possible cause of my dashboard rattle

[stevewright]

Found out from ford garage that my focus had been involved in an accident and been repaired (no record of this on hpi)

To be honest, im not that fussed as i got it at good price, and if it hadnt been for searing for the rattle, i would have been none the wiser.

However, they are now saying that as it had been fixed by a non ford company, they will not cover the warrenty (remaining until august 2010)

Therefore, im thinking i may have to find and fix the problems myself.....

They reckon the steering rattle is from a loose rattling bolt inside a steel cross beam, directly behind the bottom of the plastic trim below the steering column.

The question is, how do i get to it?

When i open the drivers door and look in the gap between the door and the front wing, theres two holes, one of which i was told the bolt should be in. I thought id buy one of those bendy magnets on a stick thing for hard to reach areas, but i cant get it to fit in the hole. I just need something to slide in there, sticky or magnetic to catch the loose bolt.

Any ideas? the rattling is driving me insane! :(

its a 2007 ford focus 5 dor hatch

[artscot79]

Found out from ford garage that my focus had been involved in an accident and been repaired (no record of this on hpi)

To be honest, im not that fussed as i got it at good price, and if it hadnt been for searing for the rattle, i would have been none the wiser.

However, they are now saying that as it had been fixed by a non ford company, they will not cover the warrenty (remaining until august 2010)

Therefore, im thinking i may have to find and fix the problems myself.....

They reckon the steering rattle is from a loose rattling bolt inside a steel cross beam, directly behind the bottom of the plastic trim below the steering column.

The question is, how do i get to it?

When i open the drivers door and look in the gap between the door and the front wing, theres two holes, one of which i was told the bolt should be in. I thought id buy one of those bendy magnets on a stick thing for hard to reach areas, but i cant get it to fit in the hole. I just need something to slide in there, sticky or magnetic to catch the loose bolt.

Any ideas? the rattling is driving me insane! :(

its a 2007 ford focus 5 dor hatch

take a metal coat hanger and a fridge magnet smash the magnet into a small enough piece to fit in the hole and let the magnetism do the rest provided the screws not too heavy it should pull it out though using some glue to attach the magnet to the coat hanger is best its actually illegal now for someone to with hold that info when selling a car especially if it was a garage

[stevewright]

take a metal coat hanger and a fridge magnet smash the magnet into a small enough piece to fit in the hole and let the magnetism do the rest provided the screws not too heavy it should pull it out though using some glue to attach the magnet to the coat hanger is best its actually illegal now for someone to with hold that info when selling a car especially if it was a garage

fixed!

body shop took the door off, and it was actually a long bolt that goes in the side that hadnt been tightened correctly

[Jonny87]

EXCELLENT NEWS!!! :)