Rattles Galore
 

How do you guys go about fixing rattles? Between having the Yokohama Geolandar's for a month and driving on the roads this morning we have many many rattles in the back. We had about 5-6 in of snow last night, so people who came for dinner last night stayed over (guess who had to drop them off) . It basically feels like the entire road is potholes because it ALL ice and its REALLY bumpy. Sometimes I wish we didn't have SP. Soo, how do you fix rattles?

Thank god we had the Michelins in time for this. If we had had the Yoko's I wouldve driven myself to the hospital afterwards for back problems. I was pleasantly surprised at the Micehlins' performance (we've had them for a couple weeks now); no drama.

I don't have any excessive issues with rattling. The only known areas which needed fixing have been the gas filler door (the little plastic piece used to hold your gas cap) and the trunk lock (which can easily be fixed with some black felt tape). Otherwise my car has been pretty solid without any rattles or other issues. Oh and of course the usual control arms which need to be replaced every 35k ....

- Jan

I have the same rattle problem. It crazy! I'm going to try this next:
http://www.xoutpost.com/showthread.ph...ht=truck+noise
That link will lead to other possible solutions as well, such as cloth tape on the trunk latch, etc. The cloth tape did nothing for me. I'm trying the first suggested one about the cable in the spoiler today.
Sometimes it sounds like "clunking", and sometimes it sounds like golf clubs in the trunk.
I am having my door actuator replaced by BMW on the 1st, and I've also reported the noise to them. I will report back my findings if I haven't fixed it by then.
Good luck!

Only a slight creaking from the rear hatch, on heavily banked sharp turns...otherwise, pretty solid here on my '01, with Sport.

Are you certain you didn't have wheels packed full of snow to give you that lumpy feeling? Or, cold suspension that didn't respond?
Dunno...
GL,md

Could be the cold suspension too, but you could see the ice all over the road, it was not pleasant. People were going slow more because of the bumpiness than any slickness.

I think a lot of the rattles are coming from the rear cargo cover and the rear hatch. I know there's at least one or two in the passenger side doors. Most of it started last month when we had those evil Geolandar's on. The CD changer actually used to skip! That's never happend before.

V: Unless you really need the cargo cover, remove it and you'll notice a considerable reduction in rattles...least, I did.

From your further description, I too have noticed that riding on rails feeling and noise on bumpy, refrozen packed ice, from almost every car I've owned. I wouldn't sweat it...it's v.diff to make a very heavy, high CofG car like the X handle like it does without some trade off vis a vis, the sport suspension.

Do a search here too, for adjusting the rear rubber stops on the rear hatch. Not a cold day project and I suspect that design is affected by extreme temp changes, but I did the 10 min adjustment a few years ago and 95% of the rattling went away.
GL,md

PS: No Geolander tire xpert, but I'd bet they have seriously stiff sidewalls, too.

Thanks for the advice MD :) . As far the Geolandar's go they were VERY stiff indeed. Potholes meant jolts through your back and concrete highways meant bouncing to make you uneat your food. Add the SP to these tires and its a double whammy. Through turns though, it felt very squirmish and you lost a lot of the "reading" ability. :dunno:

gummipfledge is your friend! :)

This stuff rocks used it on my boxster roof when it rattled got rid of it all ! :)

Lots of ideas on how to fix them, but IMO the first issue is identifying them. Get yourself in the back of the vehicle (cargo area), while someone else drives (no seatbelts, so do it on a quiet road at reasonable speed). Work around the cargo area, identifying each rattle. If they appear to be under the floor, remove the cover and any loose tools/etc. Same with side storage areas. Same with cargo cover. If you can change the noise by pressing a panel or cover, you are on the right track. You are not trying to fix them, just isolate them.

Then start fixing them, following the advice above.

Just my $0.02