512tr rattle/bang in back when I hit a bump

Hi Tim,

At one point my TR had a banging sound in the rear that corresponded with the rear deck lid caution light illuminating on the dashboard display. It would bang and light up over every bump or dip in the road. You might have another issue, but this was mine.

The cause was that I had tried earlier to gently close the lid by pushing it down. The passenger side of the lid didn't lock all the way and was bouncing around. I later learned to drop the lid from a height of about 4 or 5 inches to get it to lock properly. Apparently this is the recommended procedure and it works every time.

Don't try this on the front hood lid, though. That you have to gently push down directly over the latch points with the palm of your hand on a soft cloth. I sometimes just use my whole fore-arm to distribute the force over a larger area. The aluminum can bend easily if you press down on too small an area, like using your fist.

Rob

 

But ... it could also be something in the achses / drivetrain ... (hope not but ...) ?

I would consult a shop ...

 

My car is a 88 TR but may have had a simialar problem. I had both of the Exhaust metal brackets that cracked I believe due to vibration as the crack was along the weld line. The Tubi exhaust would move enough so that one of the pre cats (pipes) would hit the lower panel in back when I hit a bump or excellerated hard. Rewelded the brackets and bent them straight and no more banging. I would get back there and push on the exhaust gently and see if anything is loose and hitting anything.

Also the suspension may make noise like that if you have something loose, bad bushing or something. You can gently bounce the back of the car and see if it makes noise. On a previous car I had an issue with a banging noise that took forever to figure out and it was only after the need to replace a clutch that a missing tool was found down in the frame area that was bouncing arround. As for the deck grill, it is easy to remove, but you should be able to gently grab each grill and wiggle it to see if one is loose or hit it softly with your hand from underneath to see if it is loose and bangs same with deck lid, no need to remove in my opinion. There are 4 grill sections to the TR, not sure about the 512 front, rear, right, and left grills. I would avoid taking the engine bonnet off to find this problem as you can cause yourself more headach if you don't get it back exactly where it was...very tricky to align sometimes even when markings are present and I view it as a two person job.

Good luck, keep us posted

 

With the decklid make sure the rubber bumpers are contacting the lid when closed.

You might also check the fiberglass engine cover that bolts to the deck lid--it's pretty light and wouldn't really cause a "bang" but it's one more thing in that area. Attached with four 6mm (10mm wrench) nylock nuts.

 

Hello Tim; Excellent job in self diagnosing the problem. I can only imagine the shop bill if you had taken the car to a Ferrari Dealership....OUCH!!!!!!!.....Mark

 

Glad to hear it was simple. I was going to suggest lookin for a dead hooker in the trunk but that would not be the case when it comes to a TR. These things most often turn out to be simple fixes. IMO they are Well built cars really.

 

OK, you found your noise but I just want to mention that when I bought my car it had a banging noise over bumps. Turned out that the L brackets welded to the frame where the belly pans are bolted on broke off. This appears to be a common problem and leaves the belly pans flopping around.

The F dealer chose to fix it WRONG. Typical work from Stuarts Ferrari of Denver. NEVER HAVE WORK DONE THERE! They drilled and tapped holes in the frame and installed rubber stand offs and then drilled corresponding holes in the belly pan. It's not a big deal but it's just not right. Of course I have NEVER had anything done correctly at F of Denver.