Rear Deck "popping/clicking/tapping/ticking" noise.

[inimitable]

Originally Posted by Subie

I'm hearing what sounds like plastic bottles rubbing together from the back of the car (what a case of water bottles sounds like when it flexes); does that sounds like this noise?

This is more along the lines of what I'm experiencing too. It's a sort of fluttering sound, and I'd say that it definitely seems to be wind/air-flow related. I haven't detected it at low speeds, though I typically have the radio on. Regardless, I've noticed it several times now on the highway, in particular.

Also, I don't think I experienced it for maybe the first 3,000 miles, give or take. I'm at 6,000 miles now, and it seems to be going on pretty regularly, though I don't always notice it with music and other highway sounds going on most of the time. With the music low, however, it is probably constantly ongoing, at least, as I surmise, on the highway; as I mentioned, I believe it is related to air-flow.

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[inimitable]

Originally Posted by neutron256

So the fix is rear seats up and radio on. Done that's pretty much all the time

Hahaha.

Yeah, so far, this seems to be the case: V.1.0.0... Hopefully, an update is coming soon!

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[cobrabyte]

Originally Posted by Dooq

My BRZ recently developed this tapping/popping noise issue. Seeing that the member Coultergeist got his vehicle successfully fixed and provided some reference information, I took my car in and mentioned how his dealer approached the issue. As far as my dealership research went, they did not find any TSB or previous corporate communication on this issue for the BRZ. Perhaps there was on the Toyota side, but the information was not apparent to the Subaru network. Initially the technician couldn't replicate the noise, as it is fairly intermittent. So I rode with him for about 15 minutes to point it out. Folding the seats down helped identify the noise, and it eventually reappeared and he heard it clearly.

He took the all encompassing approach, by feeling and observing which panels/welds at the rear deck and at seat back seemed weak. Then he went ahead and center-punched them, similar to what Coultergeist's technician described in his fix and may be more. You can see the pix attached, where there are punch marks above the seat line and underneath the rear deck. He also insulated some hollow areas beneath the deck by inserting dense foam pieces. Happy to report, the noise is gone. I've driven about 30 miles since the fix, over rough roads and everything, no noise. It is also worth mentioning that the technician did not have to disassemble anything, for those who might be concerned with introducing more potential rattles.

Thanks for posting the pic. A week ago, I used a punch and a rubber hammer to attempt to fix this issue. After seeing your pic, it was apparent that I needed to use a sledgehammer and elbow grease. I hit every one of those spot welds with the punch+sledge and... bam, fixed. My sanity thanks you.

I went over the scratches left by the punch with some touch-up paint and, voila... like it never happened.

[xcelir8brz]

Today I center-punched every damn circular weld/mark-hole similar to the picture provided. I even did it vertically a little bit and the rear of the deck to where the trunk opens up.

Tomorrow I'll drive the car and see if it fixed it. I hope it did as I'm quite confident.

What a pain in the ass, but I hope it helps. I'll report back to you all. If this was it, it was an easy fix and needs to be publicized more!

[Ben_G]

So I'm glad that a fix has been found, but isn't it sort of counter intuitive? Other is a spot weld that isn't holding the metal pieces together rigidly enough so that when the car flexes, the noise is heard. By breaking the welds, you introduce a gap so that the two pieces of metal no longer rub and make noise....no noise, but flex where there wasn't supposed to be any.... or am I misunderstanding what center punching welds means?

[xcelir8brz]

Punching the tabs does not break the welds, rather puts metal on metal and binds them together better.

Take two pieces of paper or cardboard. Put them on top of each other. Put this on top of a hard surface. Take a pencil and position it vertically like you are going to draw on one of the surfaces. Now hit it hard. Observe the pieces of cardboard and the little dimple/indentations that are made. It should stick together. Like stacking cups.

[Ben_G]

Originally Posted by xcelir8brz

Punching the tabs does not break the welds, rather puts metal on metal and binds them together better.

Take two pieces of paper or cardboard. Put them on top of each other. Put this on top of a hard surface. Take a pencil and position it vertically like you are going to draw on one of the surfaces. Now hit it hard. Observe the pieces of cardboard and the little dimple/indentations that are made. It should stick together. Like stacking cups.

Hmmm... ok.... thanks for the image.... i figured that the force of the punch would break the welds and let the two pieces pull apart.

