rattle in trunk is threatening my sanity
 

OK I've done quite a bit of searching on trunk rattles, but I've found nothing that definitively isolates and shows how to resolve the problem I'm having. I THINK the rattle exists in the rear hatch. When I bang on it while it's open, and when I shut the trunk I can hear a rattle that sounds similar to what I'm hearing when i'm driving. I can't figure out how to take it apart...anyone know how to do this? I don't want to make a bad siutation worse.


btw I'm not taking it to my dealer to resolve because it has been my experience that mechanics were born without the ability to hear, or admit to hearing rattles/squeeks of any kind...does "no problem found" ring a bell for anyone??

A few have had it and what it was in mine was the third brake light cover. Next time if you can reach, try reaching back while driving and you hear the noise and touch the third brake light cover and see if that stops it.

If it is Some have put some tape between a metal bracket that is in ther and the glass. I just removed the light and cover and reinstalled and the noise has gone away.

thanks, but it's not the brake light. It's further back in the trunk.

OK, this would be amazing to happen to more people but I found a socket in the rear hatch from when they installed the spoiler at the port. This may not be your issue but maybe something similar, try taking off the plastic cover on the hatch, it is just held in place with pins and clips so it pulls right off and see if there is anything in there that is rattling around specially if you hear it when you close or move the hatch.

could it be the license plate?

thanks, I'll try this today. It may not be a socket, but could be something else remaining from the installtion of the spoiler. I know it's not the license plate, I checked that and it's secure.

Not to second guess you, but I had the same problem and it was the third tail light, even though it sounded like it was much further back. I know how annoying it can be, so make sure you fully investigate that before moving on.

JL

I had a similar noise also, brought it to the dealer he lifted up the back Hatch and banged on the inside of the back window with his hand and found it to be the plastics surrounding the window he put some small pieces of foam and reinstalled plastic not a peep since;)

I have a noise coming from the right rear of the car. I tore the entire rear of the car out including all the plastic and trim in the trunk, around the hatch, remove the amp, spare tire and all the tools, the styrofoam on either side of the trunk, all trim on the strut tower and every other dam thing I could find(including the third brake light. At this point I had a freind of mine drive me around while i was laying in the trunk and traced the rattel to the upper protion of the right rear(passangerside that is) strut tower. In addition it seems to almost to dissappear when either I was in the trunk or when I had a passanger. My conclusion is it is something loose such as a suspension componet, it seems like the top of the shock mounting rattles when the car becomes unweighted and like i said seems to dimminish when you have more weiht in the back. My car has to go in soon for a windsheild replacement because of a blemish in it for the factory so I'm going to have the mechanic run around with me so that I make sure his ears hear it also. So get back on the forum and I'll let you know what we find out.

I have the same rattle. A friend told me his did the same thing and it turned out to be the brushed aluiminum looking piece of plastic on top of the rear strut tower cover.


Mine only does it on certain roads at certain times.

Am i the only one who has a drivers side window that creaks when it is rolled half way down?

It makes a cracking sound on rough roads or when I pull on it with the door open.

I'm having the same problem, mine occurs when I am driving 65+MPH. I have reached back to check the third brake light and that does not seem to be the source of the rattle. This noise is really driving me crazy too. I will check the strut bar to see if that is the source. Will post finds later.

All your noise are belong to me!!

Plus some dash rattles as well. Oh well, I figured that with this tight suspension the car would begin to rattle quite a bit.

I've got:
Driver's window rolled down and makes noise (only happens sometimes).
Noise in rear hatch near top of passenger side mini-window.
Noise further back in hatch.
Noise from passenger visor.
Noise from rear-view mirror.
Noise from center console somewhere (can't tell if it is low, near stereo, or high, near sun-glasses holder, or somewhere in between).
Noise from main dash gauges.

In reality, most of the noises aren't bad, and I don't notice them unless I turn off the radio and roll up the windows, but it is a bit discouraging since the car was so tight when new. It was something I expected, but hoped not to have happen.

So far I fixed a rattle in the trunk that was due to the spare tire plastic nut rattling around. That is an easy one to fix.

I'm just going to wait for another 20,000 miles before I start trying to track them down. I just want to make sure they all appear before I try to fix them. Also, maybe the dealers will have some fixes at that point. We'll see.

Good luck with all your noises!

-D'oh!

Ask Dr. Phil
 

http://images.drphil.com/slideshow/i...5_habits/1.jpg
Saw this and thought you could drop him a note to see what he found.


Dr. Phil and Robin
Producers talked Dr. Phil's wife, Robin, into spilling the beans about the things that annoy him.

"On the top of the list are little noises — especially little noises in his car," explains Robin. She tells a story about a time when Dr. Phil made her lay down on a towel in the garage while he drove his car back and forth over her, hoping that she could figure out where a rattle was coming from.

FIXED THE TRUNK RATTLE!!!
 

It was in the hatch....oddly enough...I think it was in the 3rd brake light!! I know Desmo mentioned this before and I swore it wasn't the problem because it sounded as if the rattle was coming from further back. I even tried putting my hand on the brake light while driving and it didn't effect the rattle. Anyway, here's what I did to figure out where the rattle was and how I fixed it:

1. Removed the plastic shroud from the rear hatch ( 4 pieces). Be careful doing this. I broke off one of the metal clip mounts when I yanked the large piece off. Didn't seem to make much difference when I put it back on though. Oh well.
2. Removed the black plastic 3rd brake light shroud.
3. Drove the car. ...NO RATTLE!
4. Removed the 3rd brake light entirely with a 10mm ratchet.
5. Placed foam tape I found at the hardware store underneath the 3rd brake light...(I did this as a 'just in case' measure to prevent possible future rattles).
5. Re-attached the third brake light
6. Place foam tape aropnd the sides of the brake light where the black plastic shroud touches it ( this is what I think fixed the rattle).
7. Re-attached the black plastic brake light shroud and the rest of the plastic rear hatch shroud.
8. Drove the car...the rattle is gone!! My sanity has been restored...although I think I hear a wierd buzzing coming from my passenger door now...geez I need help.

Thanks to Desmo who swore it was the brake light. I should have listened. :D

Hey, I have the same noise from the back too....I though maybe i might of put something in the back that is causing it, but when i remove everything. It still does it.

And one last thing. Has anyone taken there z through a car wash. Just last night i toke mine through a drive- in car wash and have water leak in from where the mirror is located on the driver side. Do you guys have the same problem?????

nooo! don't take your car to the car wash...you're just asking for trouble.

I have a rattle in back. Dealer said its the rubber shock mount.. Left side. I plan on having it done next week. I hope that's it! my 07 touring 25k

i have that rattle in the trunk recently as well..im thinking its my SPL endlinks getting loose??? i know my front SPL endlinks are doing that...

My 350z trunk rattle solution! And a question as well...
 

So i read through the multi-page thread about the trunk rattle and there didn't seem to be a definitive solution. Maybe there are many different causes for it. Anyway, after a week of having my 350z and being driving absolutely insane by the nonstop squeak, i decided to sandwich a folded up t shirt between the two panels where the trunk closes, and that fixed the problem.

Great! No more sound! But is there a less ghetto way to handle this than having a t shirt wedged in there?

Dynamat?