Anyone have a rattle coming from........

OnCallZ

Not sure if anyone else saw this, I made a thread about my popping sounds in the rear suspension

Popping sound

Sonic370Z

I have a Touring w/ Sport, and mine is rattle free except on hot days (90+). If my car has been sitting in sun all day while I'm at work, my drive home is filled with a rattle coming from the hatch. I can't figure it out, though I haven't taken the time to pull it apart either. It's not super loud, as I just turn the stereo up (which the Bose sounds amazing BTW). still, it's annoying like a creaking rattle. not at idle, only when the car is moving (slight vibrations). and ONLY on hot days. if it's 75 degrees or cooler, nothing at all. sounds like it's in inside the hatch area either in far back or maybe near passenger side (gas cap).

I absolutely love this car more than anything else I've ever owned, but I would like to fix this rattle.

ZCarGo

Well, I've been in the hatch two times now. The rattle is definitely coming from the third brake light. I can't figure out how this thing is attached, so I can't remove it to sure things up in there. If anyone has any drawings or recommendations, please let me know.

Until I can figure out how to remove the light without breaking it, I have put as much foam insulation around the plastic posts that stick through the metal frame in hopes that it will keep the assembly from moving around. So far, it seems to be working.

The strange thing is that now that the rattle is gone, I remembered why I liked the car. It's sooo nice to drive when it's not rattleing.

-ZCarGo-

rackley

Tighten the 10mm nut that is equidistant between the two plastic posts.

I scoured the service manual for probably an hour and couldn't find instructions on how to remove the "stop lamp" for the life of me...but tightening that nut pulls it tighter, that much I know.

khtso

Page 169 of the Exterior Lighting section of the manual has it. Seems pretty easy but there's a gasket that cannot be reused, so I guess I'll have to order that.....

It appears to me that the body panel surrounding the light is very pliable also, and that could be what adds to the noise, and that the light being more rigid is what is causing it. I'm thinking of removing the light and coating the inside of the body panel with Dynamat.

ZCarGo

I was on a mission this past week to get rid of the rattle. I took the hatch covers off three times this past week trying different solutions.

I tightened the nut holding the third light as tight as I felt I could without breaking it. I found some other forums talking about "Peel N Stick", an inexpensive Dynamat option sold at Lowes. I placed as much as I could in the hatch to reduce the vibration. Well, this particular rattle was reduced enough to hear another one.

The new rattle surprised me. I couldn't really place it while I was driving. I thought it was coming from under the panels in the cross bar. Turns out the cross bar is a great tool to identify rattles since it's attached solidly to the frame. I just pounded the bar with my palm and the vibrations carried through the frame and voila rattle identified.

This one was something vibrating (buzz) above the headliner near the back of the cabin. I was able to pop the back of the headliner off (be careful doing this..the headliner is very fragile) and could feel a bar or wires about 6 inches from the rear of the headliner. Looks like they had already installed dynamat squares up there, so i added more. Vibration gone.

Now I heard several other small rattles coming from the rear. I took all the rear covers off, spare tire out and put my trusty Peel N Stick on the bottom of the cargo area and on the wheel wells (factory had a few squares installed). Reassembled everything and I'm only left with an occasional squeak from the third light.

I can say it's truly a pleasure to drive my car now. After 7500 miles of rattles, squeaks, vibrations I can enjoy the sound of the engine (and the minor whine of the ECU..which may have to be dealt with in the near future).

I no longer have to be embarrassed about having a passenger in my car asking me about the rattles.

I have no idea how I put 7500 miles on the car while I was looking backwards trying to identify where the rattles were coming from.

-ZCarGo-

LunaZ

This sounds like it might be the culprit in my car.
I've got an intermittent buzzing/vibrating/rattle coming from what I think is in the vicinity of the plastic on the passenger side B pillar.
I've tried taking out the cargo cover, the manual from the glove box behind the seat and the noise happens with the stereo on or off.

When I take mine in for an oil change I'm gonna have the guys look in all the places listed in this thread.
Thanks!

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