[cobrabyte]

Originally Posted by Ben_G

Hmmm... ok.... thanks for the image.... i figured that the force of the punch would break the welds and let the two pieces pull apart.

I can't speak for others but the welds on my car did not come undone. You're basically firming up the connection between the two pieces of metal.

[Dooq]

Originally Posted by xcelir8brz

Thanks! Any picture of where the guy stuffed the foam at? Also, besides the picture you provided by the seat line, any other places he center punched it? Or did he just center tap all welds he could find?

Hi, sorry for the late reply. Yes, he just center punched all the welds around the seat back and right beneath the rear deck. I tried to zoom the pix out a bit, but at a relatively short distance the punch is barely visible. The foam is stuffed right beneath the 3rd brake light; see attached pix. I firmly believe the root cause are the welds, not some loose component underneath the 3rd light. Like someone mentioned, the noise sounds exactly like a plastic bottle popping back into shape after you've pressed it in. Two days in, and the noise has not returned.

[travace]

ok day 4 update.

or should i call it nightmare day. I got the call to pick up my FRS. happy happy joy joy right. i get my car and they say they have everything fixed but the ecu is on back order. i say np and grab the car as im in a hurry to go get my kid from school. on the way(and since) all rattles under the throttle are gone and not 1 tap in the back... so yay and you might be asking why the nightmare.... well this comes when i get home and notice chips in the paint on the driver side door. WTF so i start looking around... passenger side has a full on scratch and the passenger rear fender has a scratch. let bad times begin so i get to the dealer and im cool... not too stressed about it but i tell the service guy i have a problem... they scratched my paint... he looks at it and tells me "gimme the keys they will buff it out, you hang out inside its got AC" np i hand keys over and go inside with my 2 kids. over a hour goes by and i hear nothing back. so i ask teh very nice lady at the desk if they can check on my frs. she calls back to the service guy and asks. then tells me he will be in to talk to me in a moment. 15 mins go by and nothing. they tried to tell me that he was on a diff lot coming back now and i could see him outside so i called em out on it. finally he comes in after about a hour and twenty minutes. First thing he does is try to pull the ol "well you are not the only one in this world, other people are having things worked on" i explain my car has been here for 3 days and i get it back in this condition and that i cant believe they treated my car this way. He then starts raising his voice so that its almost a loud shouting match right in the lobby and says "well there were a few and i know we didnt do them all" i about lost it.. i was so irate i was shaking. i told him that i cant believe the way he is talking to me the customer. it was so ridiculous. i was embarrassed as a scion/toyota owner and just as a human in general. finally he says he should be done in 20 mins you want me to tell him to stop now? i said of course not ... get the job done but you cant just act like its a quick buff job and set me in a room for 2 hours with no update whatsoever... i have things i have to do. So 20 mins goes bye and he says that its deeper then just a buff and it will take a few hours for him to do it correctly. They offered me a loaner car and i politely declined stating i will not leave my car there overnight with how they treat vehicles. So now i have to go back tomorrow and get the paint fixed.
:end rant:

now on to the subject at hand... here is what they said was the fix for me.....



first off is it just me or did they mix up the cause for E and F ?

and a fit kit for rear suspension? i asked him and he said it came straight from Toyota. I dont know whats going on with this dealer BUT... as of now i get no rattle under shifter at 4000 rpm and up and i have not heard that pop tap noise in the back. i haven't got to drive a lot so i will post if it comes back.

[Sigh-on-Rice]

Originally Posted by Ben_G

Hmmm... ok.... thanks for the image.... i figured that the force of the punch would break the welds and let the two pieces pull apart.

FYI, the last pic in THIS POST should give you an idea of how the broken spot welds look like.

[Dooq]

Originally Posted by cobrabyte

Thanks for posting the pic. A week ago, I used a punch and a rubber hammer to attempt to fix this issue. After seeing your pic, it was apparent that I needed to use a sledgehammer and elbow grease. I hit every one of those spot welds with the punch+sledge and... bam, fixed. My sanity thanks you.

I went over the scratches left by the punch with some touch-up paint and, voila... like it never happened.

Nice work, glad it worked out well! :happy0180: And good call on the touch-up paint, I'll have to apply some, too.

[xcelir8brz]

Tap tap tap with hammer on every weld didn't work. Will need to do sledge. Ugh.

[Draco-REX]

Did the dealership use a punch with a flat end or a pointed end?