DragonRR

I have a minor rattle coming from the rear hatch inside the car. Pressing hard on the plastic when driving stops it happening. I've pushed around the plastic with the hatch open and it creaks quite loudly in some places so I want to pull it off and line with some felt. It feels like the liner might pop off with a bit of force but I don't really want to break anything.

DragonRR

Well I assume not many of you have tried this particular operation! However if anyone can help it would be appreciated of course.

After much faffing about I am starting to think the noise actually comes from the left side trunk bolsters (for want of a better description). One of the panels seems to pull away a bit too easily and I can feel what seems to be a panel fixing which can either push into the body work or stick to the bolster/panel inner side but not both at the same time. Pressing on it seems to make it stick and then un-stick making a noise. Not sure if it's the problem yet but I seem to have affected the noise level by fiddling.

I remember thinking my parents were ridiculous complaining about minor rattles in their cars, they just didn't bother me as a teenager. Seems the genes have now become fully active in me as well! Must be an age thing.

amgpower01

Just pull on it carefully to get it off. There are tabs holding it in place. I took mine off to install a new spoiler...now if I could just figure out how to stop the "Spoiler not functioning" warning light I'd be happy! lol

DragonRR

Sadly I can't help you there! But thanks for responding because I've now more or less eliminated every other area so I'm back on the hatch itself again.

I've tried pulling at different areas, the topmost parts look like they'll pull off but the bottom area seems really tight and the handle at the bottom, which appears to be part of the plastic, is really firm and feels screwed in?

AMG 17GT

Need Alex to chime in here.

DragonRR

Indeed. I PMed him but no response. Perhaps off sunning himself on a beach somewhere

Alexfor8

Okay, finally have a minute... Not sure exactly which panel you are looking for. Most of them are pretty easy to pull, but here you go...

DragonRR

Wow, thanks, exactly what I needed! No idea what to say other than thanks for being such a massive help! I owe you several beers

DragonRR

Well I finally got round to removing the hatch paneling this weekend. Wrapped every touching surface and wire in Tessa felt or other suitable wrapping material and re-seated. Still a faint rattle! Removed everything again and felted a few extra locations. Nope. I haven't fully removed the side bolsters yet, looks a bit awkward. I'm trying to decide what I can use in the back area to get a more accurate location. Current plan is a selfie stick with an iphone recording whilst a passenger (long suffering rattle detector son) moves the phone to different places. Another option might be to stick a cushion in different places and see if one particular place masks off the noise. My 6ft 5" 16 year old doesn't seem keen on lying in the back.

If anyone has any bright ideas, don't hesitate to reply

ddtung

Another thing to try is to adjust the stop bumpers to eliminate any play between the hatch door and the cargo compartment. My dealer fixed my rattle this way.

DragonRR

Thanks ddtung. The stop bumpers caused rattle number #1 which I fixed a couple of weeks ago, the hatch was literally banging on rough roads! I think I've had about 3 or 4 rattles all coming from the rear left quarter of the car. One final one remains. I suspect if this had been the only rattle at the begining I probably wouldn't have bothered but I'm obsessed now it's quite quiet and passengers only seem to notice it if I mention it.

ddtung

Have you also removed the service flap in the rear left to access the electronics, as well as tire and wheel parts which are held by a piece of moulded styrofoam wedged in that space that may be causing the rattle?

DragonRR

Yes. I wrapped everything even remotely suspect in anti rattle felt and I've tried removing everything loose from the compartment and leaving the side off to see if the noise got any louder.

I had two days last week when I thought I'd resolved them all but the last one is proving to be a challenge for my limited skills

xbox

FWIW - I have the same rattle and its getting worse.

Ambient was up to 40C today, which usually tightens things up, but it was worse than ever.

Quite annoying so looking forward to hearing how you fix this DragonRR.

Sounds like top rear left corner of hatch area.

Plastics you were looking to remove all have play in them, but seems like something else

xbox

My monies on the C-pillar cover. Any luck with that DragonRR?

DragonRR

It is a tough one to fix. Very hard to locate the source of the sound. Selfie stick arrives tomorrow but it is a long shot (if you'll excuse the pun).

I have pulled the C pillar cover back but not off. I didn't want to do too many things at once.

Tonight on the way home from work the noise started about 3/4 through the 20 mile journey on a rough road and was relatively loud.

As I replied earlier to ddtung, I had already adjusted the bump stops on the hatch which removed a really loud rattle on large bumps in the road. At the time I was also suspicious about the stress wrinkling on the plastic paint protection film (these meet with the bump stops when the hatch is closed) because it clicked when pressed on the wrinkle itself. I decided to replace this with helicopter tape and a 3m clear bump thingy on top of that. It seemed to make a difference at first but the noise came back and I assumed it had done nothing. However the fact remains (in my case) that opening and closing the hatch seems to affect the noise level randomly so I wondered if the bump stop itself might be the source of the noise either because it rattles(clicks/ticks) when it moves or even that the plastic end sticks and unsticks on the surface of the tape. So tonight I folded up a piece of fabric and put it between the bump stop and the helicopter tape on the left hand side.

