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Rattle/Squeak coming from Hatch on '05 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by animartis, May 26, 2009.

  1. animartis

    animartis Junior Member

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    Hello all,

    I've been putting up with a very annoying rattle/squeak for months now and finally decided to reach out to the community. I have a very bad squeak/rattle that comes from somewhere related to the hatchback of my '05 Prius. Here is what I know.

    1. Happens at all speeds and is caused by road vibration.
    2. Eliminated the possibility of it being caused by the spare tire or surrounding compartment by removing any and all equipment located there.
    3. Removed the plastic cover from the hatchback to try to isolate / pinpoint the sound. No Luck.
    4. Sound goes away when I apply outward pressure to the hatchback. (Wife was driving with me in the back).

    I'd love to hear any and all thoughts. The sound is driving me batty!

    Thanks
     
  2. ceric

    ceric New Member

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    There are lots of wiring inside the hatch.
    If I were you, I would
    - take off all the inside trim pieces of the hatch
    - inspect for potential culprits (anything that could make noises) - use foam tape to insulate them
    - have you wife drive the Prius, and you can locate source as you did before
    You should be able to locate the source.
    Most likely some small pieces went loose inside the hatch making noises.
     
  3. firepa63

    firepa63 Former Prius Owner

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    Have you tried a little lubricant on the rubber gasket around the hatch?
     
  4. animartis

    animartis Junior Member

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    I have not tried any of the above mentioned possible fixes but I will tonight and report back. Thanks for the help!
     
  5. xsmatt81

    xsmatt81 non-AARP Member

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    like to point if you decide to remove the panels in the hatch, be extra careful. The clips break easily, I broke off 2 of them when I Was routing my Sirius Ant.
     
  6. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I'm trying to figure out what is causing my rattling issue. Like everyone else I have removed all of the rear storage materials such that there is nothing but the open spare tire well. The noise seems to come from the hatch but I cannot pinpoint the source nor can I replicate it. it only occurs while driving over bumps inr the road.

    The spoiler is nice and tight and there is no play in the hatch so tightening the latch doesn't appear to be a solution. The plastic hatch cover is off such that I can see all of the exposed wires but I wrapped those long ago to reduce vibration from loud stereo systems.

    Any other ideas?
     
  7. tedroberts

    tedroberts Junior Member

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    My 2005 Prius has the same "hatch rattle". I have found no solution. I'm getting tired of it and
    especially passengers commenting on it. It reflects poorly on the overall high quality of the Prius.
    I am very interested in anyone's solution.
     
  8. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    If I figure it out I'll post the fix so your suffering can end to. :)
     
  9. tedroberts

    tedroberts Junior Member

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    Thanks to the members that took out the spare tire, etc. so I didn't have to go through the effort. I opened the hatch and noticed a cone shaped rubber bumper/mount on the right and left hand side of the hatch that when the hatch is shut mate with a fastener of some type on the tail gate. I put a piece of foam pipe insulation about 1' long by 1' dia. over the cones (longer than the cones) and shut the hatch. I went on a 10 mile errand and did not hear any rattle! Of course when I opened the hatch the temporary pieces of insulation fell off so I now have to figure out a permanent solution. I hope that this is a fix. I will not be driving my car for the next few days so more testing will have to wait.
     
  10. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    ...can you reproduce rattle in the garage by opening hatch and manually shaking it? I see my license plate is loose on the bottom.
     
  11. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Nope. :( Long ago I placed a bead of silicone on the back side of the license plate, let it dry then bolted license it back on without a frame. This cures license plate vibration even with very loud stereo systems.

    I cannot seem to reproduce the sound when not driving. I wrapped the plastic "stoppers", that are located on the bottom sides of the hatch, in felt to eliminate them from my list of rattle sources. I'll find out tomorrow if that helps.

    T, edcould you take a picture of the area you are talking about?
     
  12. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    So wrapping those "bump stops" or whatever they are significantly reduce the hatch rattle. I still have some rattling/squeaking going on but I am happy that most of it is gone.

    Once I find out where the other noises are coming from I'll post the solution.

