Badcow!

I hear a rattle when I hit bumps in the road or with certain bass tones from the sound system. Seems like it is probably the door release mechanism, handle or close by. I read a post somewhere suggesting this has happened to someone else.

I want to remove the interior panel to take a look and tighten whatever it is, but am concerned about the airbag. Are there issues to be aware of? Do I need any special tools? Any tips appreciated.

mickf

Try lubricating the latch on the door and on the jamb first. That is a common rattle.

HAMMER502

door speaker.i think they left at least one loose at the factory on every car.

Badcow!

I had already lubed, and the sound is clearly coming from the area nearest my left ear, very far from the speaker location - near my left shin. The loose speaker in my car is the right side dash - it has a slight vibration at times.

I hear metal on metal. almost like a cheap tinny bell that has a very bad cold.

deliriousga

There is a little "cup" behind the roll bars that holds the top's siderails when the top is down. Inside that cup is a little piece that rattles. I found the piece that rattles, but have not been able to take the time to pull it apart and see why it's doing it. Just a place you may want to look.

Gary Gaukler

Do you maybe have a picture of where that "cup" is? Can you access that cup with the top up or down? I have that same rattle, but I don't quite understand what part you are talking about.

Thanks!
Gary

Gary Gaukler

It's very straightforward to remove the inner door liner. Just a couple of hex bolts and torx screws. One of the hex bolts is behind the "Airbag" plastic logo. You may want to disconnect the battery before working around the airbag.

Gary

stumpjumper

I have the same thing, it sounds like it's right behind my left ear, iit isn't tied to bumps, engine speed, or anything else that I can figure out, and it seems like every time I go searching for it it stops

Gary Gaukler

I just fixed my rattle this afternoon. Turned out that the door striker (the u-shaped thingy where the door lock catches) needed some small adjustment.

One way to find out if this is your problem is to drive over a speedbump with the door closed and open - in my case, the rattle went away when I held the door open.

I adjusted the striker downward by about 2mm - voila, rattle gone! Be aware that you will need an internal wrench set ("cheesehead tool") to adjust the striker.

Hope this helps some of you as well!

Gary

deliriousga

Sorry, I was gone for the weekend. I will try to get some pics to post, but it will be at least a week since we are leaving for Spring Break tomorrow.

jwilson95

All-

I hope the door striker thing works for me. I have the same rattle since just getting my 2002 Boxster S and can't stand any creaks/rattles. We'll leave that to the Corvette guys.

Do the speaker grills just pop off? I'll check that one too.

regards,

Jeff

stumpjumper

I tried the striker and that wasn't it, BUT I think I found it!

there is a small body trim piece between the top of the door and the clamshell, I noticed that if I tap the rear side of it it makes the damned clicking sound, tried it from inside the car, had my wife do it with the door closed and as far as I can tell that's what's making the noise in my car!

I'll figure out how to remove it and fasten it better later, but for now I just pushed down and it stopped making the click over a quick drive

deliriousga

One thing that will help with all of the rattles is the strut brace. Front is better of the two, but both is best. It really stiffens the chassis. Since it's a convertible, you'll never get rid of everything.

Badcow!

Hadn't thought about that, but it is clear that rattles related to door, hood, trunk and body fitment would be helped by stiffening the overall torsional rigidity of the car. I have added strut braces to the project list.

I'm still pretty sure that the specific rattle I am talking about is behind the door panel near the locking mechanism. One of these evenings I will disconnect the battery, and attempt to open her up. In the past, with other vehicles, I have had problems getting the panels to re-attach because of failing compression clips that surround the panel. I'm hoping that this will be a better experience and there is more use of screw type fasteners than there is of those funky clips.

stumpjumper

50 miles later and the trim peice I "fixed" still doesn't rattle, no rattle at all on the drive home, yay!