I own a 1997 Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec of which an annoying tinny rattling sound comes from the area of the front left wheel. It sounds like a thin piece of metal is loose on a shaft.

The problem started a few years ago and was irregular and I ignored it. It wasn't even picked up during several annual services but now the problem seemed to have gotten worse and the rattle is constant on every journey I make. I noticed that if often comes especially when I’m steering left on a road with more vibration and almost never occurs at higher speeds

I took the wheel off to investigate to see if there any obvious lost bolts or clips on the drive shaft, suspensions or the steering mechanism, but there was none. I also checked the brake calipers too and they were fine and in fact, I have replaced the brake pads once since the start of the rattle.

Any ideas where the rattling might be coming from and what the problem is? Could it be the wheel bearing?

Here’s a recording I made on my phone from inside the car with the left window opened.

 

Nobody on here has any idea?

I can't really hear it on the video tbh.

I assume you've checked for loose caps on the wheel nuts and loose centre caps if you have alloys.

Driveshaft intermediate bearing is a possibility, as is the wheel bearing.

Or it could even be one of the pulley bearings on that side of the engine.