bought the car about 2 months ago - was silent in the cabin for the most part.
i never had any recurring rattles or noises.



about a week ago i was giving my stupid neighbor a ride to drop off something and he got out of my passenger side and SLAMMED the ****ing door.

well two days later i noticed that whenever i hit a small bump or hole somethign would rattle from my passenger door area. its a light sounding rattle - like when you bounce the tip of a pen on a countertop.

since then ive been trying to locate the source of the noise by holding certain interior pieces while hitting bumps - so far nothing. it sounds like the noise is originating from the doorjamb area, near the B pillar. it almost sounds like the seatbelt, but i was holding that all day today while i drove and the noise was still there.

anyway i know this is pretty impossible to guess at since you arent seeing/riding in the car, but i was hoping maybe someone had a similar problem and solution.

 

Right there with you buddy. It's in the B pillar, in the seat belt harness somewhere. I've got the same thing going on, but mines a lot louder than what you're describing. Driving me absolutely nuts. Pulling, jerking or adjusting the height of the seat belt won't help. Looks like we'll have to get in there and figured it out.

If there is anybody else out there that can shed some light on the correct fix for it, let us know. (i.e taking apart trim, seat belt harness etc.)


Curious, is yours a 99?

 

Ah, see that you have a 97, scratch that last bit.

 

no chance you actually went out there and looked in the door or anything to find the problem before asking us to tell you what's broken? Stickies has a whole thing about technical bulletins. One of them talks about cabin rattles. Look through that as well. Also just hitting things, pulling at things and jerking things around won't fix anything.

p.s. lets go whalers

:Edit: thought i'd be nice...http://www.jatan.net/tsbs/056820.pdf

 

You know it! Too bad they left eh.

Anyway...

I've perused the stickies before and unfortunately there's no mention of our specific rattle or contact squeak. Perhaps after the holidays I'll have a peek in the B pillar and see what's going on in there. I'll report back with anything I find. And if anybody knows how to go about getting into that B pillar, let me know so I don't go bustin' shyt. Thanks.

 

I may be getting ahead of myself but if you can pop the panel off and put some (layers possibly) double sided tape of the inside it should tighten up the fitment.

 

which panel? the pillar/seatbelt panel or the door?

how easy are they to pop off?

 

I was more so referring to VTonmymind, and the two panels that are in the seatbelt area on the inside of the b-pillar. I can post something from the FSM if you don't have it.

I would try to make SURE that is the area where the sound originates, taking plastic interior parts off is always a gamble with rattles, don't want to start more looking for one.

 

Have you tried pulling the seatbelt so it locks, and driving with it locked?

The seatbelt assembly has a metal weight that hangs from a plate, and when the weight swings forward and you pull on the seatbelt, the plate slides into the path of the two gears (one on each side of the seatbelt roll). they're like the locking gears on a come along.

if that was bouncing around somewhere it could make those noises, and it is relatively small (the plate is about 2 inches and the weight is the diameter of a nickle and about half an inch in height).

 

good call. ill try today and report back.

 

Any progress on this rattle? I have the very same noise in my 04 and it just started about a week ago. Thanks for any info.

 

if those little rattles annoy u guys...try riding in my 4th gen......

 

i attemped to remove the window switch, cuz it was loose enough to move around with my hand. i pulled it out about an inch and couldnt get it the rest of the way. it seemed like it was going to break if i pulled anymore so i just superglued it down.

anyway i did discover this: when i press on the passenger side door while driving, it dampens the noise, meaning the noise is soemwhere between the panels. ive never taken that door panel off and i dont wanna have the same thing happened that happened with the window switch.

 

FYI, the door panel takes all of 2 minutes to remove. It is probably one of the foam pads that came unglued and is bouncing around.

If you want to take off the front door panel, just pop the cap off of the door cup, unscrew the philips head screw and pull out the door cup, unscrew the two philips head screws on the bottom of the door panel, pop out the window switch and disconnect the wiring harness, then pop off the door handle backing, and pull the panel off (it is also held in by plastic clips. If its your first time, it might take you a little longer, but it shouldnt take more than 10 minutes if its your very first time.

 

must suck to drive with one hand on the wheel, and the other on the passenger door, trying to push the plastic back into its forbidden place to get rid of the rattle to only have it continue

dude welcome to the maxima, this is what these cars do...rattle

 

my trunk rattles like sin.....damn ported 13w7....

 

I found that the phantom ratle in my car was the seat belt buckle! After fastening the belt (as a passenger would do), the rattle stopped.