MamaBear

Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll check with my mechanic today, see if he’s looked at this.

I’ve had my Toyota Starlet GLS ‘98 automatic for 16 years and she’s been an absolute trouper! 

However, just out of the blue she started making a noise, what I originally described as sounding like a spoken dokey on a bike (remember those days!). Anyway in she went to my local mechanic, it’s been a month now and he just can’t figure out what/where the noise is coming from, he’s a pretty cautious mechanic and is reluctant to ‘throw parts’ at an ‘old car’. 

So far he has:

• checked and greased the cv boots
• cleaned off the brakes and checked everything to do with those 
• replaced the wheel bearing on the drivers side. 
• drivers shaft has been removed and the car pushed - the noise is not present.

The noise which can be heard now quite loudly from outside the car sounds like a click or a dink. It is intermittent and not constant. It sounds as though it’s coming from the driver’s side although mechanic is now wondering if it’s the gearbox.

The noise is not present when the car is in neutral, when turning left or when it is on the lift making it difficult for mechanic to pinpoint where it’s coming from. 

The noise is present when the car is idle in drive. When driving straight and when turning to the right. 

Not sure if it’s worth noting that the day the noise started I was carrying an extremely heavy load in my car.

Has anyone any advice/experience on this? I would be very grateful for any responses. 

I’m sorry if I’ve gone on a bit but wanted to give as much info as possible and I really don’t want to say goodbye to my car (it’s lasted a lot longer than anything else in my life)!

Ignore posted on wrong area