Okay here's the story...

2nd day I have had my 2nd Scion tC (traded my manual for auto, which the 1st had a rattle also) there was a rattle from the rear. I checked everything out (trunk, seats) and found that it was in the head liner of the rear moon roof. I bought it into the dealer after making an appointment, got there at 10 am, they said that the car will be ready within 3 hours. Got home, went back, the mech said that he adjusted the latches on the trunk, messed around back there, and when I drove away, it was still there! This was after I told them it was in the head liner/right side from drivers seat. Brought it back and they I guess drove around and 2 hours later, said that oh.. it's in the head liner, bring it back another day in our body shop to fix. I was ____ed. 1 day without my car and they just wasted my time/gas! Then I bought it to another dealer, they replaced the nuts/washers under the head liner, and the rattle was still there! So I took it home and decided that damn it I'm gonna f ix it. Thinking that since the nut was hitting against the metal of the body, I have placed towels under the nut, sponges, anything to keep it from metal touching metal. But that didn't solve the problem. My next try was screwing the nuts/washers on REALLY hard so that it's tight... very tight... and I accidently broke one of the screws in half.. Didn't want to bring it to the dealer b/c of my own fault, I decided that I can replace the screw or hinge. Took it apart, and this is what I found... my problem all along..


sorry if it's too big. my first pic post

This is the normal side of the hinge for the hatch..




This is the bad side of the hinge in comparasent






I am definately going to the dealer for this. I am willing to pay for the hinge and labor, I know that is my own fault, but I demend them for fixing this.

 

Oh wow oops sorry mod I posted in the wrong section. Thought I was in the general, but guess not

 

No prob, Rytoka, I moved it over there for you.

:D

 

Thanks for the pics but I still not sure where this hinge is located. Is it near the rear/back headliner? And do you have to take any trim off to see?

This hatch rattle is really a mystery for everyone. So far (and I might be messing some) I have read the following:

1. hatch latch
2. struts (TSB is even out)
3. side rubber stoppers on hatch
4. back rubber stoppers on hatch
5. part where the back rubber stoppers hit the frame of car
6. welding problem
7. yours

yet I am not sure if any of the above has actually fixed the back hatch rattle....
I wonder if the 06 model has this problem???

Kevin

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and lessons learned, if it saves just one other person the grief you went through then it will all be worth it! Good luck with the dealer...since you spent so much time going through the proper channels to begin with, the dealer should take care of you now.

 

Thank you for the support. I really hope they fix the rust and not blame it on me because I screwed around with the bolts.

If you open the hatch, look straight and you'll see two hinges holding it to the body. Those are the ones I'm talking about.

 

I'm going to check that out because I have a creak sort of rattle that comes from that general area - rear passenger side roof. I haven't been able to pin it down since it doesn't happen all the time. I'll take a look up in there and see if anything is loose.

 

how long did you have your car before you took it back and traded it in for an auto. just curious because i was thinking about doing that, but wanting a manual

 

I had it for about two months, with 3.3k miles on it. I got ripped off tho. Got the car for around 17.8k (fogs, spoiler, hood tape) and only got 14 for it. Lost almost 4k + adding auto and another tape to my new tC