Hi folks,
I have been monitoring this site with interest for some time, but now have something to share.
My Ex is now 2 years old and it developed an intermitttent rattle behind the back seat on the driver's side over the winter. This rattle occurs over small bumps and uneven surfaces at urban speeds but disappears almost entirely on the highway. I've taken it into the dealer to fix on 2 occasions now.
On the first pass the dealer agreed there was indeed an irritating rattle after a test drive, kept it for a day and installed additional sound insulation behind the interior panel bordering the rear hatch on the drivers side. No effect.
On the second pass the dealer kept the car for a week, removed all panels on the rear quarter, test drove the car with a "big ears" sound device and told me they identified the source as 2 internal cross braces (?) in the proximity of the rear tire well. They said they glued rather than welded the loose parts together, then put more insulation in. This seems to have cut down the rattle somewhat, especially right after the fix, but not eliminated it.
The service manager now feels that the problem must be somewhere in the external rear quarter panel between the inner and outer shell, but has not yet offered to take another crack at fixing it. I'm leary to proceed anyway, as removing this panel sounds like a major operation that may not be easy to undertake without messing up the car's appearance.
Any suggestions on next steps? Has anyone else experienced this issue?
Shyboy
Rattle in rear quarter!
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jamesstock
- Posts: 169
- Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 6:42 pm
- Car: 2010 Liquid Platinum/Stone Journey
Diamond Cut IR Tint
Re: Rattle in rear quarter!
It seems to me alot of dealers (not just Infiniti, but also MB, Honda, TM, BMW etc) are just looking for things to fix, whether those 'issues' the dealer thought were the route causes or not...they fix whatever they wanted but the symptom still existed after customer picked up the car. It's quite bothering! Why can't they really verified the issue and confirm if the problems' resolved / fixed before delivering the vehicles back to the owners.
Could you tell us more about the rattle? what does it sound like? when you say in urban speed and not highway speed, does it happen when you are on uneven surface such as going over a speed bump? Does it sound like metal stress / twisting sound? or more like 'plastic' rubbing? Does it happen when you are going over speed bumps at a 90 degree angle? or more like over speed bumps at an angle? What happened if your rear seats are fully occupied? fold down? I had a Honda Accord back decades ago and I had a rattle that sounded like 'metal stress' when going over bumps / uneven surface AT AN ANGLE. Dealer tried to fix it 3 times, with each time claimed they found the fix but of course they never fix the issue! So finally I got pissed and contacted Honda NA and they sent a tech over from factory and found the root cause (it was caused by the metal beam right underneath the rear window - that beam which extends from left to right supporting the rear panel / speaker area.)
Could you tell us more about the rattle? what does it sound like? when you say in urban speed and not highway speed, does it happen when you are on uneven surface such as going over a speed bump? Does it sound like metal stress / twisting sound? or more like 'plastic' rubbing? Does it happen when you are going over speed bumps at a 90 degree angle? or more like over speed bumps at an angle? What happened if your rear seats are fully occupied? fold down? I had a Honda Accord back decades ago and I had a rattle that sounded like 'metal stress' when going over bumps / uneven surface AT AN ANGLE. Dealer tried to fix it 3 times, with each time claimed they found the fix but of course they never fix the issue! So finally I got pissed and contacted Honda NA and they sent a tech over from factory and found the root cause (it was caused by the metal beam right underneath the rear window - that beam which extends from left to right supporting the rear panel / speaker area.)
Re: Rattle in rear quarter!
The service staff at the dealer in Newmarket do seem genuine in their efforts to deal with this rattle, but the lack of progress is disappointing. They did test drive it after the second attempt to see if it worked and thought it had. So did I until I drove it for a few days and it eventually came back, just not quite as often.
The second service order said "cause:45, UX3699 seam seal/weld "D" pillar to rear quarter", FC:ZL45." Have no idea what this means, but it only partially worked anyway.
The sound is definitely a metallic click or crack that occurs only once per bump. The "bumps" that induce this sound are smaller than a speed bump, typically deep weather cracks in the road - lots of these in Ontario - or manhole covers that jar only one wheel and set the chassis in motion side to side. Sometimes occurs just on cornering or after accelerating from a stoplight. Back seat position has no effect, nor number of passengers. I thought I did notice a significant reduction with 2 bikes on the hitch and the back was really loaded with luggage on holiday, but that involved a lot of interstate highway driving and may have just been my imagination.
The second service order said "cause:45, UX3699 seam seal/weld "D" pillar to rear quarter", FC:ZL45." Have no idea what this means, but it only partially worked anyway.
The sound is definitely a metallic click or crack that occurs only once per bump. The "bumps" that induce this sound are smaller than a speed bump, typically deep weather cracks in the road - lots of these in Ontario - or manhole covers that jar only one wheel and set the chassis in motion side to side. Sometimes occurs just on cornering or after accelerating from a stoplight. Back seat position has no effect, nor number of passengers. I thought I did notice a significant reduction with 2 bikes on the hitch and the back was really loaded with luggage on holiday, but that involved a lot of interstate highway driving and may have just been my imagination.
Re: Rattle in rear quarter!
Surely somebody must have some idea of what causing this rattle. Maybe Steve-the-tech can pitch in.