Evening all, well ive now got my 06 plate ST, picked it up this morning and its really nice - im well pleased. Except the tyres are rock hard, the car feels like it shifts slightly when going over a bump and turning at the same time!

Maybe its because its my first hatchback car and im used to having a seperate boot - but im getting lots of what i can only describe as rattling / banging coming from the rear of the car when i drive over a rough road surface.

Is it normal to get some noise?

Ive checked the spare wheel area and fastened it down securely, ive checked the ( fairly cheapish ) parcel shelf and it seems fairly secure also - but it definately sounds like its either the parcel shelf moving slightly and hence making a banging noise or something in the boot - any ideas?

Probably the way forward is to remove the parcel shelf from the car before i next take it out and see if the noise still happens - but i was just wondering if it was a common thing!

The shelf seems to have all the rubbers it needs not to make noise but it might not be enough.

Any help appreciated

Thanks

Adam

Yeah, mine makes a good racket when going over the bumps.

VERY IMPORTANT to get the correct tyre pressures, will have over and under inflated the tyres cos they just don't care. Mine were fit to burst when I picked my up. The ride is much better now I've got them all correct.

P.S. I'm planning a mod for the parcel shelf. Watch this space......!

Most of the noise i get is the passenger seat belt buckle banging off the plastic interior side panel.

a lot of people have issues with the ... I think handbrake cable, sounds like it's coming from the rear. Take out the parcel shelf and check if it is that, if not, it could be the cable.

shouldn't be any noise from the rear or anywhere for that matter. Take everything out inc spare wheel and go for another drive. Difficult to advise, but check rear exhaust is safely suspended by its rubber bung, lift up rear seatbench check nothing under there.
The car does track on poor road surface, wouldn't surprise me if the garage has stuck way too much psi in. Fronts 32, rears 29. Suggest if the tyres are standard PZero, you have no more than 30 in fronts in this cold weather.

Afternoon, just a bit of an update really on what ive tried.

Ive removed the parcel shelf, spare tyre, jack and all the tyre surrounds and im still getting the noise.

Ive then tried both seat catches to make sure theyre not rattling, ive had my dad in the back seat trying to hold onto trim panels and he cant feel anything vibrating at all. Theres also nothing under the seat itself, ive checked.

The only time the noise has been reduced was when we used a bit of foam between the boot and the rear of the car - ive also noticed that the nub that the boot release attaches to has had black tape stuck round it - so ive also put loads of extra tape on this to pad it out.

Does it sound like its the tailgate thats not attached correctly? or could there be something loose in the tailgate itself?

Any ideas on what to try next? to be honest the bit of foam has reduced the noise so i might just get some decent rubber tubing and attach a piece to the tailgate and leave it as it is!

Its just a bit of a downer when its the newest car ive had and it makes more noise than my 10 year old impreza!

Adam

push the tailgate in and out while locked, is there any play, bounce the car up and down at the rear on its suspension, check wheel bearings, rock the wheels, jack car up and rock them...........

another possibility, hinched from the t'other forum:-


"It'll be the exhaust heat sheilding rubbing on the steel exhaust hangers. If you take a look under the car you'll probably find the heat sheilding is either touching or very very close to one of the hangers (most likely the centre hanger) You'll just need to bend the heat sheilding out the way to give enough clearance between the parts. "

There doesnt seem any play in the tailgate, and im not sure its wheel bearings but its worth a look sometime.

Exhaust heat shielding rubbing on steel exhaust hangers - which part of the car do i need to check for this? is it something that you can see without jacking the car up? The exhaust backbox is properly seated in the rubber hanger and doesnt seem to make any noise at all when manually shakeing the rear tailpipe.

Handbrake cable - where is this located also? anyone have a picture of what im actually looking for and how i need to fix the problem if it is that? - id be surprised if someone hasnt as this answer seems to crop up a lot so im presuming its a common fault.

Adam

I've had this noise for a while. It sounds like the lining inside the wheel arch knocking but isnt. It may be the casing on the rear damper rattling about, ive noticed mine moves about alot but havent got round to checking.

