Hi everyone,

I've had this rattle/knocking sound coming from the passenger-side rear area for over 2 years now and finally have gotten irritated enough to tackle this project.

Original thoughts were the defrost module mentioned in a TSB. However, once I had all the interior panels removed, it was not the source of the incessant knock/tap noise I was hearing.

I also pressed against every weld area I could find on the rear parcel shelf, but couldn't replicate the oil can click that was mentioned in another thread.

Finally, with my wife's help, I was able to conclude the noise was not coming from the lower part of the c-pillar. In fact, the noise was loudest at the top of the b-pillar. Feeling around the sides of the headliner, I found a fairly rigid cable going from the back of the sunroof track into an opening where the roofline bends down to the c-pillar. (see attached photo)

By stuffing paper towels down the opening changed the way the knock/tapping sounded. The source of the rattle/knock/tap must be that cable hitting the inside of the c-pillar. At one point I got it down to a quiet rattling but my continued efforts to make it a permanent solution made the noise come back.

I'm kind of stuck at this point though. The opening is incredibly inaccessible. My options: 1) Take the headliner off and take a real direct look at what's causing the noise or 2) Shoot insulating foam into the column and hope that the filling stops the cable from moving entirely.

After reading various posts about foam expanding and the rigidity breaking cables, I'm not too enthusiastic about this approach. If the problem doesn't go away, I'm basically stuck at that point.

I'm also hoping to avoid the need to remove the headliner. I've basically removed every other panel from the b-pillar back, but I'm not up to removing that piece.

So the question I've been trying to get to... does anyone know what this cable is? I looked at the FSM but haven't found the right section/page that defines this wiring.

And if anyone else has had this cable causing the noise, how did you solve it?

Thanks!

 

What a coincidence...I have a same light rattle on the rear passenger window,hopefully you find a way to fix it cuz i've had no luck

 

It looks like the drain tube from the sunroof goes down that c-pillar. I can see where it eventually ends up in the lower passenger side trunk area. Still unsure how I'd be able to fix this. I'm seriously thinking about injecting that area with acoustic spray foam. I'm just concerned that if it isn't fix, it would make the problem permanent.

 

At this point I'm pretty confident it is the sunroof drain tube that is causing this rattle against the roof itself. Pressing up on the headliner reproduces this problem.

Shoving paper towels down the c-pillar itself only helps minimally. I stuffed more paper towels in the headliner itself, above and below the drain tube, and the rattling drastically improved. It only occurs now on really bad patches of highway or when hitting potholes at slower speeds. Overall, it feels 85% better than before.

At one point today, I considered removing the headliner. However, I had second thoughts after taking the cardholder piece off. The rivet holding the plastic support which the cardholder clips into came off and I had a heck of a time putting that piece back on.

My main concern at this point is moisture. I'm not totally sure how the sunroof track drains the excess water, so I want to be careful about what I stuff in there. I bought carpet padding for my sound dampening project that I think I'll use in the headliner instead of the paper towels.

 

I have the same problem, I would describe it as a creak. I’ve finally pulled out all my interior including my headliner. You might be right about the drain tube. I’ll post here the results of my project.