Rattles Rear Left Quarter

[arep3]

sorry for the boring as post guys.

im just curious to hear a few comments stories etc. i have a LOUD AS rattle in my rear passenger side quarter. the sound is mainly when i am under heavy acceleration or hitting bumps, rough road surfaces, potholes etc. sometines at certain rev ranges. also when i turn the car off. thought it could be the exhaust rattling on something. thats been cleared. ive had the rear seats out once already looking for it. ive now comptely emptied my boot apart from the essentials (spare jack etc)

checked so far:

exhaust

bearings lhrear hub

removed all boot contents apart from essentials. (they are fixed tightly and arnt moving)

i cant think of anything else apart from gutting the whole left hand interior and going up the hills for a spirited drive.

has anybody had anything as annoying as this?

any suggestions as to what it could be would be awesome.

thanks in advance for helping me on my quest for a rattle/squeak free car!

[CrAzY-BoY]

i think i have the same thing...

mine started after i installed my amp, i think its one of the clips off trim next to the back seat rolling around somewhere.

if i wasnt lazy i'd have a look

[R33_Rob]

Does it happen when idlling? Is it possible to describe the sound, does it sand like someone has put a coin in a metal jar and is shaking it? I was gonna say it could be your catalytic converter but if its comming from the rear left side then it wouldnt be.

Edited July 29, 2006 by R33_Rob

[arep3]

ive had all of my trims out and then driven te car. i can still hear it. the noise it too far rearward to be the cat plus its brand new. i dont get the noise when idling.

the sound would be kinda like metal vibrating on metal. im thinking it could be the hinges or latch mechanism on my boot lid. things always to turn out being the most simpilist things. yet i cant find it! thanks for ur help guys.

anyone else got any suggestions?

[julion]

Does it happen when idlling? Is it possible to describe the sound, does it sand like someone has put a coin in a metal jar and is shaking it? I was gonna say it could be your catalytic converter but if its comming from the rear left side then it wouldnt be.

sorry to hijack this thread, but my R32 GTS has developed a rattle near the catalytic converter, just like you described. Whats the problem? how much will it cost to fix??

[arep3]

if it is your cat, i replaced mine with a hi-flow 3" stainless S15 cat for $500

[arep3]

after having this rattling noise in my rear end for over a month, numerous hunts to find it, on and off the hoist. panels off, seats removed etc etc blah blah. i think ive narrowed it down the the rubber stoppers on the boot lid being too old and brittle. the boot lid looks to be sitting too low and i have wear marks on the tail light assembley from the lid hitting. also on the rear quarter panels from the spoiler hitting.

ill replace the rubber stoppers after pay day this week. hopefully this fixes my problems.

things most always work out to be the simplist of things...

[Revhead]

If not, what I've done before was take all of the rear trim out of the car and have my brother drive it slowly up and down the dead-end street near my old place, with me in the back searching for the noise. In my case it ended up being the coax cable running to the aerial (rear left...) hitting the outside panel of the car - a clip had gone brittle and broken. A couple of zip ties to attach it firmly again and the noise went away.

[sl33ek]

Yes! i had this problem for a month it was driving me absolutely INSANE

Look under your car at the drive shaft and follow it down to your diff, you will see the handbrake cable. follow that down and most likely you will see that it has popped out of its holder hitting your diff, so as the driveshaft is spinning the handbrake cable is tapping it. Simply pop the cable it back in its holder

I had the same symptoms, it would rattle on and off at certain RPM ranges and it was a loud metallic rattle that was embrarrasing as.

Tell me if its fixed it!

