A single rattle in an otherwise tight interior can prove unnerving. As luck would have it I noticed my Z had a rattle in the hatch area on the way home from the dealership - The constant buzzing and rattling blemished the otherwise amazing ride.

Disclaimer: You assume any/all responsibility by following this tutorial!

Difficulty: 1 (you can probably do this if you're able to change a tire)

Tools/Materials: 12mm socket/wrench, dab of grease

Through trial and error I fund the rattle was caused by miniscule play in the hatch latch assembly. A latch adjustment was in order:

1. Remove the spare tire cover and place it aside.

2. Remove the plastic trim that covers the latch assembly. To do so you must first undo the rubber weather stripping on top of the plastic trim. With the weather stripping out of the way, first undo the clips on either side, then grabbing from the bottom push up on the trim. The top clips should give with moderate effort.



3. With the trim aside, its time to adjust the latch assembly. Loosen the 12mm nut on either side. You should now be able to adjust the latch position - move it forward towards the front of the car - should give ~ 1/8". Secure the nuts, replace the trim, weather stripping and spare cover.



4. Place a dab of grease on the tip of the catch. All done! No more hatch rattle!

 

nice!

 

Nice, going to have to try this out.

 

You're on the right track but let us know when it comes back! I never tried the grease but I did the rest per the specs. in the service manual and it did not stay quiet for long. Hope this works for you. I hesitate to put grease there becuase I grab that hook to close my trunk. Oh well, I guess I'll rattle on

 

Two months later no rattle yet! But will let you know when it comes back ...

 

gonna have to remember this for next time i have my car (after iraq lol) im not sure if it was hatch rattle or somthing else they talked about on consumer guide for 03s that wears out and makes a funky noise. all i know is there was one every so often.. lol

 

I noticed this little rattle too, but never found the time to do it. My day off today, re-tuned my suspension and decided to just get this little noise fixed and taken care of since I'm off. It was a quick fix, took me only five minutes to remedy the noise.

 

I did this last weekend and OMG did it work! No more annoying hatch squeak. The hatch definatley makes a louder POP when popped, I might go back and re-adjust it due to this significantly LOUDER pop, but otherwise I'm lovin' it! Thanks for the post.

 

Thank you for this

 

Just wanted to say THANK YOU!!! I've had the most annoying squeak/rattle on and off for the past year and a half. I disassembled pretty much everything in the rear before I found this thread and this was definitely the problem.

 

Did any of you notice the squeek/rattle in the summer? Seems mine is contigent on the temp outside. If it's real hot there is no rattle.

 

O wow, so that's the source. I was going nuts trying to locate it, haha.

 

I think I'll give this a try this weekend.

 

let us know how it goes... It didnt' fix my creaks/rattle

 

Was thinking this myself - haven't heard it since the outside temp went above 75-80

Davy.

 

Two things to think about.

The struts that hold your hatch up have gas in them and when hot that gas expands thus in the summer your hatch won't fall on your head like it could in the winter. I tested to see if my rattle was my struts for my hatch by removing the strut and driving around... Still had the squeeks. So i knew it wasnt' them

Next I removed all my rear trim... And I mean all of it. Drove around. Squeeks were louder. Layed my 6ft 3 as* in the back while my girl drove over bumps and I heard the noise coming from outside under my rear strut bar.
Turns out it's my suspension struts and bushings.
Being that the bushings are rubber they get soft in high heat and don't rattle. But in winter they get hard and squeek. I'm replacing my struts and bushings in 2 weeks as in the morning and late at night I'll have sqeeks so I can test my theory. During the day my car sees 99+ degree heat so no rattles.
Hope I'm right.

 

Replaced my hatch struts already - no joy. I'm interested to find out how you get on with your new bushings though.

Davy.

 

might have to give this a try

 

this and that stupid axle click are driving me nuts. gonna have to do this on a weekend. sadly, the dealer said to regrease the axle is not covered by warranty and will cost $200+...

 

My hatch won't shut and it seems like the latch assembly is damaged, second time it has happpened would like to replace myself. Please advise.