Rattle Noise In The Back

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RoyDaGeneral
Posts: 140
Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2019 10:55 am
Car: 2002 Infiniti QX4 2WD
Location: Berkeley, CA

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I have a rattle in my truck's rear hatch area and I'm not sure where it's coming from. There's nothing loose back there, except for the chain holding the spare tire underneath. I even had my 18 YO son sit in the trunk and pull the rear hatch handle while I drove to see if it wasn't closing nice and snug, but that made no difference. It's been like this from day one. Any ideas what it could be?


MisterH
Posts: 277
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2016 5:04 pm
Car: 1999 Infiniti QX4

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One common cause of noises that occur is when any of the rubber cushions attached to the liftgate are missing.

brickbox
Posts: 272
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 6:44 pm
Car: 2011 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4

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MisterH wrote:
Tue Jul 30, 2019 8:53 pm
One common cause of noises that occur is when any of the rubber cushions attached to the liftgate are missing.
Where are these located? I have the same issue on my QX4 for the past 50k miles. I thought it was the rear glass/windshield strut holders that are noisy.

MisterH
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Car: 1999 Infiniti QX4

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brickbox wrote:
Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:13 am
MisterH wrote:
Tue Jul 30, 2019 8:53 pm
One common cause of noises that occur is when any of the rubber cushions attached to the liftgate are missing.
Where are these located? I have the same issue on my QX4 for the past 50k miles. I thought it was the rear glass/windshield strut holders that are noisy.
There's supposed to be two on the rear door. Each mounted at the bottom left and bottom right. If you just see a 1/4" hole you'll know they're missing.

RoyDaGeneral
Posts: 140
Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2019 10:55 am
Car: 2002 Infiniti QX4 2WD
Location: Berkeley, CA

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MisterH wrote:
Sat Aug 03, 2019 11:32 am
brickbox wrote:
Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:13 am


Where are these located? I have the same issue on my QX4 for the past 50k miles. I thought it was the rear glass/windshield strut holders that are noisy.
There's supposed to be two on the rear door. Each mounted at the bottom left and bottom right. If you just see a 1/4" hole you'll know they're missing.
I checked and those hard rubber stops are there. The lift gate rubber seal appears to be in decent shape. Also the struts are firm and nothing shakes there. Not sure what to check next, short of taking off lift gate liner and see if something inside the locking mechanism is shaky.

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mdmellott
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Car: '13 Kia Soul+ 2.0L AT
'02 Pathfinder SE 3.5L AT P/4WD
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My 2002 Pathfinder drove me nuts with a noise back there. Turned out to be a simple fix once I found that the surface area where the spare tire presses against body had lost its stick on contact pad. Not sure if it was originally a rubber pad or something else but once I stuck on a 4" x 4" felt pad the noise went away completely.

RoyDaGeneral
Posts: 140
Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2019 10:55 am
Car: 2002 Infiniti QX4 2WD
Location: Berkeley, CA

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Good place to check, where exactly did you place the felt pad?

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mdmellott
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'02 Pathfinder SE 3.5L AT P/4WD
Location: SF Bay Area, CA

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I placed it on a bracket of some sort that looked like it was missing something that helped position the spare tire into place when it is fully raised. The bracket is dead center at the furthest rear area near the bumper where the face of the spare tire will press against when raised. I tried to post a picture here but haven't figured out how to do that yet. Your QX4 may be different than my Pathfinder but should be very similar.

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mdmellott
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If your not sure about whether or not the spare tire is making the noise, remove it from the vehicle and secure the lift chain so that it does not hang down or move. Drive around a bit and listen for the noise. If its gone then the spare tire is the culprit. If its not, sorry about wasting your time. My intentions were good.

RoyDaGeneral
Posts: 140
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Car: 2002 Infiniti QX4 2WD
Location: Berkeley, CA

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Yesterday, I totally removed the spare and it's not the culprit. Talk about a mystery.

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rgk
Posts: 587
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2014 4:48 am
Car: 02 Pathfinder LE 3.5 auto 4x4
Location: Indiana Dunes National Park

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Check your rear shock absorbers to see if they're loose. If they are, replace the nuts with self-locking ones.

That was it for me. Of course it drove me crazy until I figured it out.

RoyDaGeneral
Posts: 140
Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2019 10:55 am
Car: 2002 Infiniti QX4 2WD
Location: Berkeley, CA

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rgk wrote:
Sat Sep 14, 2019 10:02 am
Check your rear shock absorbers to see if they're loose. If they are, replace the nuts with self-locking ones.

That was it for me. Of course it drove me crazy until I figured it out.
Sure, but could you be a little bit more specific, where do these nuts sit? I've never done anything with shocks, the reason this sounds like Latin;)

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rgk
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This is not our model year, but it will give you an idea where the rear shock absorber is located:

http://repairguide.autozone.com/znetrgs ... 04f7b8.gif

The top and bottom of the shock is held in place by a nut and bolt. Get under the rear of the car and try moving the shock by hand, to see if it rattles. It should not move at all. Then put one wrench on the nut and another on the bolt to see if you can tighten it.

If the rattle returns, try replacing the nut with a self-locking nut.

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mdmellott
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Just remembered something from more than five years back when my dynamic damper weight was making a rattling noise. This damper weight is mounted on the rear exhaust resonator. The bracket which mounts this part to the pipe is welded in place but the rusty weld was breaking loose and causing the rattle noise. I grabbed the damper and broke it off from the pipe which eliminated the rattle noise. I held onto the damper all this time and finally reused it on a new exhaust system I just installed which had the same mounting bracket. By now, you may have already figured out what was causing the noise. If not, check out the weld integrity of this damper bracket.

RoyDaGeneral
Posts: 140
Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2019 10:55 am
Car: 2002 Infiniti QX4 2WD
Location: Berkeley, CA

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mdmellott wrote:
Sun Dec 29, 2019 12:50 pm
Just remembered something from more than five years back when my dynamic damper weight was making a rattling noise. This damper weight is mounted on the rear exhaust resonator. The bracket which mounts this part to the pipe is welded in place but the rusty weld was breaking loose and causing the rattle noise. I grabbed the damper and broke it off from the pipe which eliminated the rattle noise. I held onto the damper all this time and finally reused it on a new exhaust system I just installed which had the same mounting bracket. By now, you may have already figured out what was causing the noise. If not, check out the weld integrity of this damper bracket.
Actually, I have yet to resolve this noise issue. I'll check the resonator damper bracket. Thanks for ideas.


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