Edited July 29, 2006 by Gengis

[arep3]

thanks for the ideas guys. itll be at the mechanics monday gettin the hicas competely gutted and a few leaking hoses replaced. ill check along the driveshaft then. its good havin a mechanic that lets u do anything u wanna and not kick u outta the workshop.

that loose coax cable for the aerial, is that in a 32? i dont have an external aerial in my car. its build into the front window.

ive had all of the left hand side panels out and the boot gutted. taken the rear seats out and the metal panel that divides the boot from the cabin. parcel shelf etc. sounds to be too high for it to be around the driveshaft but ill look anyways.

i hope i find the sucka soon as im goins bananas!

oh and just so u all know. if u get a really loud annoying squeak coming from ur dashboard, check ur speedo cluster. theres a competition in my car for the most annoying noise to bug me. the squeak has been found and a new speedo gets here in a couple of weeks thanks to slidewize and yahoo japan.

just gotta source that damn rattle!

[habib63]

I have the same type of rattle in the LHR on my R33 s2, found out that it was as a result of insecure tyre changing gear!

Edited July 30, 2006 by habib63

[R33_Rob]

A catalytic converter for an r32 start around $200 (IF your lucky that shoudl include installation aswell).

But that is just a regular catalytic converter and not a high flow.

EDIT: julion if u want to be sure if your catalytic converter is making that sound quite simply punch it. Lay down beside your car and knock the cat, obviously dont punch it as hard as u can. If it rattles the noise is ur cat

Edited July 30, 2006 by R33_Rob

[cowie165]

Ron it might even be some loose part that has fallen down inside the rear quarter panel. I had my right rear replaced when I painted the car and inside I found:

a D-cell battery

a spark plug removal tool

a diary (in Japanese)

a single woollen glove

my original gearshift

so yeah I worked out what the rattly noise was...

Good luck with yours dude

[madmoomoo]

I second what was just said above (with the lovely pic). In my 33 I had a little lake collecting in the rear quarter panel. So it's worth having a reach to see if there's anything down there.

good luck.

[arep3]

sorry guys but ive already found all the crap inside my panels. anybody like golf? i got about 20 wooden tees along with 3 empty spark plug packets. ive taken the spare wheel out, the jack and tool kit etc. all of the carpet and panels so my boot was a bare shell. (so good to see no rust!)

im picking up some new rubber stoppers from nissan tomorrow.

anybody seen that computer lookin thing thats located inside the left rear quarter panel in front of the jack holder? WTF is it??

[arep3]

Ron it might even be some loose part that has fallen down inside the rear quarter panel. I had my right rear replaced when I painted the car and inside I found:

a D-cell battery

a spark plug removal tool

a diary (in Japanese)

a single woollen glove

my original gearshift

so yeah I worked out what the rattly noise was...

Good luck with yours dude

i love ur pic mark!! gold

[cowie165]

Thanks! That's Jamie the spraypainter holding my 'non-accident damage' rear quarter from my R32 Note the spot welds along the back of the wheel arch. See how many rust spots you can find

By the way Ron how did you pull that stuff out? Did you use one of those long claw tool things - the ones good for picking up the bolts you drop in the engine bay? Nicely done mate!

[Mandingo]

Have you checked your spoiler? I had a U13 bluebird and the wing on it was coming away from the bootlid and would send a vibration through the car at certain RPM

[arep3]

Thanks! That's Jamie the spraypainter holding my 'non-accident damage' rear quarter from my R32 Note the spot welds along the back of the wheel arch. See how many rust spots you can find

By the way Ron how did you pull that stuff out? Did you use one of those long claw tool things - the ones good for picking up the bolts you drop in the engine bay? Nicely done mate!

no special tool for it mate. im just a skinny bugger and i can get my hands in all kinds of small spaces there was a little bit of mud in there as well so i took it out and replaced it with fish oil so my panels wont look like urs.

Have you checked your spoiler? I had a U13 bluebird and the wing on it was coming away from the bootlid and would send a vibration through the car at certain RPM

the spoiler is on tight as. the rubbers a pretty well cactus though. ive ordered new 1s and ill pick them up thurs along with new door seals $$$

[Beer Baron]

yep down in my quarter panels found about 6 wheel nuts. a battery tie down clamp, lock nut tool and a few other little bits.... wierd thing is none of it rattled!