Dealer Can't Resolve Backseat Area Rattling

[Karguy]

As sad as it sounds especially for the prices they ask for these cars today squeaks , rattles , gaps on various body parts and not perfect paint are still part of the american car experience unfortunately…

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[Eurasianman]

When I first bought my Mustang, there were some noises within the cabin. I have a squeaky noise coming from the steering column and driver's HUD area. Have not been able to pinpoint it. I also have an odd clicking noise from time to time (inconsistent) that comes from behind the driver seat near the floorboard and the rear driver's quarter panel area.

A month or so ago, Ford had to replace the headliner in my vehicle, so now I also get a weird noise/rattle from time to time from the rear passenger pillar.

Driving it today, I noticed while driving down the parkway, with the music playing and the exhaust on Sport, I hardly notice the rattles/squeaks

It does make me sad considering I had an F-150 for 6.5 years that never made a sound in the cabin, but at the same time, this car is so much fun to drive and look at.

 

[Johnny Rockit]

Have you tried having a passenger in the car and driving around? That would be my first choice.

 

[The Ghost]

Have you tried having a passenger in the car and driving around? That would be my first choice.

Yes but my husband likes to pretend he doesn’t hear anything.

 

[Zig]

Yes but my husband likes to pretend he doesn’t hear anything.

Maybe that’s his way of saying he wants to drive.

 

[Skye]

Some ideas, if you've not already done the following:

- For the back seats, attach the seat belts, as if someone is sitting in the seat

- In the trunk, take out everything that isn't nailed down (panel covering the mini air compressor, the mini air compressor, the small white funnel, etc.)

- In-between the removable panel over the compressor and the backseat might be another panel which is loose on one end. Using blue tape, temporarily tack that down

- While you're there, bang around inside the trunk, to see if that draws any tells

- If possible, jack up (and use a jack stand), one side of the car, crawl underneath the back and check all hangers, harnesses, to see if anything is loose. Bang around, with hand or rubber mallet

If nothing seen, heard, go for a ride. The removal of the items (sound deadening) might help define the problem or problem area better.

Going one step further, the back seat could be removed, with everything inspected. While there, maybe go as far as removing the interior panels in that area.

I read your comment on the dealer needing authorization to keep the seat removal free. I understand this could be $$$, but a speed shop or interior shop (stereos and electronic mods. someone good with interiors) could do this. I'd like to think for less, be quicker and take better car of things along the way.

Given a different team, a cold pair of eyes and specialists with interiors (and everything behind them) , maybe they'd have some luck. You'd be out-of-pocket, but hopefully the others would locate and clear the rattle. Or at least confirm what the rattle isn't.

 

[Dxm]

Try putting the backs of the rear seats down--to get into the trunk from the cabin. Does the noise go away? Maybe the backs are not fully fastened and something is rattling.

Check if something is loose in the spare tire area. There's the jack, spare tire, as well as a funnel. So check if things are loose.

And lastly, you could have gotten a rock through the front tire hole where the wheel well is. Somebody has mentioned this before I believe.

On my old Mustang I had a rattle of the passenger seat. It would always be there, if there were nobody sitting in the passenger seat. I would solve it by moving the seat front/back and reclining the back until the noise was minimized. It was like "Brrrrrrr, brrr!" going over the bumps.

So in short, park the car and try whacking things until you can recreate the noise. Once you do, you can come up with a dampening solution.

 

[JediMindTrix]

Try putting the backs of the rear seats down--to get into the trunk from the cabin. Does the noise go away? Maybe the backs are not fully fastened and something is rattling.

Check if something is loose in the spare tire area. There's the jack, spare tire, as well as a funnel. So check if things are loose.

And lastly, you could have gotten a rock through the front tire hole where the wheel well is. Somebody has mentioned this before I believe.

On my old Mustang I had a rattle of the passenger seat. It would always be there, if there were nobody sitting in the passenger seat. I would solve it by moving the seat front/back and reclining the back until the noise was minimized. It was like "Brrrrrrr, brrr!" going over the bumps.

So in short, park the car and try whacking things until you can recreate the noise. Once you do, you can come up with a dampening solution.

This is what I was thinking Dxm- possibly the rear seat back high latch being contacted when going over bumps. The NVH would be transmitted through the body and out the rear quarter panel.

 

[The Ghost]

This is what I was thinking Dxm- possibly the rear seat back high latch being contacted when going over bumps. The NVH would be transmitted through the body and out the rear quarter panel.

I've tried driving with the seatbelts fastened and also with the seats down, and it doesn't make a difference. I definitely think it's in the back C-panel area somewhere in the trim assembly, but I have no idea where. I think as someone else noted, I need to sit in the back while someone drives and see if I can pinpoint it a bit better. It's too bad the dealer couldn't try that.

 

[myvaporblue5.0pony]

I have the same rattle in the back passenger seat. It happens while daily driving. I just turn up my music. I also tried buckling the back seat belts but it still does it.

 

[Johnny Rockit]

You could also leave a cell phone in the trunk to record audio. Move it around to find the spot making the racket and go from there.

 

[kneeko]

I've posted about interior noises before, but I've mostly ignored them. The big one that bothers me most is in the back seat, most noticeable in Sport or Track Modes, that happens when I go over any kinds of bumps. It seems to be coming from the area where the rear seatbelts extend from back of the car.

The car has been at the dealer going on two weeks, as I took it in initially for the issue of the car not starting that one time. And today, they texted me that they cannot pinpoint the noise but think it could be the seatbelt rattling against the B-pillar. They said I could pick it up today.

So... is that typical for the dealer to just throw up their hands after that long and not try to repair the issue? I know dealers like to do the bare minimum. I can live with the rattle, but it's annoying and shouldn't be an issue to begin with.

i’ve had a similar issue. i’m not entire sure but i started to look around and it seemed to be the speaker or subwoofer i don’t know what it’s called in the back behind the seats. it looked loose and rattled against the metal of the trunk. just an idea you might wanna look at. i’ve had ratting all over the car and it’s very annoying but it seems to come and go.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

i’ve had a similar issue. i’m not entire sure but i started to look around and it seemed to be the speaker or subwoofer i don’t know what it’s called in the back behind the seats. it looked loose and rattled against the metal of the trunk. just an idea you might wanna look at. i’ve had ratting all over the car and it’s very annoying but it seems to come and go.

Hi there! I can look into your mustang's noise concern on my end. To get started, could you please send a private message over with the name/location of your local Ford dealer and your mustang's VIN?

 

[Karguy]

As sad as it sounds especially for the prices they ask for these cars today squeaks , rattles , gaps on various body parts and not perfect paint are still part of the american car experience unfortunately…I think on these cars you need to change your attitude and expectations and buy and enjoy them for what they are...Fun to drive V8s but if you want quality as in tight and even panel gaps , flawless paint and no squeaks/rattles you have to look somewhere else...I remember when I had a Z06 that got totaled in a parking lot and I had a Nissan Sentra sheetbox as a rental waiting for the insurance check no squeaks and rattles like made from a piece of billet steel while the Vette was horrible in that department...My Camaro had a rattle in the headliner that was not depending on road surface but temperature.After the "repair" it still rattled and my windshield was leaking...Learned my lesson to live with things not to make things worse after my gauges fogged up from the moisture...LOL Good look chasing/excorcising the demons ! Quality is Job 1...LOL

 

[jimgt2k24]

Does this help?

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