I have had this annoying rattle in the rear of my car for few weeks now. I took it into nissan and after like 10 hours of looking at it they said they finally found the problem. They said on the trunk door (well its a hatchback door whatever its called) there are a few places that dont feel like there weld together tight enough (they had a guy ride in the back and push on it) so they say they are 100% certain this is the problem. Just wanted to see if anyone else has any idea on what it could be besides that? They said they have tried everything.

 

I had a rattle in the rear, turned out to be the brake light on the rear window. Metal rubbing against metal. Fix was easy placed styrofoam between the metal pieces cured the problem.

 

Lee3Z,

Any chance you could post a picture that shows where you put the styrofoam? I've had this same creek/rattle since I've owned the car. I'd like to avoid taking it to the dealer.

Thanks!

 

First of all, I want to know what kind of guy they put in the back of your car?!? I weight 108 and I barely managed to squeeze in there while trying to find my rattle! I hope to never, ever get back in there again!

I have what you are describing, but it didn't sound like it was coming from the brake light area. The noise (sort of a ticking, clicking sound?) seemed to be coming from the plastic area near the metal latch on the inside of the hatchback. Does that make sense? Anyway, nothing I pushed on seemed to make any difference.

What really confuses me is that I hear it ALMOST all of the time, not ALL of the time. I really don't know what to make of it.

I would like to figure this out BEFORE I take my car in, if you know what I mean.

Tish

 

I also have that ticking/clicking sound you described, but I don't experience it that often. Once, when it happened for a few miles, I took off the back tail light assembly. Because I didn't want to break anything and had no clue what I was doing, I only got as far as removing a few screws, enough to make the tail light loose. After I re-tightened the screws the ticking was gone. Whether this was luck, coincidence, or nothing, I can't be sure. But I haven't had the ticking since...knock on wood.

Thanks for the heads-up on getting in the back of the Z. Since I still have the annoying and frustrating creek/rattle, I was planning on getting in the back while my wife drove me around. But I weight a whole lot more than 108 lbs. By the way, is 108 lbs. a healthy weight for anyone other than a 12=year-old?

Michael

 

Hey! I work hard to keep this old body in shape! Besides, it's not too hard to weigh 108 when you're only 5'4"!

I didn't mention the best part about cramming myself into the back of the Z. I am really prone to motion sickness. I was sick for a couple of hours. What lengths we will go to for our cars!

 

I have had this ticking noise since I drove my car off the lot. What's bizarre is that I have readjusted the spare tire and moved the foam pieces around and the noise goes away. Then the next morning its back.....rearrange again and the noise doesn't go away. I'm wondering if its just that I am closing the hatch and something shifts. It is annoying and I can hear it over my radio unless I really crank it and then I get a rattle or buzz in the passenger door (another problem). The origninal poster said the dealer thought it was some bad welds or something, did they fix it? What's the status of the problem now?

 

To Fotodad

I took my car to the dealer to repair the rattle in the upper rear brake light. The fix was easy. They first removed the upper plastic panel at the top of the hatch over the brake light. Next they removed the plastic cover over the light exposing the metal attachments holding the light to the frame. The light is attached to the frame and then bends up in a U shape holding the plastic cover on each side of the light. They cut some styrophome pieces and fit them into the U shaped metal parts on each side of the light to eliminate the noise. They then reattached the plastic light cover and the upper part of the hatch frame. The fix took about 15-30 minutes. Hope this helps!