Does it sound like its coming from the rear passenger side or drivers side?

i had this, even made missus drive it whilst i got in boot! anyway mine was handbrake cable. went to fords and i said it's not parcel shelf etc. and i'd read could be cable. otherwise they can fob you off

I have a squeaky noise in the rear doesnt exist when i have people sat behind the driver...seems to have subsided for now...until i least expect it anyway

Thanks guys, ill check the handbrake cable situation at the weekend - it sounds like a common thing for it to be the handbrake cable thats the cause so fingers crossed its that.

Do i need to fully jack up the car to get access to the handbrake cable or could i just squeeze under without?

Anyone got any pics of how to fix it from moving about? cable ties, foam was suggested etc.

Also another silly question - is the banging section of the cable more towards the front or nearer to the back? Any pics of its location for reference so i know what to look for on saturday?

Thanks all

Adam

I think it will be at the back in between the tank and the floor

Did some more work on the car today and its a lot better.

Seeing how everyone seems to come up with a different solution ive tried to cover all the bases.

I plugged in all the rear seat belts.

Ive put some tape on both seat back connectors.

Ive checked under the car and pulled / bent any heatshields out of the way.

Also checked the handbrake cable - not sure if im looking at the correct cable cause the one i found was metal - and was securely attached to the car.

Ive fixed my squeeky clutch pedal - wd40!

Ive temporarily packed some foam into the boot ( hard to explain ) to reduce the tailgate's movement.

Ive also taped up the rear boot nub thing that hold the boot closed.

Reduced the pressure's in the tyres ( they were pretty much all at 50 PSI ) and the rides much smoother - also the car doesnt seem to skip around when going over bumps like it used to!

So all in all im much happier with the car now im sure that these things have been checked and fixed.

Adam

50 psi !

I refer you back to what I said before:-
"wouldn't surprise me if the garage has stuck way too much psi in."

That's a mad tyre pressure. Surprised they just didn't go bang! Have you only just checked them?

50

To be honest ive only had the time to check the tyres today - after i get home from work i just cant be arsed messing around with the car after working my ass off all day!

Also i know its not an excuse but i get something called SAD in the winter months - so after i finish work i just want to come home and do nothing.

Its definately a lot better now though - surprised Ford's get away with doing that as it seems quite common from what you chaps have said.

I even noticed on the tyres ( falken z somethings - cant remember ) that the max pressure was 50 psi! so they must have thought - sod it - just fill em up to full.

Adam

I know all about SAD too, I get horrid in the winter too. I can't wait until the summer.

50psi is the most I've ever heard of a garage popping in a car's tyre. I must check mine tomorrow.

Morning all, took the car to Fords yesterday to get them to check a suspected oil leak ( couldnt find one ) and i asked them to sort out this rattling noise - lo and behold they cant hear any noise and couldnt find anything wrong!!

So im back to square one i think - looks like ill be spending another weekend messing around with the car to try to solve this. Although saying that maybe im just getting too over cautious - its a hatchback, its got hard suspension and tyres - its gonna make some noise, it wont be completely quiet. And i cant even hear the noise when i have the radio on.

I think the only other thing left to check is the handbrake cable thingie - i had a quick look last time i was under the car but could only just see the cable from one side of the car - maybe i need to get under from the other side and see whether anythings loose.

Anyone got any pictures of the fix that i need to do on this possibly loose handbrake cable?

Thanks

I apologise if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but have you tried looking behind the glovebox?
I had a metallic tapping noise coming from my glovebox area and I couldn't for the life of me locate it.
It wasn't until I went to check my fuse box and pulled out the glovebox that I found a can of Gillette Men's Anti-Perspirant Deodorant rolling around there!!! (Thanks previous owner).

Matt

The only difference is - your noise was coming from the glovebox area, my noise is actually coming from the rear of the car.

I'll check inside the car again but im not gonna hold my breath.

Thanks