For the last few months I have heard a distinct clicking noise that sounded like it was coming from the rear deck. Finally I was driven to insanity and tried to do something about it, but I have had no luck.

The click occurs when I'm doing anything over 40 or 50 km/h and drive over a very small bump in the road (the repairs that are done on cracks across the road). I took out the entire rear interior including the seats, side panels, trunk panels, rear deck speakers, spare tire etc. The noise is still there. I've had a passenger sitting in the back and they can't exactly locate it, it sounds like it comes from near the outer edge of the rear deck.

I swear the noise is coming from the interior, but I guess it could be something suspension related. Everything on the car is stock (2005 6MT coupe). If anyone could help me out on this it'd be appreciated, I'm going crazy!!

 

Bump...

I've also lifted the car and tugged on any rod near the suspension that i could (end-links and all that), but it all seemed tight. The click comes from mostly the passenger side, but sometimes the drivers as well. Has anybody had something similar? Please help!

 

*found out that this piece I am talking about is called the door weatherstrip seal or something alike*

Not sure if your "click" is the same as mine, mine sounded more like a "sticky" sound that happens when I'm driving over mini bumps. It sounded like something made contact with a 3M double sided tape and then couldn't hold on at all and just let go.

Anyways, found that problem was with the rubber strip along the door area and the middle section pillar. Took me AGES to find out what it is, and then finally I asked my passenger does she hear and she's like it sounds like it's just this rubbery thing. Like you, I thought it was the rear deck or the interior side panel under the rear window, messed with those parts literally twice every week for the past 8 months. It really sounded like it came from the rear right side, but it actually was by the window.
Right away, I remembered I swapped my interior pillars a while back with another owner and it has been like that ever since.

I went home and looked at the rubber strip, and it wasn't aligned. Nor was my driver side aligned, but it was aligned slightly better. Just did some trial and error and the "sticky" sound has never came back, or maybe it just doesn't sound as obvious as before.
**My problem was with the top corner where it reaches the roof at where it BENDS, the rubber strip was clearly loose. I had to pull out the entire rubber trim and slowly stretch it and punch it every few centimeters; if you don't do that, it will go loose again.

Here's a pic to be more concise: *not my pic, found on google*


Disregard if this isn't your problem... just fixed mine today and remembered seeing your thread a few days ago.

 

Thanks for the suggestion! I checked it out and my click is definitely coming from the rear.

I changed the rear shocks but that didn't help at all I'll just keep trying to listen and take things apart I guess.

Sorry for the slow reply... work's been busy.

 

Check the seams of the body frame back behind the seat. I've had two loud annoying tapping sounds being amplified by the sheet metal that were being caused by stamped portions of the metal vibrating against each other with nanometer gaps. I'll link to two of my trouble spots later when I'm at a computer.

 

That sounds exactly like what i've got. I'd love to hear more when you get a chance.

 

So a while back I had a rapid tapping that sounded like it was coming from my parcel shelf, after tearing the entire rear apart more times than i would have liked to, I eventually traced that issue to the circled location where two metal plates overlap and had been stamped together.

To resolve this issue I used what tools I had handy at the time, actually pried the open edge apart slightly, placed some dynamat between the two, and then crimped them shut again.

The problem then resurfaced later in the same location on the opposite side of the pass through, this time I used some Loctite Epoxy, squirted it in the gaps, and it stopped the sound.

More recently (as in today actually) I finally tracked down a very very loud sound (sounded like a piece of tape was being rapidly flicked) that appeared to come from behind the B/C pillar near the top of the quarter window on the driver's side, but once again after tearing everything apart I was able to trace the noise to the region circled here.


The location is question is where the wheel well, body frame, and trunk wall all meet. The gap wasn't as tight as the previous ones, so filling it with epoxy wasn't ideal, this time around I used a narrow flat head and packed the offending area with folded over adhesive felt until it was nice and snug.


I think Nissan skimped on a few welds with our cars...

I hope this helps! My tried and true method for tracking them down, is to at least narrow it down to which side of the car the noise is coming from, remove as many panels as necessary, remove the seat back, reinstall the bottom cushion, and have someone take you on a very uncomfortable ride while you apply pressure to possible vibration points.

 

Thank so much for that!

I've gotten a friend to ride in the back and apply pressure in spots... may have found something. My noises don't seem like they're in the spots you mentioned, but I'll find em. I think they're coming from the area towards the outside of the speakers on the rear deck.

I agree, those spot welds really sound like they've come apart and are clicking when I go over small road imperfections. Then it's amplified by the sheet metal.

Anyways, THANKS!

 

No worries, if you have all the trim apart I'd suggest you run some epoxy in any of the areas that are exhibiting noise already and prevent them from acting up later.

 

I had a NASTY tapping/rattle from the rear deck after I did my stereo install. It turned out to be a washer wedged against the rear window glass.

Now I have a similar one, but I know it's not that. I think it's time for some minimal-expanding foam into every crevice I can find.

 

I'm thinking about using some expanding foam as well. Could fill the gaps better than epoxy, but i've not tried either yet. I'll let you know how it goes if I do.