Backseat Gremlins...

[invadersevlow]

Ok so theres this rattle comming from the pillar somewhere around the rear passenger seatbelt anchor. Its been there since I took delivery and the car has been in 4 times now for it. This last time the service manager told me there was nothing they could do about it, its a known issue and he's got it on a couple other foresters (yes I drive a wrx wagon). Anyone else run into this or hear of it?

[Redline927]

YES.


thats all i have to say, bc i have yet to establish what it is either. good luck finding that annoying ass sound, and get back to me.

[wrxrolla]

Just a guess but is the strut clunking? or the top hat loose, or something of that sort. It is in the same area.

[Jeff B]

If I am not mistaken, I had the same problem with both of my Subarus (WRX wagon and STI). The wagon's rattle was worse, but both were bad enough. Drove me crazy. My local dealership mechanic told me it was a common complaint but they had no fix for it.

Anyway, what I found was that the upper seat belt pieces were the problem. They rattle, and the plastic piece that slides up and down with them does, too.

I fixed them by cutting some horseshoe shaped pieces of 1/4" medium density EVA foam and putting them on the belt loop (or whatever it is called). Then I added foam to the inside slider piece. The combination got rid of all the noise back there.

Then I had the cruise control fixed (there is a subaru bulletin on this) and the wagon is free of rattles. Really! It is now quiet and seems like a well made car!

My STi still has a rattle around the dash that I have yet to figure out, but nothing from the back.

Hope you find this helpful.
Jeff

[invadersevlow]

Hey that sounds promising! I'll have to do it one of these weekends. Thanks for the info!

[Chunks]

My STi still has a rattle around the dash that I have yet to figure out, but nothing from the back.

Jeff

Do you have the autodim/compass mirror?

[Jeff B]

Do you have the autodim/compass mirror?

No autodim/ compass mirror. The rattle is coming from just left of the steering wheel. Sometimes I think it is the top of the dash, other times I think it is the left A pillar. The noise started after I had a cracked windshield replaced. (I watched the guy replace the mirror and saw no mistakes.)

Thanks for asking, though
Jeff

[Janus]

Yeah I had a rattle back there but I don't hear it anymore. Instead I traded it for a dashboard rattle and a sunroof rattle...

[mykedude]

No autodim/ compass mirror. The rattle is coming from just left of the steering wheel. Sometimes I think it is the top of the dash, other times I think it is the left A pillar. The noise started after I had a cracked windshield replaced. (I watched the guy replace the mirror and saw no mistakes.)

Thanks for asking, though
Jeff

Sounds like the good old vin plate/defroster plate rattle you have. Alot of suby's have had this problem as well. Many have fixed it by removing the defroster panel in the front of the dash and soliconing down all those little white clips.

~myke

[Chunks]

No autodim/ compass mirror. The rattle is coming from just left of the steering wheel. Sometimes I think it is the top of the dash, other times I think it is the left A pillar. The noise started after I had a cracked windshield replaced. (I watched the guy replace the mirror and saw no mistakes.)

Thanks for asking, though
Jeff

Ah, I asked because that was the cause of my rattle. Took me 1.5 years to figure it out.

[E-Wrex]

I get a nice rattle/clunking from my BOV vibrating against the hood when Im in low rpms and on start-up, but I did that one myself. I haven't had too many problems with rattles, but i expect I will soon enough, seeing as my car is lowered and stiff as hell. Kinda comes with the territory. Have someone ride in the back and push on different things to see if the rattling stops. Then take it apart and line it with some double sided foam tape. I used to do that for my buddies jetta, worked pretty well.

[Jeff B]

Sounds like the good old vin plate/defroster plate rattle you have. Alot of suby's have had this problem as well. Many have fixed it by removing the defroster panel in the front of the dash and soliconing down all those little white clips.

~myke

Myke,

Thanks for the post, and please excuse the delay in my response. I did check this out and the rattle definitely seems to be coming from the VIN area. Sounds like excellent advice, which I will be checking out soon!

Jeff