    For now this is the piece I wrapped in a light carpet. If I had to go buy materials I would use a thin felt material.

    The part I wrapped with carpet is located on the top of the hatch as identified in this picture as "upper side spacer".
    [​IMG]
     
  13. djasonw

    djasonw Active Member

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    I seem to have the same issue on my 2004 Prius. I am fast approaching 170,000 miles so I do expect a few rattles and/or squeaks, however this one in particular is quite annoying. I thought it was the spare not seated properly (nope), cargo shifting (nada), lift struts worn (zip). Anywhooo, I remembered when I owned a 1990 Acura Integra it had a similar sounding rattle. I isolated the cause to the catch mechanism which locks the hatch in place. My theory is that over time some "play" develops which permits the hatch to shimmy and shake when going over rough roads. In order to test my theory I stacked some napkins (all I had at the time) and cut a slit for the metal loop to go through. The thickness of the napkins created a tight seal which eliminated the play, hence the rattle is eliminated. I am going to come up with something better than stacked napkins, but I believe I've isolated the culprit.
     
  14. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Another possible solution might be to lubricate the rubber gasket with a silicone treatment, or to replace it. I am referring to the rubber that lines the opening of the hatch and is visible in the photo provided in post #12.

    After 6-7 years the existing gasket might be flattened down, thus allowing the hatch to rattle around.
     
  15. SnT08Prius

    SnT08Prius Active Member

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    I know this is an old thread but I seem to have nailed it down to the cushion #1 (p/n) 67293-47010) or the stopper (p/n 67281-47010) or the cushion #2 (p/n 90541-09125).

    After pulling everything out of the rear of the car as many have before the squeak was not going away and came and went with the bumps in the road. So I thought if I unlatched the hatch to the first catch and see what happened. The squeak is gone. So we drove for a while in silence until we went over a rail crossing and the hatch closed completely and immediately began its squeak.

    So with an old plastic butter container I cut out some gaskets to fit behind the cushions and stopper. Loosened off the bolts and screws and put 2 behind each of the cushions and stoppers. Now on a trip to Las Vegas on the weekend there was not a squeak to be herd.

    So will new cushions and stoppers fix it at a cost of about $80 or new weather strip to the trick? Or do I just leave it as it is?
     

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  16. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    Problem is likely caused by both the cushions and weather strip getting less springy.

    If you decide to replace the weather strip you may still want to keep those “butter container shims” under the cushions. Unless you just replace the cushions as well.

    Another way to fix this might just to adjust the hatch a bit forward and down. But adjusting any panel is never easy.
     
    #16 valde3, Jan 16, 2017
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2017
    SnT08Prius likes this.
  17. SnT08Prius

    SnT08Prius Active Member

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    Here are photos of the cushion and stopper. I can see the wear marks and wonder if putting some felt on them may stop the squeak or not.
     

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  18. prius_newb66

    prius_newb66 Junior Member

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    IMG_1086.jpeg IMG_1087.jpeg IMG_1088.jpeg IMG_1089.jpeg
    Thank you for this! This damn squeak had me chasing my tail for months. After reading this thread I popped the hatch all the way up and drove down the street at 2am so I wouldn’t attract attention. Noise gone! Hatch!

    Followed your example but found I only needed to make spacers for the bottom cushions / bushings attached to the car, I didn’t put any spacers on the hatch mounted cushions.

    I used pretty thick plastic I cut from a 70s tupperware I had for some reason. It’s bright green. Maybe I’ll paint them black eventually.

    Infernal squeaking now gone as the cushions are compressing against each other TIGHT. As a bonus other small rattles from the back are now gone too.

    Something I noticed now with the hatch closing tightly after spacer installation is that when you press the hatch release button the hatch now springs up at you due to the compression pressure being released. Before it wouldn’t do that at all. I wonder if that’s how the hatch operated when these parts were new.
     
  19. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    67293-47010 is only around $8.00 from a dealer. While the homemade shims are nearly free, odds are the old rubber cushion will continue to crush/age. Might be worth the $16 in this instance.