Tim Murphy

Is that where that sqeak is coming from? Both my cars do it. I thought it was something in the suspension.

byrdman454

I am finally replacing the rubber guide wedges on my hatch. These wedges have a slot for adjustment. Can someone tell me where to position these? Should the wedges be as high as they can be, in the middle, what?

BTW, these little rubber wedges went up from $9.XX to over $70.XX retail from 928 Specialist. I got the last ones in stock at the old price. Ouch! Insanity!

justin

Replace your lower hatch latch. Mine did the same thing,after endless adjustments, and pulling the rest of my hair out. I rebuilt the upper one first, didnt really help, then I changed the lower one with a new unit, all the little noises stopped.

alex70

Quickie question, I have hatch rattle going over expansion joints or man hole covers gives a noticeable rattle. Are the wedges the likely culprit? TIA and thanks for the other info.

Rich

borland

Rich,

The wedges can squeek or chirp. If it's a rattle, then it's probably somthing else.

The latch can rattle if loose; so check the latch and reciever bolts for tighteness. They should be assembled with blue loctite.

byrdman454

Can someone go check their Shark and see where the wedges are adjusted to in the slot? I resurrected this thread for that reason and we are getting off track.

alex70

Thx borland, sorry for deviating a few degrees off track Mike - it was loosly related so to speak.

rich

borland

Mike,

Mine are mid-way in the slot. If you place them too high, it will just be harder to close without slamming the hatch. The wedges are there to keep the long heavy hatch from flexing too much.

Try closing the hatch all the way without latching it, then push the hatch down to secure the latch. Also, while closed, observe the alignment of the hatch to body. Make any final adjustments from there.

BTW, I never slam the hatch on my car. I always lower the hatch then push down to secure the latch. Slamming the hatch just leads to fatigue failure of the hatch receiver which was poorly designed (Yours is probably, like most, already cracked).

byrdman454

alex,
Sorry I came off abruptly, I apologize. I know this topic is a problem for alot of people and there should be discussions about it. I just wanted to get my answer before it got buried in new discussions.

Borland, thanks for checking.

SeanR

Don't know if anyone elses has done this, but the top part of my hatch latch (the white rotating piece) has had the sharp part broken so it does not sit tight when in the down position.

Besides the rubber/plastic on the lower latch unit being demolished, I'm hoping to refurb both w/o having to purchase the upper and lower units. Can you remove that white latching piece up top? Why has there not been an after market replacement for the lower and upper plastics since this is a common problem?

Shark Attack

this was the perminant fix for mine. But what would work for a few months was just some teflon spray on the hatch. But then when i went to put the tape on.. No stick! cleaned it up with some windex and it stuck and i have not had an issue since

scott863

Did the broken plastic also make your hatch not sit flush with the body?

Bill Ball

Ryan:

I'm not sure where you warning against silicone and rubber is coming from. A lot of good quality rubber lubricants are made out of silicone. Silicone lubricants will not deteriorate rubber and are quite commonly used to lube O-rings and suspension bushings. If you buy Dow Corning O-ring grease, for example, you will find the main ingredient is silicone. In fact, many rubber greases are pure silicone. One of the most common is Silglyde (NAPA sells it). I learned all this when I went hunting for grease for new rubber suspension bushings I bought for my car.

RyanPerrella

Ive been told that silicon gets into the rubber pores, filling them and drying them out. Ideally use a rubber dressing but ive never found anything of the sort myself so my information could be completely wrong.

I went looking for something to use on rubber seals and came up short myself.

Bill Ball

The whole Armor All controversy has given silicone (with an "e" on the end) a bad name, but silicone lubricant perfectly OK for rubber.