Anyone have a rattle coming from........

shesha

the passenger side? I can't figure out if its coming from outside, or inside. Its so damn annoying man. I lived with a horrible glove box rattle with the g35 for 3 years!!!!!!!!!

m4a1mustang

Yeah, I have horrible rattles coming from that area too. Seems like the head liner and the faux suede door insert do a lot of rattling. I also have one that just started and sounds like it's coming from the very back of the hatch.

It's so annoying I HAVE to drive with windows down and every time I drive the car I'm so pissed off I spent $37k on something that rattles like this. No matter how good the car is this really makes it feel like a total POS.

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shesha

What trips me out, is at first I thought it was coming from the back, then I realized it sounds more like passenger side rear. I don't know man. I almost killed myself trying to figure it out on the freeway this morning.


It sounds like 100 drops of water are hitting a tin can all in sucsession.

ChrisSlicks

If it sounds tinny make sure the nut that holds down the spare is tight.

dancetracks

How many miles do you guys have on your cars before the rattling started?

Thanks
-H-

SiXK

I have it occasionally. We had a member who had it, took the panels off in the back and found that the mechanism that locks the gas cover was rattling against something. He put a little rubber foot thing from home depot to prevent it from rattling and it fixed the problem. I just tried to search and I didn't see it right away but if you look you will find the post. I think thats where my rattle is coming from - right behind the gas cap on the inside, I've just been too lazy to fix it.

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Magnetic Black 2009 370Z / Pearl Yellow 1991 300ZXTT

shesha

Thanks for the advise, I will check all those things. Thas why I posted, to get some ideas of what it migh be.

Car has 950 miles on it by the way.

This is my first hatchback, and I was always nervous about them, as every one I have sat in sounded like the car was falling apart after a few years.

Im going on my break to check on gas cap, and spare tire tightness.

Its def not coming from my side though!

khtso

One rattle I discovered that could be common comes from under one of the trim pieces on the hatch lid. The rear panel has a large rectangular metal piece underneath it and they tended to vibrate against one another. It was weird because I checked all the panels with the hatch open and didn't notice anything, but one day while the car was idle I heard it, jumped back into the hatch and felt around and noticed it. It had been driving me CRAZY!!! I practically wanted to throw the car out. Anyway, I pulled off that rear hatch door trim piece (about 13 push fasteners that you can just pry off) and then got a piece of foam and double side-taped it to the metal piece. That rattle disappeared. There are still a few minor, soft rattles that occur over bumps sometimes, but once again, I think it has to do with pieces under the rear hatch door trim pieces. One day I'll tear all 4 pieces off and insulate them.

SiXK

I misspoke when I said "gas cap". Its important to know its not the gas cap, but a little mechanism inside the interior panel that locks the gas cover.

The only way to check it is to take the interior panels off on the inside, behind the gas cover, and you will see the mechanism. So it will be the back corner interior panel in the hatch on the passenger side. Thats why I said I had been too lazy to verify it on mine.

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Magnetic Black 2009 370Z / Pearl Yellow 1991 300ZXTT

ZCarGo

Yes, I was the one who identified the rattling gas cover locking mechanism.

Well it turns out there are more rattles. Nothing drives me more freaking nuts than these freaking rattles!!!

Alright, so I took care of the locking mechanism. More rattles started. Back to my original suspicion that it was something in the hatch. It had quieted down during the cold weather, but now that it's warmed up again, the rattles have come back with a vengeance. Here's what I've been able to identify.

1. Hatch..as others have described, remove the hatch covers. You have to pop open the covers on the hooks where the retractable cover attaches to gain access to the 10mm bolts holding these clips in place. You must remove the clips before you can pop off the plastic covers. Near the back (near the brake light) of the hatch, you will find two square boxes..one on each side. Both are different sizes, but attached the same way to the hatch (10mm bolt). I have no idea what they do, but my guess is something to do with the defroster. Unscrew the bastards and put a piece of foam tape (I used double sided heat resistant foam tape and only removed on side. I stuck this to the hatch, so the metal box rests on top of the non-sticky cover.

2. Next, the wiring throughout the hatch has the plastic sleeve that can rattle if squashed at all. I retaped and secured it to the hatch in a few more places than what the manufacturer did. All of the wiring under the spare and throughout the car are in the same plastic sleeve.

3. Headliner directly behind the dome light controls. I haven't tackled this one yet as I'm still trying to figure out what the best approach for insulating it would be. I was thinking of using filter floss and tucking between the liner and roof panel. As long as there's no electrical wiring, I think this will work.

So after reassembling, the noise coming from the hatch was greatly reduced. (almost tollerable) I believe the remaining noise must be coming from the plastic sleeve surrounding the wiring in the hatch or the clips which hold the wiring to the car. I will work on this over the weekend.

When I filled out the JD Powers survey, I reamed them on the rattles. My comments were exactly what was said in an earlier post. A nearly $40K car shouldn't rattle.

The thing that really burns me is I bought my wife an EX35. The damn thing has a rattle that's been driving her crazy. She usually doesn't even notice rattles. I drive down the road slamming the dashboard or hitting the glove box and she thinks I'm nuts. Infiniti has an add showing these idiots with stethoscopes listening for rattles so they can eliminate them. Clearly the guys with the stethoscopes are deaf. I'm beginning to wonder if Nissan/Infiniti are just prone to rattles.

This has been so significant for me that I'm considering never buying a Nissan/Infiniti product again, which is a shame because every other aspect of both cars are excellent.

-ZCarGo-

vater

damn, making me think twice about buying a Z...

ChrisSlicks

No rattles in my car yet. Maybe on the touring model line they forgot to tighten a few things.

ZCarGo

Like I said, everything else about the car is awesome. It's the only car I've ever had that people have given me the thumbs up. It's a very cool car and great performance. It just so happens that after reliability, rattles are my number one peeve.

-ZCarGo-

WShade

It is really not that serious. Don't be discouraged.

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Q60 RS400

m4a1mustang

It's serious if you have one like ours which drive you nuts. It makes me hate the car at times... makes me really wish I never bought the effing thing.

I am going to rip this POS apart this weekend and see if I can fix anything.

It's safe to say that right now I HATE my car.

To think I chose this car over the Cayman S. It makes me wonder now if that extra $20k or so would have been worth it!!!

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