Rattling From Rear

car: corolla 2000 (E11 vvti) sedan.

Problem: the car rattles when driver on uneven road. Level road no problem, traphic bumps no problem. Sound comes from the back, I suspect it has something to do with the suspention.

I've removed all the interiour parts in the back - still rattles. I've replaces the sway bar endlinks and rubber bushings. No sollution.

Driving with the trunk lid open - no sollution

removed everything from the boot - no sollution

What can cause this rattle? It's quite loud and verrry irritating!!

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be a blown strut. look for leaks on the chrome strut rod. feel if their is oil on it.mine would vibrate loudly on rough roads and at highway speeds if i hit a rough patch.

 

 

I have some rattle that started at 60000 miles and appears to be rear window seal. Some other people complained about it in the past.

Might be something in the trunk, such as spare tire or jack - check it out.

Other possibilities: A bad strut mount, seat belt out of place, a head rest not completely fastened, back seat slack in the folding seat fasteners, something fell behind the seat between the cushions, something lose behind the brake lights in the panel, something small overlooked in the trunk stores by the spare tire well like a lost lug nut, or slack in the exhaust system. I would say a tool in your spare tire kit could be vibrating against something as happened with me but you did say you took all that out.

I was experiencing the same problem/creaking on my 06. After many failed attempts I think I finally fixed it! The noise was coming from the top corner of the rear window, and was worse on hot days on rough roads. (Pleanty of both in Wisconsin)

Peel back the head liner by removing the two corner plastic fastners.

In the top corner of the rear window there will be a metal tab under a plastic piece that is attached to the window.

SLIGHTLY pry the metal tab downward with a screw driver away from the rear window and plastic peice.

This should provide just enough space between the metal tab and plastic piece which I found was where the noise was coming from.

I also sprayed a little WD-40 in between the tab and plastic just to be sure.

I drove the car before the fix and the noise was horrible. After the same test drive following the fix the noise was gone. finally! I was hesitant to start prying on things by the window but after looking, you are not affecting the seal. I have read that the tabs are just for alignment when installing the rear window. The noise was VERY ANNOYING and I read this is a common problem in the 9th gen.

I will post following a long term test of the fix.

Hope this helps others.

I think I posted a similar problem several months ago. It was quite annoying and was in the middle of winter with freezing temperatures. It turned out to be the rear window and the noise

stopped when I shoved a glove between the rear brake light and rear window. I have the brake light on my rear spoiler as well so it didn't really affect the rear brake lighting. Come to think

of it...the weather got better and the glove of course gone, but I should fix it as it's just going to happen again next winter. Thanks for the reminder.