Rattle - ? Passenger side roof area above seat belt pillar

[paul-thompson]

Hi all

I Have a really annoying metallic rattle that seems to be coming from above the seat belt pillar - poss the roof area. Can’t quite put my finger on exactly where it is. Had the van in with VW and they said they’d fixed it by tightening the seatbelt housing. They hadn’t ! Suspicious it’s got something to do with the roof metals hydraulic arms - but don’t have a clue how to check that and address.

many ideas?

thanks in advance

 

[Hotel California]

Check if all the rubber parts / grommets are in place on the roof mechanism , do a search on the forum , various threads on rattles.

On mine the ratlle was solved like this:

Roofmechanism rubber padding failure

Lately a strong "cloncking" sound was driving me made when riding bumpy road , i was sure it came from the sliding door and started investigate all kinds of things starting checking things on the front B-pilar , sliding door ( table , rails , bumperstops) , wind-out awning on to the C-pilar...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[paul-thompson]

Check if all the rubber parts / grommets are in place on the roof mechanism , do a search on the forum , various threads on rattles.

On mine the ratlle was solved like this:

Roofmechanism rubber padding failure

Lately a strong "cloncking" sound was driving me made when riding bumpy road , i was sure it came from the sliding door and started investigate all kinds of things starting checking things on the front B-pilar , sliding door ( table , rails , bumperstops) , wind-out awning on to the C-pilar...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Thats great thank you so much for the quick response. Driving to Germany currently to hit the slopes - getting really bugged by the rattling noise. My wife thinks im going mad which is making me more frustrated . Will give that a try.

Did u make the new bits fit without having to take the locking pin out of the hinge?

 

[Hotel California]

It's just a piece of rubber hose cut open and slide over the metal part , two min job.
Could be something elso doh , but this is very common and give a rather big clonk noise , mine started while on a trip in Norway ....driving me mad also!

 

[paul-thompson]

It's just a piece of rubber hose cut open and slide over the metal part , two min job.
Could be something elso doh , but this is very common and give a rather big clonk noise , mine started while on a trip in Norway ....driving me mad also!

 

[paradise city]

Do you have an awning and if so, is the rattle on the same side as the awning?

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[andyinluton]

Not just the roof light banging against the end of the bed?

 

[Wondering Star]

Possibly the awning, anti rattle spring available from the club shop.
Had a similar noise on my Beach,. was convinced it was a window rattle, slightly noisier when window is down.
If you tap the awning cover from the outside the rattle will be heard .

 

[Borris]

Your rattle could be caused by:

1. The awning
2. The roof mechanism
3. The door closing catches
4. The sliding door blind

I've been there and I'm afraid to say I never did get to the bottom of it.

 

[Louis II]

If it's defiantly the passenger side then that rules out the awning & sliding door & i found that the one caused by the missing hose pipe on the hinge sounded like was coming from further back.
I suggest checking that part numbers 5 & 13 on the below picture are not missing.



Also the ends of the gas struts that hold up the bed can rattle against the roof frame which can be solved by wrapping them in felt tape.

 

[dave6779]

Hi all

I Have a really annoying metallic rattle that seems to be coming from above the seat belt pillar - poss the roof area. Can’t quite put my finger on exactly where it is. Had the van in with VW and they said they’d fixed it by tightening the seatbelt housing. They hadn’t ! Suspicious it’s got something to do with the roof metals hydraulic arms - but don’t have a clue how to check that and address.

many ideas?

thanks in advance

Mine does something similar I was told it’s the awning ... only seems to happen in the winter. We’ll see.

 

[dave6779]

Your rattle could be caused by:

1. The awning
2. The roof mechanism
3. The door closing catches
4. The sliding door blind

I've been there and I'm afraid to say I never did get to the bottom of it.

Same, I just accepted it, eventually.

 

[Borris]

Same, I just accepted it, eventually.

In our case, the noise was coming from the off side B post somewhere above the upper seat belt point.

