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Rattle, passenger side, rear(ish)


zcacogp

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Chaps, 

 

Quickie, before I start to pull the thing apart .... 

 

.... my 987.1 non-S has a rattle from the passenger side. It's a light rattle and sound more like interior trim than suspension. Quite possibly plastic or light metal. It seems to be coming from somewhere aft of the passenger seat, and I can't be more specific than that. My wife (the usual passenger) thinks it could be around the seat belt top mount area but she's not sure. 

 

Is there anything that regularly fails that may cause this? Any suggestions for someone troubleshooting such a thing? Any help from anyone? 

 

And a subsidiary question ... how do you remove the long piece of trim that goes across the car and over the two rear strut tops? I can't see where to get started if I was to remove it. Presumably it clips in .... where do you start with unclipping it? 

 

Thanks for any help you can offer! 

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If you mean the trim behind the drivers seats with the ‘grab bar’ across it too, then:

 

remove the rubber covers over each ‘foot’ of the grab bar. 
 

remove torx bolt (T-30 I think?)

 

then the plastic trim ‘pops’ up with some manual (but gentle) pulling. If you have some trim removal tools they would help 👍🏻  It’s got about about 5-8 (can’t remember now) sprung metal ‘tongues’ on it that clip into holes on the top of the engine compartment bulkhead. 
 

 

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7 minutes ago, Windymiller said:

If you mean the trim behind the drivers seats with the ‘grab bar’ across it too, then:

 

remove the rubber covers over each ‘foot’ of the grab bar. 
 

remove torx bolts through ‘feet’ at each end of grab bar (T-30 I think?)

 

then the plastic trim ‘pops’ up with some manual (but gentle) pulling. If you have some trim removal tools they would help 👍🏻  It’s got about about 5-8 (can’t remember now) sprung metal ‘tongues’ on it that clip into holes on the top of the engine compartment bulkhead. 
 

 

Try this too:

 

Edited by Windymiller
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Check to make sure the rear lights are fixed tight.  Remove the light cover and it's easy to check if they are loose.  Each black fixing should sit in a white plastic surround to make it a snug tight fit.

 

The other thing to check is the boot rubber 'feet' On each leading edge of the boot lid.   They can wear, so turn them anti clockwise so they stick out further and cushion the boot if that makes sense.

 

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I used to sometimes get some rattling from the lids on the storage boxes on the side of the engine.

 

Try driving with them up to see if that is the noise. A bit of silicone spray around the edge should stop it.

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Chaps, 

 

Thanks for the answers. They have all proved helpful. 

 

I've taken the covers off the rear lights and removed the light clusters themselves to re-seat them. I've put some sticky-backed high density foam on the contact points of the covers and that's helped quite a lot but not solved it entirely.

 

Windymiller, I removed the privacy screen a while ago to see if it was that but it wasn't. Good idea though. 

 

GlosRich, thanks for the suggestion that the storage box lids could be left open to see if they are the cause of the problem. I tried it but it didn't help things any further. 

 

There is still a small rattle from the rear and I'm not sure what is causing it. I guess the answer is to take bits of trim off and investigate further. It's a light rattle so I suspect not the dreaded 'trunk clunk' but taking the trim off the boot lid will be part of the investigation. 

 

I may be peculiar but rattles in cars are something I find particularly annoying! I'll get to the bottom of this, even if it takes me a while .... 😀

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A lot of my rattle was the hatch rattling on its catch. I had to wind the rubbers out a few turns to get a tight close, but made it harder to close, but stopped the rattling.

 

Similar problems on Skoda Octavia's, same big hatch that rattles!

 

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  • 1 month later...

Quick update: I identified a big source of rattles as being the central brake light against the rear screen. (Mrs zcacogp bravely climbed into the back while driving and spotted it immediately!) I took the boot trim off and the light out and put some lengths of foam along the face where the light moulding touches the rear screen and that has made a big difference. However it hasn't entirely cured the rattling problem; there is still a light rattle from the passenger side which is worse when it's cold. It's a fast rattle - it could almost be mistaken for a relay chattering due to a bad connection, although I think it is trim not electrical. It goes away when the car has warmed up inside which further suggests to me that it's trim related. 

 

All help thus far has been great, thanks. Any more suggestions are welcomed! 

 

ETA: While the boot trim panel was off I had a poke around the boot weight and understand it a lot better now. I don't think I was suffering from the Trunk Clunk (although the rubber mounting bushes were the worse for wear) but I put some foam around the boot weight to make sure of things. It's a funny design but the weight isn't anywhere near as large as I thought it would be. 

Edited by zcacogp
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I have done all the same faffing. Last thing I did was to remove the upper brake light and apply tape to all the possible 'touchng faces' of plastic.

 

Joy!

 

Well for 200 miles or so, perfect silence, bliss. Then this afternoon, for no reason, it's back. More squeeks than a hamster on death row!

 

Just generally emanating from the rear end.

 

Might be one of the pesky sprung steel trim clips. I have bought 20 from the Porsche dealers, so might swap a load out as the rear plastics have been off and on far too many times trying to eliminate this damn hamster squeek they may have lost some tension! Unlike me, who has acquired lots of extra tension trying to sort this irritation out!

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Andy, bnward76@gmail.com

 

I feel your pain - believe me! 

 

Squeaky clips are a good idea actually, thanks. I think my remaining rattle is from the side of the car not the rear and it could be a squeaky clip there that is causing the problem. I'll investigate! 

 

(Part of the problem is that I HATE taking the interior trim panels off as it involves putting large amounts of force on them and I am afraid that they will crack.)

 

Thanks for your help. 

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I used a trim removal tool to get the first clip released - needs a firm pull, and then managed to get my fingers in to pull the rest of the surround panel down. It's a bit daunting the first 23 times you do it!

 

See below for a brilliant how to, pinched from another thread.

971543146_PORSCHECayman987TrunkClunkFix-HowtoGuide.pdf

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Andy, 

 

Thanks for the guide - I wish I had had a copy of that before starting the job as it is precisely what I needed! The bit that foxed me was the screws in the back of the handle used to lower the boot lid; I didn't realise they were there until I peered 'round the back of the semi-unclipped panel and saw them. 

 

Interesting that the guy put foam on the back of the trim panel as well. I hadn't considered that the weight could be touching that - I assumed that the only contact would have been with the metal of the hatch itself and put foam in accordingly. I don't think that this is the source of my current rattle but it's an interesting idea. 

 

Thanks again. 

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I used some foam tape to sort the weight out as i had some in my toolbox. I dont think it was the cause of my incessant squeeking, it will make more of a gentle thud. I put the (fairly dense) foam tape inside the central rubber dampers in two small strips which formed 'c' shapes. Makes sense if you look at a photo.

 

I went out to my car this morning and its silent again when I drove it. I don't know whether to be pleased or not. Intermittent noises are such a pain to fix.

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