[Leadfootlen]

Hi,

Ive been reading old posts on various vibrations and rattles. My MCS is going in for its first service on Tuesday and I want to get them to try and source and repair a rattle.knocking from the boot area, and a loud vibration from the drivers door panel.

Has anyone else encountered strange noises from these areas?

Cheers

James

[KenL]

Yes

My boot knocks and will hopefully be fixed next week.

My dealer has tried to fix it before but the knocking from the boot has come back and is really annoying at the moment.
I am to have an updated chrome striker fitted, a part that is going onto new cars now. If you open your tailgate and look at the D shaped catch that goes into the lock if it's chrome you've got the latest version. If it's painted grey then it's the older one. Check out the thread http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...295#post311756

Is the noise from your doors a buzzing sound that will go away if you press on where the little reflector is? Mine had this fixed at the dealer but it's come back again. Some people have had a permanent fix done though, try searchin the forums.

Let us know how you get on.

[dpms2]

If you're dealer doesn't sort out your boot rattle or you want it done RIGHT NOW(!!) then just put a few turns of sellotape around each side of the 'D', I guarantee this will permanently stop the rattles. As for the door, that's a whole different ball game for which i have not yet found an effective fix!! Good luck

[cpb1]

Yep!

I too have a Cooper S that has had rattles from the boot within a month of collection. I had these repaired once and the dealer re-fitted the interior trim on the passenger side, fitted new cover over the first aid kit and replaced the rear door catch. I have recently noticed that the mysterious noises are back.

Also getting rattles from the inside door reflectors, thanks for the advice.

[oldnell]

My Jan-2003-built MINI One has a chrome D-ring on the boot and that rattles. I've put sellotape around it and that stopped the rattling.

I will take it back to the dealer and ask for a proper fix. At least if I take it there with sellotape on, it will prevent them "fixing" it with tape, as I've heard some dealers do.

[Leadfootlen]

Thanks for the advice, I'll try the cellotape if the dealer doesn't sort it out tomorrow. If they can shed any light on the door rattle (which I doubt, not that im pesimestic!) I'll let you know.

Cheers


James

[Minty]

both problems are well documented in this forum. your dealer should know exactly how to rectify the problems by now.

the door rattles can normally be solved by additional rubber O rings and a bit of grease.

[michaelp]

The rattle from the rear is caused by an ill fitting boot hatch lid the catch doesnt hold tight enough somtimes if you slam shut HARD the rattle will go.

[Leadfootlen]

Well it went in, I mentioned the rattles and knocking from the boot. He said he knew the problem from the boot and that they would "adjust" the boot catch!!

I got home opened the boot and suprise suprise, a bit of tape around the lock!

Oh well it did the job.

He was unsure about the door vibration and a vibration coming from the roof which is new. Im away for 2 weeks but wil take it back when I get back.

TTFN

[aaronr]

This is a slightly updated version of something I posted on the "Rear End Knocks" thread several days ago.

I have recently finished the last of several hours of searching for that mysterious "groan" or "knock" that comes from the back when you go over bumps in the road. I have figured out what mine is caused by and it is not easily fixable, but there is something you will find a bit later on that reduces the problem quite a bit, at least in my case. The problem is panel flex "groaning" in the rear hatch door.

Part of the problem may be plastic trim panel noise as mentioned by others in the Rear End Knocks thread. The issue with the rear door latch mentioned in this thread is also relevant but I'm pretty sure that is not the actual cause, it is just a fix (see later on). In my case the groan/knock in the rear happens even after you have removed all of the plastic trim panels on the inside of the hatch door. In fact after you have removed all of those panels the noise gets louder. The big plastic panel in the center that covers the rear window wiper motor has sound insulation on the back of it so when you remove that panel the noise gets louder. This is a hint about what I have done to make my problem less noticable (more later).

With these plastic panels removed I was able to figure out that the noise is due to the combination of steel outside door skin and the frame which is part of the door groaning when the door is flexed while it is closed. With the plastic panels off it is easy to grab the door frame from the inside at the outboard edges just below the window. If you alternately pull on each side of the door you will hear that same annoying noise that you here when you run over a bump in the road. This noise does not come from the latch down at the bottom. It comes from the door itself. You should be able to check this on your MINI without removing the trim panels if you have another person to help you. Fold down the rear seats and sit in the back on top of the folded rear seat facing the rear door which is closed. Have your assistant stand outside the rear door and place the palm of their right hand on the lower right corner of the rear window and the palm of their left hand on the lower left corner of the rear window. Have your assistant alternately push on the door with each hand. You should be able to hear that annoying noise. It may not be very loud with the plastic interior trim panels installed so you may have to get your head closer to the door.

