wasteland up here jobwise, unless you want to clean for peanuts or become a carer.

 

[Crispy-Astra]

Haha, same as down here, im working for a company who now have all the council stock of houses so it's either changing a sockets broken by a chav family or changing a light bulb for an old person, easy work but not learning that quick, but thats what day release is for. Good luck with hearing back from colleges. Try local garages for some summer work xp nd just mention in passin convisation that your going back to college, might help? haha

 

[astranaut]

Sounds like a good job, wouldnt mind that sort of thing. nothin like that up here, got a list of all the garages i applied to, nearly 50 in a 20 mile radius lol, still nowt. Just gotta keep trying. Think this threads gone a bit off topic lol.

 

[Crispy-Astra]

haha, keep trying u will get there, and no it hasn't dunno what your talking about? this is all leading back to my rattling because this is something you could have learnt at college? haha poor excuse i know!

 

[astranaut]

lol yeah thats it! full circle - problem sorted!