AndyK

I assume my hatch glass is causing my annoying (and only) rattle. At times, it seems to rattle less, and at times, sounds like someone punching a speed bag (think Rocky)!

Last night, it was raining, and as I was driving, I noticed my hatch was dead silent!? Huh? Could the rain seal the hatch better? Could the humidity cause the glass to expand enough to tighten in the frame?

WTF? Any ideas? Has anyone tightened those strange two-hole screws in an effort to secure the glass more to the frame?

KuHL 951

If your problem was anything like mine the rattle came from the commom separation problem at the top edge. Water will get in there during rain and act as a semi-cushion to the clacking sound. It will come back when the area dries out. I know this is not a permanent fix but here's something that has worked for me for almost two years now. Take painters tape and mask the outer top edge of the glass about 1/16" away from the frame. Mask the frame even closer to the glass but do not cover the joint. Take black PermaTex windshield sealer and put a new tube in very warm water until it's very soft. I cut the smallest end of the tip to get a very tiny bead. Squeeze this carefully into the entire prepared joint especially where the edge of the glass is visible. Smooth it well with your finger to force it evenly into the gap. I also did the inside edge but didn't worry about masking it and just smoothed it. The repair is turned out nearly invisible and saved me the ordeal of resealing the hatch correctly. I don'y imply that this is the correct way to do the hatch but it works great.

Maybe your noise is somewhere else but the noise on mine drove me up the wall until this repair.

AndyK

Did your "clicking" sound like someone using an electric typewriter in the back seat?? It really annoys me, and makes my car feel less cool to me! When the rattle stopped last night, the car felt tighter!

Should I be sealing the entire top (both sides of the 3rd brake light)? Or just the corners?

apierce918

thats a good idea, and i think i might have a tube of that in the garage still. i have 3m weatherstrip adhesive, but it is not like the yellow stuff, it is black, and becomes rubber-like. that may work too

KuHL 951

The best description of the sound would be a loud metallic clacking like tapping on glass with a metal tool. It's caused by the edge of the glass rubbing the edge of the frame. I only repaired the top and about 6" on either side because that is where the separations always happen. My largest separations were large enough to get a thin knife blade into but most of the gaps were about flush with the edge. The idea is to force a resilent sealant into any voids that allow movement of the glass. When you pull the masking tape the repair is invisible. A easy as this is it can't hurt to give a try.

The 3M sealant should work just as well. Just be sure and let the sealant cure before driving it or you are wasting your time.

The DareDevil

The noise could also be caused by worn out hinge pins.

alordofchaos

The noise could also be caused by a snap on the rear carpet not being securely snapped onto the car.

If the carpet got wet from the rain, it could sag enough that the snap doesn't "click" against the snap on the car.

Just a thought

AndyK

Good idea...but I have that covered. I put silicon sealer around each snap, to silence them!! Believe me, I have checked EVERYTHING (replaced the pins, cleaned the receivers), secured the jack, spare, tool kit, compressor. It MUST be the glass.

Metallic clicking is a good description. Doesn't sound like a "glass" moving sound. But I will try the sealant. Should I keep the hatch in the open possition, to let the sealant settle in there?

KuHL 951

I've heard every description here of what the glass separation sounds like. A rattle, clicking, tapping, clacking. popping. The only thing they all have in common is that it's about the most irritating sound in the car. I would do the repair with the hatch closed; the cold windshield sealant is thick and doesn't flow well when trying to squeeze it out of a tiny hole in the tube cap, that's why I recommend heating it up first in very warm water.

AndyK

It is THE MOST annoying sound, because it's not important to the car running right--yet it makes the car sound like it's falling apart!

Do you rip the masking tape off right away, before the goop dries?

KuHL 951

Use the blue painters tape, do it in the shade, and pull it off after you are sure there are no voids and you have smoothed the sealant flush with both pieces of tape. The appearance of the repair is dependent upon how small the gap between the 2 pieces of tape is. If you make the tape gap too large or are sloppy in smoothing the sealant the repair will look like crap. Good Luck

AndyK

So, the tape should go totally over the metal strip on top of the glass, and, up to the gap on the glass? This would insure the sealant will not go beyond the end of the metal strip when I'm all done...right?

KuHL 951

Exactly. You shouldn't see any metal under the tape and just a hair of glass. Here's a pic of 1" tape and the widest area where my glass was separated. It already has the sealant in there between the tape.

AndyK

Got ya. Thanks for the photo! I'll give it a shot this weekend.

AndyK

Update: Thanks to Steve's idea, I went out and bought Permatex clear window sealant. The stuff has the consistancy of model glue (liquid). I taped up my glass and frame, just like the above picture. Squirted this sealant into the void...removed the tape, and waited till morning for the stuff to completely dry.

So far, my hatch rattle is CURED!!!! I've been annoyed by this rattle for 2+ years since I bought the car! 10 minutes of prep followed by 5 minutes of application--and my problem is gone!!!

Steve rules!! I urge everyone to give this a try before going nuts and removing the hatch glass!