Hatchback Rattle solution

4154 Views 17 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Almost Jake, Jun 17, 2005

maareeaa

Discussion Starter · Jun 11, 2005

9

Ok so I never noticed any rattles because my music is always on but after reading all your comments and mentioning it to my husband, he pointed out that there was in fact a rattle coming from my hatch.

A bit of background on the hubby. He has worked in automotive dealerships for over 20 years. Although he is a great mechanic on the side, his expertise is in parts. He has been working for Toyota for 10 years now so I trust his judgement and advise. He gives me the inside scoop!

He came up with a solution to the rattle in the hatch! Now my car is nice and quiet as it should be and we'd like to share it with you.

Here's what you do:

Step 1:

This piece is a bumper guide

Step 2:

Remove bumper guide using a 12 mm socket.

Step 3:

Buy 4 oil drain plug washers from a toyota dealer. Cost $0.92 each.

Step 4:

Take 2 of the washers and place behind the guide

Step 5:

Replace guide with washers behind on to hatch an tighten.

Step 6:
Repeat for other side.

Step 7: That should do it!!! Please let me know if this worked for you!
MOONROOF NOISE BULLETIN FROM TOYOTA:
Because he works for Toyota he also advised me that there is a TSB (Toyota Service Bulletin) on the noise from the sun-roof. For those that don't know, if there is a Bulletin on a problem, the work is done under warranty!! Call your dealer's service department and give them this TSB: NV010-04. The title is: 05Scion TC - Moonroof (Sliding Roof) Creak - Revised. Because I don't have this problem, my husband briefly read it. He remembers it saying certain screws need to be loosened and re-tightened. Call Toyota and they should do it for you.

See less See more

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

lo bux racer

· #2 · Jun 11, 2005

Nice fix for some, but it won't solve the problem we identified with Wolo's car. The spot welds didn't fully penetrate on the hatch structure. The roof TSB is pinned already, we've known about that for some time.

maareeaa

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 11, 2005

Was just trying to help.

lo bux racer

· #4 · Jun 11, 2005

Have your hubby check out this thread. I'd be really interested in any insight he might have.

wolo

· #5 · Jun 11, 2005

Yeah, any other info would be swell. Glad the fix worked for you though!

maareeaa

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 11, 2005

I will ask him as soon as he gets home !

See less See more

maareeaa

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 12, 2005

Ok hubby home. He says Toyota doesn't have elaborate fixes all the time. Example: On the Rav4, customers complain about creaking in the dashboard by the windshield. Their solution? Place foam between the windshield and the dash. When customers pick up their car they probably think the techs took apart the dash to fix the problem when in fact all they did was a quick fix. The spacers that he placed in my hatch tightened up the gap between the hatch and the quarter panel. Now there are no more rattles. Maybe one day Toyota will re-engineer those parts to be thicker, until then my problem was solved with this quick fix and I don't have to hear anymore rattles. From experience, he does not think Toyota will re-engineer the hatch to solve this issue. Sorry you guys are experiencing this.

Azrael

· #8 · Jun 12, 2005

I'll have to try the fix you posted. It can't hurt!

rangerk

· #9 · Jun 12, 2005

I am so tirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrredddddddddd of waiting for any kind of official fix from scion i'm going to try your fix. Very nice job of posting photos thanks to you both for an informative post.

Like mariachi bands drive in my scion tc over a rough road!

K

Shep

· #10 · Jun 12, 2005

Well, ill give it a try, but i have had my car in 4! , yes 4!, times for the hatch rattle, i have officially given up!, they keep my car for three days, and the rattle comes back WORSE than it was when i take it in within a day or two! They replaced my hinges, and a few other parts back there, and still rattles like they didnt do a thing! Actually, i think im getting used to it, dont even hear it that much anymore unless i listen to it, but whenever someones in my car they ask me what it is, so it is not getting any better!

