Kurt

okay, i've browsed through the archives, looking at a few things. i BELIEVE it is my hatch making an odd plastic-y clunking noise on rough parts of the road. it is not a metal sound and since it seems like it is something coming down on the car when its making the noise, i think it's the hatch.

SO,

-i hear about this rubber band thing, but have no idea what it is, would someone kindly explain?
-the "pins" i assume are the 2 teeth that go into the latching mechanisms. they are solid, not turning, not going anywhere. i wonder if the problem is that the pins/teeth are not going far enough down into the latches and as a result the hatch is bouncing up and down causing the noise.

any thoughts guys? also, anyone up for NFS:PU tonight?

Dave in Chicago

I had the wife lay in the back and listen for the source of mine. Seems to be coming from the rear wiper assembly, oddly enough. I've yet to fix it as it is a non-critical item (no leaks, no safety issues). Also succeeded in making the wife quite nauseous. Try this at your own risk.

SoCal Driver

Glass moving in the frame at the top.

Kurt

well, although i'm not a mechanic by no means, i must have to say that it is not the rear wiper assembly...because i don't have one

anyhow, the glass seems solid when attempting to move it, haha, would it be able to shift with that much force?

Scootin159

mine's got the glass problem (drips about 2 drops when I spray the hose driectly at it for 5 min or so at high pressure -- i.e. not a big issue). The glass feels solid, but it does make the clunk noise you describe. the only visible difference is that if you look at the very top when it's wet you can see where the seal is broken and the water is seeping through.

ERAU-944

i've got seeping water too, cant figure out how to stop it. good thing is that it only does it with the hose or HEAVY HEAVY rains.

-Michael-

RJB

I had a rattle in my rear hatch and localized it to the top driver side. The glass had separated from the frame at that location. It was visible from the outside. I found some silicon sealer at Pep Boys that claimed to continue to flow while it was setting up. I think 3M made it, but I do not remember. It was specially made to fill in seals where the glass met the rest of the car. I opened up the hatch, ran a bead of this sealer, let the hatch remain open overnight so the silicon would continue to flow. It worked as advertised and continued to flow into the crack. I had to do this a couple more times, and when a bubble formed once, I scraped around the bubble to allow more of this sealer to flow into it.

This repair was done over a year ago and it is still holding great, through Texas sun. Better yet - the rattle is gone!

I also wanted to tighten up the pins that latch the hatch down to the body of the car. My pins were rusted so much that I could not turn them. Realize that if you put too much torque on them, they will break. I wound up removing the holder from the frame (you will need a cheese head bit) and replacing the pins and the threaded rubber bolt inside the frame. I got this from Paragon. Before I removed them, I measured the distance from the bottom of the pin to the frame so I had something to start with. After I installed them, I tightened them 1/2 turn at a time until the hatch stopped rattling. It took a couple of days fiddling with it, but it was worth it. Make sure you make the changes to both sides at the same time. You want the hatch to hold tight, but still allow the the catches to close when you push the hatch down. It might help to lubricate the catches as well.

Good luck in fixing your rattle. The "Sound of Silence" is wonderful.

Kurt

too true, too true
thanks for the ideas RJB & everyone, i'll try 'em out tonight


on another note - it seems that the harder i shut the hatch, the longer it goes without making noise...so maybe that will help out in this diagnosis

AndyK

I have the same glass noise, sounds like a higher pitched "clicking" over bumps...very annoying! I can get my glass to "click" by moving it from side to side with the hatch closed, so I guess it's in need of some of that silicone?

Rodney- Was it a matter of just pumping the silicone in there and waiting? Did any leak out, causing a mess--and what color silicone, clear, black, etc? I would try this, but would hate to pour goop in there and not stop the clicking.

Kurt

just a friendly bump, to see if anyone knows what the rubber band trick actually is

AndyK

Rubber band trick?? Sounds kinky!
But seriously...it must involve using some kinda rubber band jammed in between the glass and the hatch frame??

RJB

AndyK,

The sealant was clear and it did drip occasionally. It actually formed a stalactite with a bit dripping on the rear seat. It was easy to remove and did not discolor the seat. A suggestion would be to place a rag on the seat below the area being repaired. I had the same type of clicking you mentioned. This fixed it.

To run the bead, I just snipped the tip of the tube and ran a bead of the sealant on the inside of the hatch where the glass and the frame met. Again, I let it set overnight and in the morning it was ready to go. Good luck and let us know how it worked.

AndyK

Sounds good. Did you run a bead all around the inside of the glass, or just at the top part of the hatch frame/glass?? Why not just use regular (quick set) silicone?

pete944

I 'think' the rubber band trick involes wrapping a rubberband around the tops of the hatch pins to keep the hatch a little tighter when it's closed.
If you're pins aren't to rusty to adjust the best way to set them is to screw them in until the hatch won't latch and the back them out 1/4 turn at a time until the hatch will latch then lock 'em down right there.

RJB

Initially I ran it only where the repair was needed, but after the repair was filled in, I ran it around the rest of the top of the inside of the hatch. The reason I used this particular silicon was that it continued to flow into the area that needed filling.