I then went out for a drive on some rough roads to see if anything had changed. After 45mins and 30 miles - no rattle. The problem is that I've had this happen before for a couple of days although not in such a sustained way. Anyway.. that's where I'm at now, I fully expect the noise to come back in the next day or two but in the meantime I'm leaving my latest bodge fix in place!

Things I've done so far:

1. Unscrewed the bump stops counterclockwise several notches. This fixed a very loud rattle.
2. Replaced Mercedes protection tape with 3m Helicopter tape and a couple of large 3m clear bump stops.
3. Wrapped various wires in the fuse box with material/fleecy wire wrap (Tessa 51608) plus thicker stuff for padding between loose or suspect components. Also drove with fuse box cover off to see if noise got louder but it didn't
4. Removed the rear hatch lock body lock panel and applied felt to touching areas
5. Pulled back (but not removed) the left bolsters and C pillar. Reattached a "clicky" fastner which wasn't connecting properly with the bolster using 3M double sided tape.
6. Removed the entire hatch card and plastic framing. Lined the hatch itself with Tessa tape wherever plastic touched metal (several places had signs of paint damage where there are some spacing plastic nodules on the plastic hatch shroud.) I struggled to remove all of the frame a couple of fastners resisted coming off and I didn't want to force them!). Also wrapped wires to the two lights in the hatch and wrapped tape as best I could around a rubber pipe which sits within the hatch on the left on the opening edge. Not sure what this is for! Possibly used for the mechanical spoiler (which I don't have).
7. Adjusted the locking plate on the hatch which was a bit squiffy.
8. Put some material between the bump stop on the left hand side and the body as a temporary measure.

DragonRR

@Alexfor8
I've just noticed that to removed the C pillar covering there is an associated doc - AR68.30-P-4780RG. If you have access and the time would you mind posting this please
Save

Alexfor8

DragonRR

My thanks again Alex!

Alexfor8

Anytime

DragonRR

For the last 2 days and about 150 miles there has been no rattle/clicking noise at all! I could only really put this down to putting the material between the bump stop and the body and had started to believe (again) that the noise was caused by the bump stop sticking on the body (or something like that). However on a journey tonight, about 5 miles in, the noise started again although quietly. At the destination I opened the hatch and found that the material had stuck to the bump stop. I removed it, re-seated it and closed the hatch. Did a bit of shopping and returned home. Noise didn't come back.

Unfortunately the above proves very little. I'm still no more than 50/50 (and probably less!) that the noise really is coming from the left bumpstop... Maybe it is a faulty part although both sides feel exactly the same and sound the same. Maybe the rubber sticks to the body and unsticks when it vibrates.. Still feels like a longshot to me. I'm going to put something more substantial/durable between the stop and the body and see what happens.

@Xbox - Can you try putting some material where the bump stop hits the body and see if it makes any difference for you?

xbox

Yep, will give it a go on Saturday.

This type of issue is devilish to isolate, so nothing should be overlooked.

.... and yes, it is like a clicking rattle

DragonRR

I've now put a small amount of silicone oil of the shaft of the bump stop (will probably do nothing since it is a sealed unit). I removed the bump stop to make sure there were no foreign objects between it and the car body. I've put a circular heavy duty Velcro "sticker" (the soft felt side) on the location where the bump stop touches the car body to replace the loose material I'd left there from before. Looks quite good, OEM even. Will post again in a few days.

Or even 4hrs later! I could hear the noise during a fairly long journey tonight on a rough road surface, put the some material back in place which seemed to quieten it to almost nothing. Still not sure it is the bump stop but pretty sure it doesn't come from the C pillar. I'm going to order a new bump stop next week, if that doesn't do it. Hmmm!

ddtung

Why don't you try swapping the left and right bump stops before buying a new one?

xbox

OK, so cloth inserted and out for a drive:

- all quiet at first, but then after 5-mins the creaking noise starts up, building in volume, until back, although not as loud as originally.

- my wife comments that it isn't a rattle though, more being a creak-creak and IMO she is right

At this point, my opinion is possibly the rubber bushings that the glass roof sits on.

The rag would have increasing pressure on the tailgate at one corner and twisted it slightly, which in turn would have affected the roof frame - just a thought.

Also, I think its too loud to be a trim panel, although could it be the crossbar mount?

Did someone mention having their crossbar changed under warranty - would be useful to find the reason why?