Checked the jack?

I was surprised mine was loose and rattling against both the top and bottom. I can "jack it up" to make it tighter, but I think I will deaden it with a towel also when I get home. The towel will come in handy anyways if I ever have to use the jack and spare.

 

From the manual...it sits right below the hatch latch...

The direction shown is to loosen and remove...as soon as I wiggled mine, I knew I found my rattle source.

 

I have this same rattle as the OP. But mine is intermittent. I checked every possible thing over the past 2 years. I actually haven't heard it in maybe 2 months, it seems.

But I'm thinking it's the rear seat jumping off the bottom latch, the tailgate hitting metal sill or a suspension noise.

 

For the ride home, and no rattle...

Installed the towel around it after I got home, and then later took the car for a ride...no rattle....

Hope you guys find yours!

 

So, because of this thread, I decided to take a look in the spare tire section of the Fit.

While it's true I do hear "noise" on occasion, I chalk it up to the junk I have back there.

Anyway, I found out two things while looking. My little crappy air compressor I bought at Walgreens (runs off cig socket) fits in the spare tires wheel space (with the spare tire).

The other thing was this loop of string hanging from the spare tire cover... didn't really look before, so I never noticed it. I also realized its just the right length to loop around the middle seat's headrest (with the seat up), holding the cover open.

 

I had no problems with jack rattling, that thing already caught my eye when I inspected the FIT before bringing it home, fixed it before it could even rattle

Mine is definitely between the hatch and the panel. In some occasions, the rear wiper can rattle too. Also, note that I'm on lowering springs, inflated at 36psi and has no rear seats and rear seat belts which contributes to more jarring vibration to the FIT's body.

 

It shows this in the manual. Under procedures to change the tire. I was wondering why one of the steps was raise the middle headrest of the backseat, but then they showed using the loop to hold open the cover.

 

Well, changing the tire isn't something I'd look up in the manual.
But I did realize it was by design, since it doesn't make sense to put such a loop otherwise.

I wonder how costly it would be to get the euro cover, the one that can be pulled up into a shelf of sorts... I guessing, that would actually make the whole floor flat. I mean, as it is, you can see there's the cargo floor, but near the sides, the floor rises up a bit. That annoys me, plus, I'm hoping the euro cover is stronger too. Sometimes, I open my hatch and sit there, but the current cover is too thin for my weight.

 

Because I wanted a picture of the jack to post here, just remembered reading it and wondering why you would need to raise the center headrest to change a tire...

 

I was hearing another more subtle rattle. It is coming from the passengers headrest. When I held the headrest, or if there is a passenger there, no rattle. But without someone there, it makes a dull rattle. I fixed it by putting the headrest down, but once my son or daughter sit there, they will want the headrest at the back of their head and raise it.

 

Just wondering if you ended up finding the source of your rattle? My Fit/Jazz also has a similar metal on metal rattle and it is driving me nuts.

 

I've done just about everything I can think of and there is still a slight rattle. In my old car, a Volvo wagon, the rattle was actually the latch and striker plate of the hatch door itself. Liberally coated with waterproof grease, the rattle would go away for awhile.
In the Fit I got the same result. Slap the grease on, it goes away (just a little, though)...
I must say that in extreme cold weather (which we've had more of than my first winter with the car), many things in the Fit make noise. There are minor rattling and buzzing noises from the dash, door seals, and driver and passenger windows.

 

Install a header, 2 1/2" cat delete pipe, B pipe and 2540i Aero Turbine muffler and your rattles will not be heard... Between the speeds of 60 MPH and 80 MPH in 5th gear will the whole interior will buzz like hell and hours later your ears will still be ringing but no rattles .

 

Rough pavement, going up drive ways where the body will flex. There is a CRAZY rattle in the rear. Almost as if someone is "knocking" on the car. Been to the dealer twice. They can't find it. I need to go in a third time and go on a test drive with a tech.

I don't know how they are unable to duplicate it. When I came to pick up my car I heard it in their parking lot. Very frustrating.

 

With another person in the car, you may not have the rattle... the weight difference may keep the metal from flexing... if due to sheet metal. You might want to test this out with one passenger, then two, then three to see if the rattle changes, before doing a test drive with a tech.... you may not get the rattle then.

 

^ with two people in it. It's even more noticeable. It has been doing this ever since I bought it.

Might try another dealer.

 

I had a rattle on the way home from the dealer, it ended up being the cheesy License Plate frame that they put on, Took it off the next day and the rattle went away.

 

I've been trying to find the source of this rattle for at least 6 months. After a road trip in July that included Pennsylvania roads, it was worse, and nearly constant. I had already eliminated the license plate as a source, although I found that when I pressed the sheet metal in the vicinity of the license plate (whether it was attached or not), I heard a sound that seemed similar to the rattle.

Yesterday, I couldn't stand it any longer, and I pried off the inner liner of the hatch (gashing a knuckle in the process — be careful; gloves wouldn't be a bad idea). Then I tried adjusting various things, as well stuffing foam sheets into various crevices, without any success. Finally on my nth test drive, it started rattling before I even left the driveway. Leaving the engine running, I flipped the rear seat down, and listened until I located the source of the rattle in the trunk latch. Putting a wadded up piece of foam rubber between the latch and the metal of the hatch stopped it completely.

Since I already had the plastic liner off, and I already had the finger gash, I decided to deaden the hatch. I couldn't find any local sources of Dynamat, and I didn't feel like waiting for mail order, so remembering a tip from this forum, I went to a Lowe's hardware store, and picked up a 4" x 33' role of Tite-Seal™ Self-Adhesive Waterproof Flashing plus a 2" x 16" x 48" fiberglass batt for under $14. I used fiberglass, rather than polyfill, because it's non-flammable. The 4" flashing tape is a nice size to work with, as it makes it fairly easy to slip pieces in the various nooks and crannies of the hatch. After lining all the sheet metal with flashing tape, I cut the fiberglass batt in half, and stuffed the fairly large cavity at each lower corner of the hatch. Then, I put more flashing tape over the openings.

All this took about an hour, and when I was finished, the hatch liner snapped right back in place. The end result met (and possibly exceeded) my expectations, as the car is noticeably quieter. Of course, that just means that noises from other parts of the car are more noticeable.... I'm not sure if I feel like pulling the door liners, although I am certain that I don't want to tackle that job until the weather is cooler.

All in all, I feel I got way more than $14 worth of value from one hour of work. No special tools required; just a pair of scissors, and some solvent, as the butyl rubber is coated with a tenacious adhesive that eventually gums up the scissors. Less got on my hands than expected, so clean up was minimal.

 

I have got some stuff that is similar to that stuff that I have used to insulate the intake and charge pipe of my supercharger, under my JDM console, glove box and under the dash.. The exhaust on my car is drowning out rattles I guess and I have to turn off my hearing aids because wind and road noise is amplified more than anything else so in a way I guess I'm lucky I can do that.

 

I did and.... Drum roll.... It was the stupid liscense plate frame.... DUH! I ripped that sucker off and poof no more noise!