Hatch Adjusters will not Stay in position?

[Best4x4xFAR]

So I keep chasing the Creaking Rear Hatch. I adjust the upper stops, and it seems to go away, then a week (or less) later it is back.

I just realized today that even after tightening the 'lock nut' on the underside, I can still turn the adjuster screws freely

This seems so simple, not sure what I am missing. It.s almost like I have to run the adjusters out (high) then tighten the nut, and screw them back in till they are snug, but this is an aggravating trial and error guessing game trying to get to the right height this way..

What am I missing? I'm feeling pretty stupid right now..

[Purplefade]

I think being plastic/ rubber-ish, that they don’t seem to lock really well.

Mine creaked off and on when it got colder outside so I screwed them up a bit, applied a small dot of clear silicone sealer and turned them back down to where I had them with the hatch not creaking . Let the silicone dry over night, closed the hatch in the morning and have been good since.

I tried loctite blue - didn’t work, I think the silicone was just a bit “thicker” and dried in the threads better.


Edit - it’s also pretty easy to twist out and clean off if you need to change the height in the future.

[Best4x4xFAR]

Looking at the design, I fail to understand how the bottom nut 'locks' the adjuster in place. It seems like it just secures the adjuster plate to the body.

The 'lock nut' threads onto a 'barrel' that is threaded inside for the adjuster screw itself. May this document (attached) I found is not accurate?

I ended up finding a height that seems so work, measured the distance between the stop and the body, and added washers to 'shim' it in place, so it can't go any lower now. And I can actually tighten the adjuster down now..

It's not ideal, and I'd like to eventually figure out the 'right' way to do this, but for now, it seems to have stopped the creaking noises that were making it feel like a used 80's Hyundai..

[Purplefade]

Can’t see the pic for some strange reason but I get what you’re saying. I almost used nylon washers myself but I didn’t like how it looked (they were white... and stood out like a sore thumb) so I went with some clear silicone and just “thread locked” them in place. I can’t see it and it seems to be working very well

If you figure out a more proper fix, keep me posted.

[Best4x4xFAR]

You know, for such a finely engineered vehicle, this crap is really unacceptable. I drove an e53 200,000+ miles, and never had issues with the hatch creaking/rattling, what is so different about the closure mechanism that has amounted to such a design fail??

I can't get this thing to consistently stop rattling for anything. And it is far worse when its cold out. I know the upper adjusters have not 'lowered' as they are currently shimmed, so they cannot.

I've wrapped the latch bars with fabric tape, on both sides of the lower tailgate catch and the upper center catch. I've adjusted the body side latch bars for the tailgate, but honestly it doesn't seem to make much difference, even when getting them so tight you really have to 'slam it' to shut it (so I back them off, no sense in overly compressing the weatherstripping when it is not making any difference).

I've even considered 'lubricating' the upper hatch stops/adjuster blocks to see if that makes a different, but haven't, since it would be such a bloody mess, and would likely end up on my wife's cloths or something else of hers that she would not be happy about..

There are threads all over different boards, but it seems like this is just a design flaw..

Anyone been able to permanently resolve this?

[absentmathis]

I seen complaints of rattling but never been an issue for me. Mine has the autoclose though, maybe years of shutting is a contributing factor. 150k on my 08. Annnnnd knock on wood this problem doesn’t present tomorrow!

I’d ride in the back and see where it’s coming from. Those plastic trim panels seem like they could get loose no problem.