omg.. I hope this fixes the hatch rattle I have.. (I have many others to check out)

I, too, tried the foam on the stoppers and it seemed to work for a while but the rattles came back.

The most maddening part is that the rattles aren't constant for me. One day driving over bumpy road there'd be no rattles, but the next day over the same patch of road it'd rattle like hell.

I started thinking it had to do with how hard/soft I closed the hatch. Guess I could be right now that OP has identified the problem area.

 

Yes the antenna does rattle and it is very loud. It hasnt happened for a while now. It usually happens when driving by a semi or when its really windy. Im not saying it happens to everyone just trying to be nice and help people out. Why dont you agree and stop being jerks about it.

 

I had the same results with the foam on the stoppers. Least it was an inexpensive fix. But then THREADS suggestion about the wire harness is pretty easy. The rattle is baffling as it does seem to be worse on some days and some days I don't even hear it. Once it gets warmer, I will try THREADS suggestion.

Kevin

 

i have the same noise. noticed it right after the springs install. as of yesterday 3/2/05 i installed the xm radio and made sure all the rear strut bolts were tight and they were. the rattle sound like a loose shock. im clueless as to what it may be. ill try this out!!

 

THREAD:

Would you happen to have any pics of the finished product? I started to get the hatch rattles again this morning after I moved around the wires yesterday (which was only a temporary fix). Anyway I don't know what to put on there and where exactly.

Thanks!

 

Ok, I applied the foam tape in the area mentioned in this post. And I didn't get to drive the car till today (because it's been rainy).

So, this morning, I had my chance. First, when I drove the car from start, I heard that noise again. I thought, crap, it didn't fix it. Later I kept on driving it, and there were another one or two of those tab tab click noises. But after maybe 5 minutes of driving, the noise are completely gone. I never heard it again through out the rest 15 minutes driving. So, it seesm to me the problem is gone (knock on the wood).

So, did it fix it or not? Why I heard a little noise in the beginning? Hmmmm....

This is fun, it's like a detective work. By the way, I'm starting hearing all other rattling noise now like the stereo console and the passenger side (more like a plastic touching noise). Anyoen has any solutions to the stereo console rattles?

I have to admit, in general, the car is quiet. But the other day, I was riding in my friend's new G35, boy, that car has a tight ___. Of course, it's nearly twice as much as my tC, but still.

 

Yes i do beleive i know which noise you are talking about one the passenger side.

I too have the noise ing the hatch, console, and my two front air vents.

The air vents are like a knocking sound, like a tap, but a little lower.

And i just started to hear it from the passenger side also.

If anyone has similar sounds try holding the vent by pressing your hand up against it, if the noise ceases then we know it has something to do with that.

Also i have heard just a new noise coming from the temp ****, the aluminum piece on the console. It likes to rattle like shake really fast, i guess due to the material.

So basically there has been:

Console lid
Consolge temp ****
Rear Hatch-solved
The front air vents
Antenna-? not quite sure
Passenger sealbelt-funny as hell
And the famous moon roof

 

For the console noise, one solution I have read is to replace the radio cover. Someone had the dealer take off the dash and apply noise reduction foam/pad?? and then put the dash back on.

I have just put a piece of folded cardboard in the top left of the radio cover and that helps. But I still get the rattle/noise some.

It is strange that the tC rattles appear to come and go for no reason. But the moonroof problem for me was constant until the dealer fixed.

Kevin

 

One thing I didn't mention is that while I had the top trim apart I noticed a gap on the (facing car from rear) trim where the top one meets with the passenger side one.

I also noted there was some play there where the "support" that should (as I would expect) be tightly held against the sheetmetal had some play in it. Now, this could have been self induced since before I had the Eclipse navigation installed I had a Magellan 750NAV (Hertz has these GPS systems in their rentals) and I ran the cord down the passenger side trim piece on the hatch so I pulled it off and on a few times.

So to eliminate the play I shoved part of a rag at the top end of the passenger side trim that:
1) Padded the trip from tapping on the sheetmetal
2) Made it fit more tightly.

And for completeness' sake I did the same to the passenger side trim piece although it's a bit easier since the wiring harness runs through there, so less rag needed. So no rattles. Basically the goal is to make those trim pieces fit as snug as possible.

As for the radio cover rattle I found that taking the entire dash console off and tightening the screws on either side that hold the radio faceplate in place solved it. After a few hundred miles it started rattling again and the screws had loosed up so this time I put some lock-tite on the scres and tightned them up. No more rattles since.

I was at the dealer this morning because I curbed ANOTHER rim last night at the bowling alley and brought it in to get another rim and the tire installed on it. So now I've got 3 18" rims in my garage 2 with some good curb rash on them and one with a minor nick. Dunno what I'm going to do with them.

I mentioned the rattles to the service advisor who said they've had a few TC's coming in with the owwners complaining about rear hatch rattles and he's going to give my solution a try on the next one that comes in. Guess they'll be ordering more shop rags

I can't say exactly when they started or if it was a result of the trim having to be pulled for the rear lip install since it was installed a week after I got the car.

Andways now that the rattles have stopped I'm weary to pull it all apart again and risk inducing another one. But, yesterday after work I drove about 50 miles and as usual no rattles even on the 280 and 680.

My rattles also came and gone but, I attribute that to the different expansion/contranction rates of the metal and the plastic. I seemed to notice it more when it was either very cold (for this area) or, the car had been in the sun and the interior was warm.

