You want to know what the Rattle is? It the actual hatch it's self... There are two layers molded together, the out skin(your car's color) the inner skin(same color, they vibrate against each other near the rear quarter windows. What's the FIX? not sure!!!

 

THIS IS IT!!!!
I'm off to the store.

 

I had a similar problem and it took me over a dozen trips to the dealer to fix it. Finally they called some sort of tech from the factory to come out and took my car apart for three days before they found it.

My rattle was very metallic. It started within a few months of owning my 05. Metal hitting metal, high pitched. In the end, it was from a weight mounted on the inside of the hatch which counterbalances the struts that push it open. It's mounted in a vibration absorber so that it can shake, hence the problem over bumps. It has these large welds on it (don't know why) which were incorrectly contacting the hatch door. They sanded down the welds and it went away for about a year, then it came back a little, maybe as the vibration absorber became looser. I yanked the whole thing out when soundproofing the truck.

 

can you post a picture of it? I still have my ticking while hitting bumps.

 

What I mean is, can you take a picture of the location? Thank you

 

I don't have a pic but it's pretty obvious. Open the trunk hatch and pull off the large main plastic panel on the hatch door (i.e. the part that lifts). It will be right in the middle. It's a black block about 2.5x4 inches attached to a larger metal plate. Unscrew the bolts on the plate and pull off the whole plate+block assembly.

 

first of all - i want to thank you all for inspiring me to look and see wtf the squeek was (again)!

I've taken apart my strut bar structure looking for it the first time...to no avail.

The problem on my 03 touring was a very high pitched sound coming from the hatch. It happens when I go over small and big bumps!

I tried the plugs on the end of the hatch shocks - no improvments. I looked at the counterbalance under the plastic on the top part of the hatch - I could tell that wasn't the problem.

MY FIX was...
While leaning into the hatch i put my hand on the plastic panel on the bottom part of the hatch. It made the same ANNOYING sound that had been making my blood boil for the last few months. It was apparently rubbing on some metal that sticks out with holes for screws. I was able to O-so-easily fix the problem by putting the bottom layer of flooring (there are 3, carpet, rubber, plastic board) - the plasticish board under the bottom part of the panel. This way, it doesn't rub against the metal. GOD what a relief!!!

 

OK, I really want to know the solution to your problem. Could you please post a picture of the location. THank you

 

My car has rattles comming from at least 5 or six places. They are not all at the same time. There is no ryme or reason to it. My rearview mirror, driverside seatbelt area, plastic area around rear speakers, trim around shifter, and 2 or 3 places from the rear hatch area. Like I posted earlier, I took apart the entire hatch area, put down sound deadener under spare tire, put adhesive foam tape (for putting in between a truck bed and campertop) over almost the entire metal strut bar & side panels to make sure the plastic wasnt vibrating against the metal body. I put silicone around all the plastic fateners because they are loose and could possibly cause a buzzy sound. when getting som tsb service done I told them about the rearview and they affixed the wire for the mirror better, but there is an internal rattle to the mirror itsself. After all this the noise (most of the time is unbearable). The only solution is to drive with the windows down, and the wind either drowns out the noise, or something to do with interior air pressure causes the noises to go away. That plan doesnt work to well in the winter though! so GOOD LUCK on this impossible task!

 

Does the mirror noise stop when you hold the mirror? If so, the mirror buzz comes from the actual mirror rattling against the frame of the mirror housing. There should be some play when you push the mirror into the housing. You will need to take apart the mirror to fix it.

 

Wow, your alergic to noise like me. Over the three years I had my car, I finnally can say that it doesn't bother me as much as it did within the first two years of owning the car. I almost traded it in for a Lexus just for the peace and quiet. However, no car in the same budget feels as good as the Z in the drivers seat.

 

I have the same issue in my '04.5.

 

Can you please post pics?

 

I have an 06 GT. I have the same Rattle (sounds like tin vibrating against tin) @ about 5000 rpm. There happened to be a mechanic there from Nissan Japan. He has a Z and told me that the hatch well vibrates against the frame of the car. He said sometimes after a few 1000 miles it works itself out. He also said that fixing it can violate the integrity of the frame as it was assembled in the plant. I have decided to live with it. The road noise tends to drown it out...comments?

 

I have not heard that one before. I would imagine, since this rattle existed in my 03' and you have an 06' and this guy who works for Nissan knows about it...they should have worked this problem out by now.

 

I think the bottom line is that the manufacture specs on a car that maxes at $41,000.00 is going to have some ill fitting here and there and that it just has to be expected and accepted.

 

I found that the interior back panel beneath the hatch (with the light on it) has 2 metal frame members directly behind it. If you lift up your trunk mat and the cardboard piece covering the spare tire, you can push a piece of corrugated cardboard up and in between the panel and each metal frame member. This has been the best fix I've found so far for reducing general vibration noise and bass induced vibration.

 

I had the same exact annoying rattle in My Z. I actually took the big plastic interior trim piece from inside of the hatch. I saw multiple plastic fasteners and a few metal clips that hold the panel to the hatch sheetmetal. What rattles believe it or not are the metal clips that snap into the slots in the sheetmetal. What I did was simply scrape the black material off of some of the Dynamat sheets that I had left over from my stereo install. I completely coated each metal clip and then reattatched the platic trim piece. My rattle is gone and has not come back. That one was a ***** to find. I kept thinking it was my subs creating the rattle. I hope this helps you out.