The things you find in the strangest places

**Rok_Dr** · 5th April 2014, 11:47 PM

The story....

I recently sold the Corolla to my son and with my daughter about to get her L plates, another set of trainer wheels was required ASAP. After a few of weeks auditioning potential candidates, I bought a nice tidy 12 year old N16 Pulsar off Gumtree. Cosmetically and mechanically it is very good condition for age and had been well looked after.

However there were 2 annoyances. Firstly the the fan airflow dropped significantly when changing from recirculate to fresh air and secondly there was a most irritating rattle which sounded like a screw rolling around under the carpet, beneath the drivers seat.

I thought that the fan pollen filter was probably long overdue for replacement, however on investigation I found no filter fitted and the fresh air inlet was chockers with leaves and grass. After cleaning out shopping bag full of vegetation, normal fresh air flow was resumed.

The rattle was a bit harder to pin down. After removing the seat and plastic trim, I found a small bouncy ball, $2 and a 12mm nut under the carpet within the front cross beam the seat bolts to. Problem solved I thought, but a test drive revealed otherwise.

Next I borrowed a USB cable inspection camera from a mate, pulled everything apart again and went probing. Looking inside the rear seat mounting cross beam, revealed a round shiny object, which when finally retrieved was found to be a 1/2" stainless steel ball bearing. How the hell a ball bearing managed to get there or where it came from I have no idea as there are no holes in the carpet, except in the drivers foot well and it would have passed through the front cross beam first.

Still for a couple of hours work and head scratching, both problems are solved and I'm now a happy camper.

Which reminds me time to update my signature line

Cheers

Steve

**discovery39** · 6th April 2014, 12:07 AM

Well apart from the shopping bag worth of vegetation it all sounds good. In a past life, I was a massive Datsun, sorry, Nissan nut, I'm sure you will have bugger all issues with your purchase. Furthermore, all relevant family members will enjoy said purchase for years to come.

**p38arover** · 6th April 2014, 06:10 AM

It is alleged that, back in the Sixties, Rootes Group (Hillman, Commer, Sunbeam, Singer, Humber, etc.) workers, to take revenge on management would occasionally drop a nut or ball bearing into chassis rails before they were closed up.

Obviously, a steel ball rattling about in the chassis would annoy management every time the customer drove the car!

I guess the highly unionised workforce didn't realise it only annoyed the customer and the dealers who had to try to locate the source of the noise.

**Geoff** · 6th April 2014, 06:16 AM

its not car related but my sister could not work out why my niece was getting sick all the time and why my niece had a strange stench about her. after many doctor visits, a rotting sultana was found in her nasal cavity

**ATH** · 6th April 2014, 08:35 AM

A painter mate of mine now deceased had a very weird noise coming from the rear of his old Datsun 1600 for ages and couldn't track it down so off he went to his favourite mechanic.
Mechanic chucked out all the tons of old paint cans, brushes and other crap from years of the vehicle being used as storage for anything Billy didn't use on the job and he found.....an old transistor radio which every time he started up and drove made the noises which drove him mad.
He didn't get the nickname of Silly Billy for nothing.
AlanH.

**AndyG** · 6th April 2014, 08:39 AM

We found 4 lambs in the back of the RR once. Father had rescued them and promptly forgot, they seemed quite comfy compared to living in a paddock.

**Bigbjorn** · 6th April 2014, 08:47 AM

I once worked for a machinery distributor that had a most unpopular sales manager. His company Commodore developed a bad smell inside which got worse and worse until the car was unusable. Everything inside got pulled out and cleaned to no avail. Eventually a can of cat food punched with a few holes was found glued on the top of the glove box well out of sight.

**AndyG** · 6th April 2014, 08:49 AM

A mate found a mud crab that had climbed inside the drivers seat

**p38arover** · 6th April 2014, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by AndyG

A mate found a mud crab that had climbed inside the drivers seat

I hope he didn't get crabs.

**Bushie** · 6th April 2014, 01:12 PM

Pushing prawns and other seafood through vents was also pretty common

Martyn

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