Anyways, more info that I hope helps.

 

So when it is cold, i also get this squeeky noise from the back too.

Do you also get this sound?

 

Define cold. Living in San Jose California cold is about 40 degrees.

but in my climate when it's cold I don't hear any squeaky noises coming from the back now. It's absolutely silent back there now.

 

Ok, I added foam taps based on the instruction on this post, and after a whole day of city driving, I am convinced that the rattles in the back is gone. Only when maybe up/down bumps I maybe here a little rattle, all other common rattles are now silenced. Thanks for the owner of this post!

By the way, now I've noticed the passenger side is making this noise like I have a plastic grocery bag in there or something. Any ideas?

 

Glad I could help

As for the plastic grocery bag, I've never heard that. And I can't for the life of me imagine what would cause it.

 

You should have gone paper vs plastic. But seriously I have not heard that noise but glad the back rattle stopped. I am going to try once the weather gets warmer.

Kevin

 

I wrapped the wiring harness with some leather felt stuff I had lying around from an old custom box. It fixed that problem, which was the worst rattle, and now almost all other rattles are gone, it takes a really bad road to bring 'em out haha...

It's little enough rattles where even playing the radio on a low volume will completely hide it so the wire mod is definately worth it. Nice post.

 

So what do I win?

 

Now, I am getting a rattle too in the hatch, sounds like I have a tool box in the trunk. I hear it mostly on bumps where the back end goes up and down...versus a pot hole type of bump where the car moves side to side. I have also notice that the rattle is MUCH MUCH worse in cold weather, in the 30's.

Is this what you were experiencing?

Also, could anyone explain what the sunroof rattle TSB fixes because I am having two different sound from my roof and not sure which one would be fixed with the TSB

One is a loud crack, little a small stone hitting it, mostly when I am turning right into a parking lot. I think its coming from over the drivers side. I only hear this once every 1-3 days

The other one is more of a creaking or a softer poping noice like two things rubbing together (plastic, rubber, glass???not sure) and its coming from the passengers side. This happens about every 10-40 seconds and is driving me crazy.

Any help would be great
Thanks

 

Ok, so it got nice around here this weekend and as a result warmer, into the 70's. The rattle came back

At this point I had had enough and well, went overboard, and well, the rattle is gone and I doubt it's coming back. The gory details follow.

I decided to apply some analytical troubleshooting to the situation to isolate the rattle. So, I removed all the off-white trim pieces, folded down the rear seats and took a drive over a bumpy road. Rattle was still there, so it's not the trim pieces. And it's not the dome light harness since I already fixed that.

Ok, let's see if something is amiss inside the Bazooka sub since the sound seems to be eminating from that side. So, I take out the woofer and see potential rattle spots.

Click on the images for a bigger version.

Uber big version here.

Right so let's see about eliminating them. So, I go down to the Ace hardware store and pick up 3 packs of this stuff:

Uber big version here.

Right, ok down to work. I wrap some of the exposed wiring in the felt stuff and also secure the wires going to the gain control **** to something so they don't move about and here are the results:

Uber big version here.

Ok, so I put the woofer back in and take a ride down the bumpy road, rattle is still there but I start to thing maybe it's coming from the drivers side. But, there's nothing over there except what's behind the paneling.

Right, so let's pull that off and see what's behind door number two a cournacopia of potential rattles, jeez, talk about a rats nest:

Uber big version here.

So, I get out more of the felt stuff and start making it so that any of those wires will rub up against the felt instead of metal.


Uber big version here.

So I put the panel all back together and take another test drive. guess what, still rattling. But, not hardly as much as before. But, I started this so I must finish it!

Yeah, the WTF is entering my head so I just go ***** out on the hatch with the felt stuff.

Witness the wiring harness:

Uber big version here.

Witness the upper trim:

Uber big version here.

Ok, test drive time, rattle is significantly reduced but still there sooooooooo I pull of the dark hatch cover, keep the seats folded down and take a drive and see if I can isolate it while driving on the bumpy road and LOOKING back there for something rattling. I see nothing but can definitly tell the rattle is coming from the lower part of the hatch. So, I go to town on it. I paid particular attention to the clips for the window defogger wires as they come real close to the glass and could be the culprit.

Witness the right side of the hatch:

Uber big version here.

Witness the left side of the hatch

Uber big version here.

Test drive time! Rattle is practically gone. So I put everything back together thinking that it will help must the sound more and I can go on with my life. I even added some felt stuff to the cargo cover where it clips in. I take the drive. It's still there but hardly noticeable and to the point where if I weren't listening for it I'd never notice it.

Vitory I claim! Then I come here to post about it and I see the bastards in this thread and I roll my eyes going no, no, no, it can't be, it just can't, I thought I thought of everything

Ok, well, let's put it to the test:

Uber big version here.

That did it, the rattle is totally GONE. It's like Ft. Knox back there. I even decided to further the test drive and go get that foamy stuff to finish it off and not once did it rattle on the 880 or 680. SUCCESS!

So I think the combination of things I did back there eliminated any and all rattles.

I hope

 

i wonder how the rattle sounds like...

 

Congratulations Thread! It must be so satisfying to have beaten the hatch rattles!

Question though, how do you remove the dark colored trim pieces in the hatch? Specifically the left & right side panels with the grocery hooks, and the rear hatch panel itself?

I'm looking forward to tackling this on the weekend and putting an end to the rattles!