If the car hits a pothole and the brake and/or clutch is depressed a large metallic rattling noise comes up through the brake pedal. I suspect the clutch because the previous owner had the car through motability and maybe he rested his foot on the clutch pedal. I have taken the wheels off and the brake shoes seem firmly attached.
Another point about the clutch was when driving downhill in a very low gear it appeared to whine and seem to overrun itself if that makes sense.
Besides "Another point about the clutch was when driving downhill in a very low gear it appeared to whine and seem to overrun itself if that makes sense." -, are there any other faults that would make you think it was the clutch? such as problems changing gear etc...
I took it into the garage today where the mechanic gave it a good looking over. Eventually he suggested it might be the ABS braking system. He demonstrated the noise by driving a short distance and braking hard.
The clutch although troublesome is not the cause of the problem and as he said its cable operated and does not have a mechanical linkage to produce a noise..
I would have thought that ABS would not cause any problems but it seems there are flaws in it.
Yes Docspock that is what I found out when visiting the garage. He just braked hard and you could hear the distinctive rattle. Its a bit disconcerting if you have no knowledge of ABS but I'm glad he pointed it out otherwise I might have been tempted to put it in for repair.