How do I remove the right fender?

[hdsalinas]

Hi again

My 99 corolla has a very annoying rattle coming from the front right. It only sounds when the car is starting to move and the engine vibrates a little. I have been speculating that it can be the engine mounts or the exhaust pipes moving around when the engine vibrates.

But, tonight I notice that the right fender is missing the screw that attaches it to the "A" pillar. You can see it when you open the right door. There is a "L" shapped bracket that attaches the fender to the chassis. (this is near where the rear view mirror , windshield pillar and the fender meet) So if I apply force to different areas of the fender this moves and sounds very much like the rattle I hear. I can see how when the engine vibrates it could shake the fender making that sound.

The only problem is that I am not really sure how to take the fender off. I need to do this because the L shapped bracket is also missing and I would need to replace it and there is no way to do it unless I take the fender off.

What screws attaches the feder to the chassis and what components (bumper, turn signals) do I need to take off?

I am not sure if this is what is causing the noise but it would not hurt to fix it.

I appreciate your help. I have a haynes manual but it does not say how to take the fender off.

thanks in advanced

[RedruM]

unclip the splash guard first
then unbolt the bumper from the fender
then take out the turn signal light
there are 2 bolts at the bottom of the fender just infront of the door
then unbolt the 4 bolts in the engine bay that hold the fender to the chassis

[hdsalinas]

RedruM

Thanks, I am going to tackle this job this weekend.

[RedruM]

easy job
should take 8minutes
just make sure you dont snap any bolts

[hdsalinas]

Yes I didn`t think It would be too demanding. i just wanted to make sure I did it right

[REN69]

hmmmm.. I think your car might be an accident repair.. make sure you take a look around very carefully in case they forgot to replace broken parts.. that's of course if your car was a repair.

[hdsalinas]

hmmmm.. I think your car might be an accident repair.. make sure you take a look around very carefully in case they forgot to replace broken parts.. that's of course if your car was a repair

Well, That was also my first impression. I have been looking around the chassis and wheel well and I could not find traces of repair. Maybe at one point they did some damage to the fender and it was just replaced. Maybe they just did such good job fixing the car that is not noticeable, but since they "forgot" to replace this little bracket and bolts, I dont think they were that good.

I am going to spend all day saturday working on some projects on my car. I will tell you later how it went.