My friend called me and said his car broke down... apparently he was driving along the highway and the car started to make loud rattling noises and shake real bad... its been towed to a shop now but I'm sure they'll charge a leg to fix and I'm sure I can fix it myself if I know whats wrong. Any suggestions? Thanks...

 

We'd need more of a description, but I can give you the option of a broken connecting rod from 'loud rattling noise'. Was the car still running, but just making a loud rattling noise and shaking?

 

Hey, thx for the reply... like I said just my friend so I wasnt in the car... from what I understand its purely non-motor related. Steering became near-impossible due to the shaking.

 

If it's not motor related and it's the steering that's fawked. I would say possibly warped rotors. That would make the wheel shake especially at high speeds. But it kinda seems weird it happened so suddenly. Ummm..It's gotta be something with the hub assembly if it's not motor. Goodluck.

 

Does the car start?

 

yep car starts fine, steering actually worked, just the rattling... it sounds a lot more serious than rotors tho. The car is a 98 so would a broken connecting rod already happen?... hmm...

 

its not a rod if the motor runs fine. If the steering is fawked, I'd jack the car up and make a visual inspection of the front suspension and steering equipment. Check control arms, tie rods, and axles, for starters. Also make sure the steering gearbox and rack are snugly in place. If theres something catastrophically wrong, you should be able to see it.

 

Wait, when you are still, is there rattling? Or does the rattling only occur while moving. And when moving, does the rattlings frequency get higher (not sound related), like does it do it more and more as if it were to rattle once every axle rotation?
Sorry if you don't understand, i can't describe it well.

 

If the car shakes, check the motor mounts first.

 

I used to mount wheels/tires, might be axle, cv joint(s), tie-rods, or wheel/tire balance... not too sure about the rattiling noise though