MartytC

· #11 · Jun 12, 2005

I don't hear any rattles in my car. I've had it for four weeks. Does this problem worsen after you drive the car for awhile? Just wanting to know what I can expect.

lo bux racer

· #12 · Jun 12, 2005

Every car is different. I have nearly 15k on my 5 speed and it is still quiet. The wife's auto has 5k on it and makes lots of little noises. No rhyme or reason to it, it just is.

hamster

· #13 · Jun 12, 2005

@ 2400 miles... and im starting to hear stuff! Volume will go to the 30's now

mrbrace

· #14 · Jun 12, 2005

Acutally I am having my whole sunroof assembly replaced via factory from scion, they tried to fix it three times and the rattles just kept coming back so that fixed my sunroof rattles at least it will....secondly to fix my hatch rattle they moved my latch down a little not sure how far, but they moved it down and now my hatch is dead silent....so there are multiple fixes

OliverThomas

· #15 · Jun 13, 2005

Same here. I didnt think i had the rattle, but sure enough, it started the other day. It's real low, not loud or something, but annoying. Sounds like the glass is vibrating. Also have a rattle in my driver door right on the arm rest, the right frequency of bass from my system makes it rattle... Oh well. I'll take it in sometime, but in my experence, dealers have not a whole lot of enthusiasm for fixing rattles.

hamster

· #16 · Jun 13, 2005

Originally posted by hamster@Jun 12 2005, 02:34 PM
@ 2400 miles... and im starting to hear stuff! Volume will go to the 30's now

I fixed it. Apparantly my friend sitting in the back pulled up the head rest, and the plastic thing that connects to it was making the noise. I just pushed the head rest back down so that the plastic thing could not viberate and no more sounds.

sciontc_mich

· #17 · Jun 13, 2005

i actually just put some thick foam tape on those bumper stops that she shows in her pictures.. and that stopped the rattling on mine.. I think what is going on is that the hatch has too much "play" in the latch that locks the hatch.. putting either washers or foam tape takes up that play and the hatch cannot bounce around..

the other post about re-adjusting the striker latch plate is exactly the right fix.. just easier for me to put a little foam on my bumper stops.. it really is multiple fixes, but they are acheiving the same result..

Almost Jake

· #18 · Jun 17, 2005

Just to make some of you feel better, and to humor others...my local dealer had my tC for over 3-weeks for the roof rattle. Still couldn't fix it. If anything, they created others. Now it's in the shop for the 5th time but I feel it may be fixed this time. Reason being I contacted Scion Experience who put me in touch with a regional manager. She in-turn put me in touch with a regional service tech who advised my dealership. They had to remove the entire sunroof to fix whatever needed fixing. I get the car back tomorrow after it's been in for a week. All I can say on that is it better be fixed.

While I had the regional tech's ear; I asked him about some other problems we're having.
1) He claimed to not know about problems with wind noise from the sunroof. Hmmm
2) He also never heard about the garage door remote not working from the visor. I thought it was me, but I changed the battery and had the same problem. Then I swapped the remote with the one in my 01 Accord (which has zero rattles after 70K miles). The problem followed the car, not the remote. From the Accord I can open my garage half a block away; I can't be farther than the end of my driveway with the tC.
3) I have a creaking sound I thought was coming from the clutch/transmission. Turned out it was from something attached to the underbody. I hear it when I shift, but he found it also happened by tapping the throttle in gear. I'll be sure to ask what the fix action was for that. Especially since I had it undercoated.

All-in-all, I really like the car. But the creaking, wind noise, pops, rattles, etc..are getting on my nerves. I doubt I'd notice it if I was single since I always had the radio on. But, since I got married (1989) the wife and I don't play the radio when we're together.

One thing I've learned from buying this car; Toyota has some of the crappiest customer service around. I'd always heard/read (JD Powers & Consumer reports) they were near the bottom; and now I see it. It's little things that make the difference. I've had far better service from the likes of Dodge, Ford, and Honda. One Toyota policy that grinds on my nerves is that a second dealership cannot fix the 1st dealerships mistakes. I've had problems with my local dealer, and since they initially worked on the sunroof, they are the only one who get paid by Toyota to fix it under warranty. I'd have to move out of the area to have a 2nd dealer fix the first dealers mistake. I never saw anything like this from other brands, and it is a real turn-off. I seriously question if I'd get another Toyota.

See less See more

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.