I've got a rear suspension noise that started sporadically, and is now getting quite a bit more frequent. It's a "thump" in the rear suspension as the car recovers from a bump. Sometimes a small bump will cause the noise, and sometimes I can go over a larger bump and no noise. I think it depends more on the type of bump than the severity. I've removed every loose item in the car, and have made sure the spare tire and jack are 100% secure. If the root cause lies inside the car, then it's behind the trim panels or the rear doors or the hatch. It's not the floor cover directly above the spare, though Honda did add a foam block there at some time after building mine (#3,420 North American build). On my car, the foam block is absent.

The noise could be a loose harness or piece of trim, but I think it's actually coming from either the underside of the car or the rear suspension. I'm thinking it may be a shock absorber bushing or the torsion beam itself. If the integrated rear sway bar has bushings, it could be that. That's the kind of sound I'm hearing, and it's driving me mad. I'm sure the dealer service department won't be able to hear a thing, thus adding to my troubles and possibly taking me over the edge...... They made a federal case out of replacing my a/c switch and wouldn't replace it till after I involved North American Honda and their "techline" even after I duplicated the issue in front of the service manager's face. One thing's for sure, though, they're nowhere near as bad as Mazda when it comes to cheating the customer on warranty.

 

And you are sure it is not the tool-kit/jack in the back? Mine doesn't stay put very well.

 

Thats the "No Subwoofer In The Back" noise. Simply apply 50-75 pounds of Audio equipment and it will go away.

In all seriousness I doubt its anything out of the ordinary.

 

You sure its not your gas tank? I know if I hit a bump or stop suddenly with half a tank of gas or more it will make the gas in the tank thump as it swirls around in the tank. Its right under the drivers seat but when it does it it sounds like its coming from the back.

Like mentioned above. Make sure your locking nut it tight on your spare tire and make sure your jack is secured. Those could be it as well.

 

I would check the exhaust for possible contact.

 

thats what my prob was

 

Thanks to everybody who replied. The spare tire and jack are secure. I even removed the blue bag with the lug wrench. I've eliminated every possible source of movement except the car itself, but the problem persists. It's actually getting worse.

I'll check Virtual's suggestion and trace the entire exhaust sustem from the cat back. Hopefully, that's it. I've got an appt. with the dealer Tuesday, but they'll probably say they can't duplicate. That's the number one dealer fix for any problem.

I had a '95 Camry with a similar sound. Turned out to be the rear sway bar bushings. Didn't figure it out till after I replaced the rear struts and the problem persisted. Once I replaced the bushings, it solved the issue. A year and 15,000 miles later it came back. It was basically a wear issue, though the bushings shouldn't wear that quickly. Anyway, that's why I'm thinking bushings. On our cars, the equivalent would be sway bar bushings or shock mount bushings.

 

This noise doesn't sound like a thud to me, but have you made sure the rear seatbelts are not rattling against the door plastics? This happens to me often in the GD3, not sure if it's been fixed in the GE.