rattle in right side rear cargo area

[D-Flo]

Hi guys,

I'm experiencing an intermittent rattle sound at the rear of my liftback (right side) and I'm looking for some advice on how to diagnose/resolve. P.S. It's not the muffler or exhaust suspension bits (my dealership fixed a separate rattle caused by a broken muffler attachment thingy).

I'll give a short review of what I've tried below w/o success. (Plus, I'm new to forums in general so I'd appreciate a link to a good site that summarizes the basic guidelines/standards I should follow when using fora.)

What I've tried:
1. Removing all items from rear cargo area. No luck. :confused:
2. I noticed a plastic bolt cover flush with the stock spoiler that didn't fit perfectly and wiggled a bit when I touched it. I removed it, but the rattle did not go away. :iono:
3. Under the rear cargo floor I noticed some plastic molding on the right side slightly raised off the metal base. I wedged small bits of foam between the molding and the base. No luck. :mad:

Thanks guys!
P.P.S. My avatar is not my car! I just thought it looks cool and I would rather own it than my pearl black top trim Yaris SE.

[NEexpat]

I too get a noise from the right rear in my LB. I wouldn't describe mine as a "rattle" but more akin to a vibration.

On mine it also comes and goes. And I never hear it when my rear seats are down and I have removed the cargo cover. I thought it had to do with where the cargo cover pivots on those pins that it is attached to, but I never tried to run it down.

[D-Flo]

Here are some photos of solutions I'm implementing right now to diagnose the rattle/vibration. If I drive the vehicle now on the highway, I expect to hear no rattle. I will then restore items one by one until the rattle rattle/vibration returns again.
(P.S. I'm a forum noob. Should I have created this post as a new post, or as an add-on to my initial post via the editing feature?)

1. Remove plastic covers from strut bolt-down recesses:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-KHi0bDP-FKg/Uo6P6m8IHNI/AAAAAAAAAwc/LARquGiwK3A/s640/strut%2520cover.jpg

2. Remove cargo floor panel (w/ holding strap on underside - it has plastic bits that could rattle under vibration):

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cZ2HyU4rAuE/Uo6P5tPSKNI/AAAAAAAAAwY/K7X0_tMMJOU/s640/cargo%2520floor%2520thingy.jpg

3. Remove tool from tool holder and insert small foam pieces between holder and metal base where rattles might occur, and remove stock tool kit bag:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3od29_LnHVI/Uo6P-YRMcDI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/YxVHQgsLPQA/s512/tool%2520holder%2520with%2520tool.jpg

4. Remove spare tire so that spare tire bay is completely empty:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--LY2VBPE5_M/Uo6P0H0pSGI/AAAAAAAAAxE/tJDBvVnJ8x0/s640/Rear%2520cargo%2520area%2520completely%2520strippe d.jpg

5. Deploy middle seat belt hanging from ceiling and insert foam bits so that it cannot rattle:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-61_KDMo1--0/Uo6Pv7QhVzI/AAAAAAAAAwE/4w512tK0Mr4/s640/Middle%2520seat%2520belt.jpg

I'll report back with results of drive tests.

[CTScott]

Have someone ride in the back seat to try to pinpoint where the rattle is coming from (C pillar, head liner, seat belt, rear side trim, etc.) Once you figure out where it is coming from you can get into that area to see what it rattling.

[Yaris Blue]

I had a rattle type noise that I thought was coming from the trunk but I couldn't find anything. After about two weeks of looking in and under the car I finally found the cause.

It was a black walnut caught back behind the rear coil spring. Being black made it hard to see.

[D-Flo]

Yaris Blue ... that's hilarious about the walnut! Did you eat it to get your revenge??! It would be just my luck for me to do all this work and later discover a hello kitty keychain caught on something underneath the vehicle!

[CrankyOldMan]

I've had a similar noise in the same spot of my '09 hatch. My first thought was the cargo bins under the trunk (you don't have them, apparently) not being fastened, but that's not the case. The tires seem solid when I shake them, and the muffler seems to be solid as well. I'm thinking it may be one of the bushings where the rear beam attaches to the body, but it could also just be a random piece of stuff bouncing around under the back seats...

[D-Flo]

CrankyOldMan ... I hear you about the bushings. When I had a Ford Focus I correctly diagnosed a rattle near the rear of the vehicle ... one of the rubber bushings cradling the muffler had detached giving the muffler enough vertical movement to dink into the frame whenever I drove over any rough or uneven terrain.
However, I'm still puzzling out this Yaris rattle. One step I haven't taken yet is to visually inspect the undercarriage of the vehicle near the rear. Maybe I'll find a walnut near my coil spring!

[D-Flo]

Have someone ride in the back seat to try to pinpoint where the rattle is coming from (C pillar, head liner, seat belt, rear side trim, etc.) Once you figure out where it is coming from you can get into that area to see what it rattling.

CTScott ... good suggestion (and one I deployed a few weeks ago with no luck ... my passenger was not able to make the radius of the circle of suspected sound any shorter than mine from my front seat perch).

[birdman]

Those rattles are there for safety purposes. They annoy you just enough to keep you from falling asleep if you're driving tired.

[D-Flo]

Nice birdman! I think you nailed it. The old NHTSA rattle. Calms me down a notch. All warm and fuzzy thinking of how much attention went into that rattle, just so me and mine can be safe and sound.

REPORT of drive test on highway at 65mph after everything was removed from rear cargo area and all wiggly bits secured with foam padding.. ....
Still makes an irritating rattle sound. So I think it has to be either something caught under the vehicle on the right rear side, or perhaps something like the right rear taillight assembly jiggling around.

BTW - I even removed my rear license plate frame to eliminate any chance of a rattle coming from that area of the car. The license plate is screwed down tight with stock rubber stick-on spacer strips keeping the bottom corners from touching the body.

[Sedan]

Mine had a noise from the rear of the car some time back. It happened to be the welding joint at the rear wheel arch. Got it fixed at the local agent and the matter sorted.

This fault is quite common over here. But it is not a continuous rattle. You'll hear it when driving over pot holes or uneven roads.

[Frank Necrosis]

Had the same noise with my 2012 L. Went all over the inside of the car. Wedged and padded just about everything with no luck. The noise appeared at highway speeds or if I was driving into a heavy head wind. The noise was related to air speed. Same noise appeared at the same speeds despite road surface conditions or what was inside the car. The noise seemed to come from inside the car.

The source noise was the gap between the rear bumper facia and rear quarter panel over the right rear tire. The gap was too small. When the wind would grab the rear facia, it would rattle against the steel quarter panel. The solution was to put a small pad in between the steel and plastic. Noise gone.

[CrankyOldMan]

Looks like my issue may be the right rear shock: I put it up on the lift today and saw that it was covered with black greasy/dirty residue. The left rear was wet, but that was from the carwash. I'm assuming that means the shock is blown and needs to be replaced, no?

[Ryze268]

OMG!! I thought I was the only person with this issue, seems to be a common problem. I have a 2000 JDM Vitz 3 dr (Echo in the US) and somewhere in the back rattles when I go over bumps.

I took out everything out the back, secured whatever loose bits, added padding, etc. and it still rattles!!

Mine rattles on the rear left side.

[daddz07]

so what happen now guys??

[DJYojimbo]

did you get this fixed? I have this issue on my car too

[daddz07]

Actually mine disappeared because of the loud exhaust no ice I can't hear any rattle no more....hahaah

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