Boot rattle
- Thread starter jacabus
- Start date
OP
OP
To be honest I'm only saying its the tailgate as theres not much else I can think it being, it can happen alot on a stretch of road one day then not the next, it sounds like a metal on metal rattle/chatter. Its sometimes just one rattle other times a few. I tried spacing the boot catch so it tucks the tailgate in tighter and it still does it. Ive had the carpet out and looked in the gaps between the panels but cant see anything, looked underneath the car as well and cant see anything. This probably makes it harder to pinpoint as I can't see much else it could be lol
Assuming it is the tailgate. It could possibly be a problem with the boot lock no longer closing tightly on the striker, in the form of lateral play due to wear. This would also explain why both adjusting the striker and the rubber stops and spacing the boot catch did not cure it, as whilst that would stop forwards/backwards play it would not eliminate sideways play.
Is it sometimes worse if you've just turned a corner? If it is this would also point to lateral play.
Is it sometimes worse if you've just turned a corner? If it is this would also point to lateral play.
OP
OP
It does sometimes seem worse after corners, also if I go over something like a speed bump with just one wheel. I thought about it maybe being like a twisting but didn't think about it being a worn catch, I'll have to look into that, presumably if I replaced the catch and possibly got/made a strengthening brace to stop so much twisting it'd help?
You don't have to go to either of those expenses jacabus.
Naturally there will be flex when you're turning which may have contributed to the wear and will also cause you to hear the rattle more often if you've gone round a bend. The heavy tailgate is supported by 2 brackets at the top, but at the bottom there is only the lock/striker keeping it in place.
Opening and closing of the tailgate will also have contributed to the wear.
*I haven't seen this mentioned on here, so perhaps people aren't aware of it. The wear and subsequent sideways movement causing a rattle on the K12 tailgate is a known issue by Nissan and they have issued an official 'fix' to dealers for it.
One way to fix the issue would indeed be to replace parts, but Nissan have issued a fix which avoids having to replace parts.
The official fix will only cost you pence and perhaps as little as 5 minutes of your time. Believe it or not all the official fix involves is wrapping electrical tape or such like round the hook part of the striker that the lock closes on to and that is it!
The Fix - All you will need is some electrical tape or similar and some scissors. What you do is wrap the tape tightly round the front facing edge of the hook part of the striker. This has the effect of increasing the circumference of the hook that the lock closes on to and thus eliminating the sideways movement and hence the rattle. This may involve some trial and error - putting some tape on, test driving, then adding some more tape if required or removing some tape if it becomes particularly difficult to open and close the boot.
I can confirm that this fix does indeed work. I was having a complete nightmare trying to fix my boot rattle. The rattle was so annoying and it was so frustrating not being able to cure it. I tried everything you tried and more. I had everything stripped away from the boot on several occasions and at one point had somebody lying head first in the boot with the rear seats flat, as I drove around, so I could definitely be sure I knew where the rattle was coming from. It was indeed the boot lock and no matter what I tried, after many hours of trying and many weeks of trying different things I just couldn't cure it, and I couldn't understand how there was still a rattle, as the tailgate was shut extremely tightly? Then thankfully I found out about this fix and the lateral movement/wear!
I did mine several months ago now and I'm still rattle free. I don't know how long the fix will last for, but for me even if it did mean replacing the tape once or even twice a year then that is worth it over having to go to the expense of replacing parts. Some people may not like the idea of using tape and would rather replace parts, but like I say, it is an official fix from Nissan and mine has stayed rattle free for several months now. I think it was November when I did mine.
The only slight negative of this fix was that the boot stuck a bit when opening it, but perhaps I used more tape than I needed and anyway it is much better now and for me a slightly sticky boot is much, much more preferable than having a near constant, loud rattle.
If this is your issue and if it fixes it, then great. Then if not, all you have wasted is a little bit of time and some tape.
I can upload some pictures if you like, but it really is all very simple.
I hope this helps you
Naturally there will be flex when you're turning which may have contributed to the wear and will also cause you to hear the rattle more often if you've gone round a bend. The heavy tailgate is supported by 2 brackets at the top, but at the bottom there is only the lock/striker keeping it in place.
Opening and closing of the tailgate will also have contributed to the wear.
*I haven't seen this mentioned on here, so perhaps people aren't aware of it. The wear and subsequent sideways movement causing a rattle on the K12 tailgate is a known issue by Nissan and they have issued an official 'fix' to dealers for it.
One way to fix the issue would indeed be to replace parts, but Nissan have issued a fix which avoids having to replace parts.
The official fix will only cost you pence and perhaps as little as 5 minutes of your time. Believe it or not all the official fix involves is wrapping electrical tape or such like round the hook part of the striker that the lock closes on to and that is it!
The Fix - All you will need is some electrical tape or similar and some scissors. What you do is wrap the tape tightly round the front facing edge of the hook part of the striker. This has the effect of increasing the circumference of the hook that the lock closes on to and thus eliminating the sideways movement and hence the rattle. This may involve some trial and error - putting some tape on, test driving, then adding some more tape if required or removing some tape if it becomes particularly difficult to open and close the boot.
I can confirm that this fix does indeed work. I was having a complete nightmare trying to fix my boot rattle. The rattle was so annoying and it was so frustrating not being able to cure it. I tried everything you tried and more. I had everything stripped away from the boot on several occasions and at one point had somebody lying head first in the boot with the rear seats flat, as I drove around, so I could definitely be sure I knew where the rattle was coming from. It was indeed the boot lock and no matter what I tried, after many hours of trying and many weeks of trying different things I just couldn't cure it, and I couldn't understand how there was still a rattle, as the tailgate was shut extremely tightly? Then thankfully I found out about this fix and the lateral movement/wear!
I did mine several months ago now and I'm still rattle free. I don't know how long the fix will last for, but for me even if it did mean replacing the tape once or even twice a year then that is worth it over having to go to the expense of replacing parts. Some people may not like the idea of using tape and would rather replace parts, but like I say, it is an official fix from Nissan and mine has stayed rattle free for several months now. I think it was November when I did mine.
The only slight negative of this fix was that the boot stuck a bit when opening it, but perhaps I used more tape than I needed and anyway it is much better now and for me a slightly sticky boot is much, much more preferable than having a near constant, loud rattle.
If this is your issue and if it fixes it, then great. Then if not, all you have wasted is a little bit of time and some tape.
I can upload some pictures if you like, but it really is all very simple.
I hope this helps you
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Dude........ you just saved me.
I have had the rattle for ages, and have been trying to ignore it, but it is such simple to fix!!!!!!.
I am going to kick myself, I have been devising some extremely elaborate fixes, just never got the courage together to start.
I have had the rattle for ages, and have been trying to ignore it, but it is such simple to fix!!!!!!.
I am going to kick myself, I have been devising some extremely elaborate fixes, just never got the courage together to start.
Hi, I just had to post here to thank norfolkne for this fix. This boot rattle has been driving me nuts for literally years, having taken it to at least three different garages over that period who could not fix it. The last one thought it was the tailgate struts, and replaced them to no effect. It was a fair guess because when you remove them the noise goes away, but this of course is because the downward pressure on the boot closure mechanism is increased when the struts are removed. Such an elegant and simple solution, took me all of 2 minutes and the electrical tape cost me 61p. Thanks you so much for posting this official fix, wish I'd seen it years ago!
Spent most of this morning trying to find and rectify this rattle, tried this fix and job done in 5mins, thankyou
Like so many others i have tried so many things but this one works....... thanks
I had same problem so put a micra fiber over tailgate lock and rattle stopped now looking for a permanent solution.
