Hello, this is my first time posting on Rennlist, but I've visited the forum many times as a resource for repairs and troubleshooting. I have a 2006 Carrera 6 speed coupe and am trying to identify the source a rattle/buzzing sound. The sound comes from the passenger side rear of the car. It's intermittent and doesn't seem to be based on engine revs or road conditions. However, it only occurs when the car is moving. It doesn't sound like it's coming from the interior, rather it sounds like it's coming from wheel well or even front of the engine bay. Has anyone dealt with this kind of rattle before? I've searched the forum and read through the lists of interior rattles, but none of the seem to be the cause. Another common one I've read is exhaust heat shielding, but I've looked under the car and in the wheel well and don't see any pieces rubbing. I've recorded a video of the sound to try and help identify it. Please disregard the shifting sounds 3-5 seconds into the video. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Have someone squeeze into one of the rear seats while you’re driving to see if they can determine the source of the rattle.

 

Do you have a sunroof?

 

Yes, I do have a sunroof. Are those known to rattle?

 

My sunroof rattled SO bad when I got my 997 that I would drive with it always "up" (like not open, you know what I mean?) - that was the only way to stop the sound. I replaced the whole thing at the dealership to the tune of like $4k.. however this does not sound like my sunroof rattle.

 

Update, after more time than I'd like to admit looking around the interior and exterior rear of the car I finally identified the source of the rattle. The rear passenger seat belt lock was the culprit! The plastic shell wasn't perfectly tight around the metal body and would rattle sporadically. I removed the belt lock and disassembled it. The plastic shell is unfortunately glued together, so you just have to try and not do too much damage popping it open. I applied some felt wire loom tape to the points on the plastic shell that contact the metal body. That seemed to do the trick! Reassembly is the reverse of removal, tightening torque of the bolt holding the seat belt lock to the body is 37ft. lbs.

 

Glad you found the rattle source. Definitely had a “plastic” sort of sound to it.

 

Thanks for the follow up! The final pic there, you basically had to break the shell open? Did you glue it back together?

 

Yes, that's correct. The factory part is glued together, so I used Super Glue to glue it back together during reassembly.