The door actually flexes quite a bit when it is closed partially because there is only a single latch in the center. As I see it either Mini needs to make the door stiffer and/or switch to two latches at the bottom instead of one. They could also try making the sealing gasket bigger which would push harder on the edge of the door when it was closed. Another idea which is noted in this thread is to do something with the latch so that it pulls on the door harder when it is closed. These last ideas may have a problem which is that you would have to close the door harder to latch the door.

I have managed to make a large improvement in the severity of the problem on my MINI. As noted above the noise got quite a bit louder when I removed the large plastic interior trim panel from the rear door which has the sound insulation on the back of it. Fix: put more sound insulation in the door. I used non-backed fiberglass wall insulation which is sold here in the US as acoustic/thermal insulation. You can also use backed insulation, just peel off the paper backing. You want two fiberglass squares about 2 inches thick and about 14 inches on each side. Remove the big rear door plastic trim panel and insert the fiberglass into the two pockets of the rear door, trim the fiberglass square to be slightly larger than the holes in the door. Re-install the trim panel. In my case this cut the noise down by about a factor of 3.

[Chris Williams]

I've had both the rattles you describe. The door rattle involved the dealer taking off the panel and tightening up all of the bolts and screws. I've also been told that if needs be there is scope for putting some type of material behind the panel to stop the plastic from rubbing against each other and causing various rattles.

My major rattles now come from the underneath of the seat squab where the plastic is loose and from the seat belt mechanism.

Regards
Christopher

[aaronr]

That makes sense. In my case however the noise did not have anything to do with the trim panels themselves. I actually took the big inside door panel off more than once and gave the screws a good turn when I put it back on and that didn't seem to help at all.

I do have a new item however. Examining all of the other threads on this subject there were a lot of people talking about the rear door latch and "putting tape on it" or replacing it. I finally figured out the tape buisness, you wrap some tape around the bottom of the U shaped metal catch on the door. I used some clear "package tape" which is thin but also quite durable. Apparently the latch rattles when the door flexes as I described in my previous post and wrapping the tape around the U prevents metal to metal contact when this happens. The problem is that eventually the tape wears through and you have to replace it. In my case this seems to have reduced the noise even furthur. I suspect that the hollow door cavity acts as a big sounding board for this noise and amplifies it. This is why putting the fiberglass inside the door reduces the noise so well and may also be why the noise doesn't sound like it comes from the latch area.

Hope you, or your dealer, figures out how to get rid of your rear seat belt noise. Good luck.

[simcla]

Re: Tailgate rattles.

The Chrome 'D' shaped tailgate striker does fix the annoying rattle. However, you need to ensure that the two 'bump stops' are adjusted correctly.

The 'bump stops' are located either side of the tailgate, and should protrude from the tailgate 35mm. My local dealer advised that the hardness of the rubber used for these 'bump stop' was reduced to improve their damping performance. Thus, helping eliminate this rattle.

My Cooper 'S' has both mods done (and 'bump stops' set to correct height) and completely solved the problem.

[aaronr]

I took a look at my rear hatch "bump stops" as mentioned in the previous post by simcla. Mine were off by A LOT. For those of us in the english measurement world 35mm is about 1 and 3/8 inches. My bump stops were set at 7/8 of an inch so they were screwed in 1/2 inch to far! By the way when I first looked at these stops I scratched my head about how to adjust them. The bottom of the rubber bump stop has a thread molded into it so you just turn it clockwise to screw it in, and counter clockwise to screw it out. I was concerned that screwing mine out by 1/2 inch each was going to make the rear hatch not want to close because the door catch wouldn't engage. This was not a problem though and my hatch still latches fine with the stops adjusted to the correct 1 3/8 inch height. This change made no differance for the noises in my case because I already have fixed them as I discussed previously in this thread. I do recommend that others with the "rear end boot rattles" check these stops on the rear hatch and make sure they are adjusted to the proper height because adjusting those is a lot easier than taking the rear trim panels off.

[theminiv]

i have had alot of vibratos!!!

What i have found is, the seatbelt bits and bobs usually make an annoying knocking, Check it out!

with the door, i have had aftermarket stuff put in, when they did it they broke all of the clips. So, get some clips, then i put a blob of silicone around each one, then fix it back.

This has solved all of by problems!! (except my girlfriend!)

I have given up on the boot, cause of my massive sub i might aswell not have a boot.

[cosworth]

Like Simcla states in his post, the bump stops are very important. After I had the boot latch replaced for the intermittent problem, it started with the boot-lid slapping going over bumps. What I did was loosened the 2 bolts under the plastic caps that hold the boot latch, then adjusted the latch all the way in. Tightened up the bolts, for the latch, then just backed out the bump stops evenly on both sides. Took a little experimentation to get it just right, but now the bootlid closes nice and snug against the weatherstripping, and the noise is completely gone.