Rattling sound from rear bumper area

[heartpatrick]

Hi All,

I'm driving a 2-month-old jazz, and since about a month ago, i started noticing this strange rattling noise coming from the trunk area of my car.

Got my friend to drive, and actually sat on the floor of the trunk (with both back seats down so the whole trunk actually just connects with the passenger seat floor). Managed to pinpoint the rattle to be coming from the rear bumper area, specifically from the long vertical piece of black plastic wrapping around the bumper.

Have sent the car back to the service center twice, but they haven't been able to fix it unfortunately. I told them where the noise is coming from, but they said there's nothing in the rear bumper that could gave that noise.

Have anyone experienced this before with your jazz/fit?? This noise is driving me nuts!!



Thanks!


Regards,
Pat

[reako]

If it were me, I would be back there bangin' on stuff. Seriously open up the hatch floor and pound on the floor. You may be able to re-create the noise. Push on the side panels, check the door hatch plastic, maybe bang on the hatch door a bit, it could easily be something loose inside the hatch, or even your license plate rattling. Not sure the Fit comes with a spare tire setup in your area but the tire jack is mounted right near the bumper area and could be loose as well.

There is a long vertical plastic piece on the inside of the car along the bumper area that is very easy to remove, you could pull it out and have a look for yourself. Standing on the outside of the car, reach all the way in and grab the inside bottom of that piece and pull up towards you - it comes out easier than any other interior panel.

Just a few things to start with, I tend to start with the easiest solutions first (bang on stuff) to better pinpoint the origin. It may not be the scientific method, but it works for me!

[heartpatrick]

Originally Posted by reako

If it were me, I would be back there bangin' on stuff. Seriously open up the hatch floor and pound on the floor. You may be able to re-create the noise. Push on the side panels, check the door hatch plastic, maybe bang on the hatch door a bit, it could easily be something loose inside the hatch, or even your license plate rattling. Not sure the Fit comes with a spare tire setup in your area but the tire jack is mounted right near the bumper area and could be loose as well.

There is a long vertical plastic piece on the inside of the car along the bumper area that is very easy to remove, you could pull it out and have a look for yourself. Standing on the outside of the car, reach all the way in and grab the inside bottom of that piece and pull up towards you - it comes out easier than any other interior panel.

Just a few things to start with, I tend to start with the easiest solutions first (bang on stuff) to better pinpoint the origin. It may not be the scientific method, but it works for me!

thanks for taking time to reply! appreciate your help.

believe me i have tried alot of different things, including removing the license plate, the spare tyre, and all the accessories in the storage area near the spare. Also during the last service, i've got the large plastic cover on the inside of the hatch door entirely removed, together with a few other plastic panels around there. But nothing seems to work for now because the noise is actually coming from the inside of the plastic skirting of the rear bumper, near the trunk floor. *sigh*

I'm going to make a third appointment with Honda and this time insist on working together with the foreman to pinpoint the problem.

[heartpatrick]

Originally Posted by reako

There is a long vertical plastic piece on the inside of the car along the bumper area that is very easy to remove, you could pull it out and have a look for yourself. Standing on the outside of the car, reach all the way in and grab the inside bottom of that piece and pull up towards you - it comes out easier than any other interior panel.

yes, this sounds like something that i can do for now, instead of just waiting for my appointment day. *sigh* you mentioned it's a long vertical plastic piece along the bumper area on the inside of the trunk? did you mean horizontal instead? I see a long horizontal piece of plastic, along the bumper area that looks like it's clipped downwards. I tried grabbing the bottom and pulling it up, but it seems like it's stuck to the edges of the trunk opening. Can we really just pull this out ourselves?

Thanks.

[reako]

Originally Posted by heartpatrick

yes, this sounds like something that i can do for now, instead of just waiting for my appointment day. *sigh* you mentioned it's a long vertical plastic piece along the bumper area on the inside of the trunk? did you mean horizontal instead? I see a long horizontal piece of plastic, along the bumper area that looks like it's clipped downwards. I tried grabbing the bottom and pulling it up, but it seems like it's stuck to the edges of the trunk opening. Can we really just pull this out ourselves?

Thanks.

yeah I meant horizontal. that's the one, just pull straight up, it will come right off. You can then remove the rear side panels which are also surprisingly easy to remove. But if you really think it's coming from outside the car within the plastic skirting under the rear bumper, there's no sense in removing the interior panels.

[Kwonye]

I have that same noise, and for me, it's the licence plate and the cover. It doesn't fasten on the bottom two screws, so it flops around while I drive. I've been planning on taping it or something so that it stops jiggling around.

[baylorbro]

Originally Posted by Kwonye

I have that same noise, and for me, it's the licence plate and the cover. It doesn't fasten on the bottom two screws, so it flops around while I drive. I've been planning on taping it or something so that it stops jiggling around.

Yep, I had the same problem. I took of the liscence plate cover and bent the liscence plate up at the bottom so that it would stop rattling and I haven't had any problems since.

[xstraightrazorx]

maybe it's the tow hooks in the spare tire compartment bumping around while you're driving.