I examined the awning and used felt cushion pads on everything and I mean everything. There was no change. I then thought it might be coming from the sliding door catch plate fittings. After three attempts by the dealer to adjust/fix it, including new fittings the result was unchanged. I also looked at the roof mechanism and again fitted cushion pads and the small piece of tubing mentioned by others, all to no avail. It could have been the sliding door window blinds but judging by the sound, I doubt it. Also by that time I had got used to it thinking it must be a design feature. I did think it could be something inside the B post but didn't get around to investigating. It certainly sounded as if it was coming from that area. Removal of the top B post trim to investigate is fairly easy although more tricky to replace as the upper seat belt adjuster needs to be accurately positioned before pushing home.

Our new Beach is deliciously silent (at the moment).

 

[podge]

We had a similar rattle, drove me mad as well.

The plastic trim for the pillars can pull away quite easily to allow you to take a look, but ultimately our rattle was found to be coming from a loose screw connecting the grab handle to the chassis. Found if we pressed up and into the roof trim as we were driving the rattle would stop.

VW had to take roof trim off to fix it under warranty.

We then got a rattle on the awning. Was easier to identify by holding onto awning through drivers window whilst driving, and also could hear that rattle when closing the drivers door when stationary. Was ultimately fixed by VW replacing the rear bracket connecting awning to awning rail on van

Very annoying rattles though, so I sympathise hugely! My wife couldn’t hear the grab handle rattle at all as a passenger, the awning one wasn’t much louder

 

[The big K]

If it's defiantly the passenger side then that rules out the awning & sliding door & i found that the one caused by the missing hose pipe on the hinge sounded like was coming from further back.
I suggest checking that part numbers 5 & 13 on the below picture are not missing.

View attachment 55409

Also the ends of the gas struts that hold up the bed can rattle against the roof frame which can be solved by wrapping them in felt tape.

Where does the replacement rubber hose fix go on the diagram above?

 

[The Fockers]

I also have a rattle but it's intermittent. My girlfriend sat in the back and tried to locate it and said it was coming from in the roof area above the sink. Anyway, I never found anything in that area that was loose and thought it could be the bed slats knocking against something. So I stuffed a towel under those which made no difference.
Someone on another thread suggested that it was the awning and I should wind that out and back in. I did find the front hinge mounting for the awning support bar, onto the car was loose. I tightened the nuts and wound it back in and went for a drive and the rattle had gone. BUT.........
It came back on a subsequent drive!!! Grrr!
Then I started banging things that might rattle and heard the same sort of rattle when I banged the push back shutter (into the pop-up bed area) against the cross bar just above it. I have glued a 4mm strip of foam onto the cross bar in the hope that it's that. Unfortunately, due to other things getting in the way, I haven't gone for a drive to see if it's cured.
Seems to be a common problem.

 

[DavidofHook]

Is your sliding table properly locked in position.? It’s very easy to fix wrongly and it gives a terrible rattle which seems to come from all over the van.

 

[The big K]

Located a pesty rattle above the rear passenger head in the roof. Turned out to be two parts of the internal bodywork running together… a quick silicon spray on the spot made it vanish… relief at last! Will come pack and post a photo of the targeted spot later when my Cali is next popped up

 

[Warp28]

Hi all

I Have a really annoying metallic rattle that seems to be coming from above the seat belt pillar - poss the roof area. Can’t quite put my finger on exactly where it is. Had the van in with VW and they said they’d fixed it by tightening the seatbelt housing. They hadn’t ! Suspicious it’s got something to do with the roof metals hydraulic arms - but don’t have a clue how to check that and address.

many ideas?

thanks in advance

i had a rattle that was hard to locate, turned out to be the captain seat armrest connection

 

[Viktorgeorge]

i had a rattle that was hard to locate, turned out to be the captain seat armrest connection

Ditto, my wife was convinced it was as the OP above the passenger seatbelt retractor, and I was in hot soup initially for arguing different, but it ended up being crockery in the cupboards. In other words sound transmission can be deceptive.

I used a stethoscope (cheap on eBay) to track the problem.