Creak noise--RR or Tailgate

[thefranchise713]

When turning, I get some annoying creaks from what sounds like interior trim plastic or glass. Appears to come from either right rear passenger door or tailgate area.

I've torn apart the entire tailgate apart and isolated every possible noisemaker point, still have the issue. Also lubed latches in case doors were rattling on drying latch points.

Drive me crazy, any thoughts? I saw the other creak posts relating to the subframe, but it isn't from the front.

 

[peterk9]

I realize you said it happens when turning but does it make that sound if you are parked and 'bounce' the back end? Sounds can be difficult to isolate at times. Is there a parking lot or something similar in the area where you perhaps can try turning with the liftgate open?

Peter

 

[thefranchise713]

Nope, tried the bounce thing tonight--nothing. Also rocked the vehicle hard side to side. Can't even get close to a noise.

I had a passenger sit RR and she had trouble identifying the location herself...

 

[xlt03]

When turning, I get some annoying creaks from what sounds like interior trim plastic or glass. Appears to come from either right rear passenger door or tailgate area.

I've torn apart the entire tailgate apart and isolated every possible noisemaker point, still have the issue. Also lubed latches in case doors were rattling on drying latch points.

Drive me crazy, any thoughts? I saw the other creak posts relating to the subframe, but it isn't from the front.

You may want to lubricate the wearherstrip on the hatch opening with a light misting of silicone spray. I had "squeak" on my previous 03 explorer and the silicone did the trick. If you have the moonroof double check the torx screws in the side channels of the mounts to the moonroof opening.

 

[thefranchise713]

I've spent stupid amounts of time with silcone spray on the weatherstrips--but I appreciate you mentioning it regardless. Affirms I'm not crazy.

I'll look at the moonroof tomorrow. Any other details on where I should look with that? I do have one.

 

[xlt03]

I've spent stupid amounts of time with silcone spray on the weatherstrips--but I appreciate you mentioning it regardless. Affirms I'm not crazy.

I'll look at the moonroof tomorrow. Any other details on where I should look with that? I do have one.

With the shade opened look at the sides of both side rails of the opening. If i recall there were 4 on each side. Also an after thought...check the 3rd row seats. Drive with them up and check for any noise. Also try with them stowed. I have the Weathertec 3rd row mat and with my seats stowed I can see the mat patterns on the carpeted seat backs. There's no clearance between the two - possible source of squeak?

 

[thefranchise713]

Thanks--I'll take a look in the morning. As far as the seats right now I have them in the folded position, up until tonight I went for the flat floor option. I never use the third row.

 

[Sixonemale]

I had one car that I could not figure out where the creaking noise was coming from and then researched it on a forum and applied glycerin to the weather stripping that finally solved the problem. You can buy glycerin at CVS, etc. If it was rattle vs creak I would have check the third row seats both up and down, but recommend checking them anyway. I would also check if one of the seats either up or down is rubbing on something.

 

[thefranchise713]

Checked all the seats and all was well.

I got my usual FMC dealer mechanic to ride with me for a while. He identified it as coming from the base of the b-pillar somewhere and possibly a pinch weld causing problems (!!!???)--referred me over to the body shop. Body shop techs took a drive along with me with zero notice, heard the issues right away but asked for more time next week (tomorrow).

I tore apart the B pillar hoping that there was something there that I could tighten up. Everything there was solid. I've also silicone sprayed the hell out of the seals and latches, no dice.

On the way to work Friday, the sunroof also started to get chatty. That said, that seemed to go away when I played with one of the seals on the front. All of the bolts front/rear of the assembly seemed tight regardless.

1 year and 23k miles, here we are...

 

[rn92]

If the noise is still there try pulling on plastic spoiler piece across the top of the rear window on the tailgate. Mine was rubbing enough on the edges to make a creaking sound on the rear window when turning. I cleaned and sprayed the area with silicone spray. After wiping off the excess the noise was gone.

 

[thefranchise713]

Believe it or not, checked the spoiler, was fine.

There's a shield under the right side, forward the RR wheel. Something about a shield, if I push on it I get the proper noise. We had it fixed for a few days before it shifted out of place again.

 

[peterk9]

Believe it or not, checked the spoiler, was fine.

There's a shield under the right side, forward the RR wheel. Something about a shield, if I push on it I get the proper noise. We had it fixed for a few days before it shifted out of place again.

Are you referring to this lower part? http://www.explorerforum.com/xenfor...13-ford-explorer-limited.463985/#post-3633072

Peter

 

[thefranchise713]

@peterk9 Not quite, it's actually more under the vehicle, out of sight from the sides.

 

[Sixonemale]

I recall on my '02 Explorer I swore I had rattle coming from the center of my dash and because I don't like any type of rattle or creak at all, I hired a car stereo professional to help me find this particular rattle. He too thought that the rattle was coming from the center of the dash, but also said the source or origin of a rattle can be deceiving, none the less I let him proceeded to take apart the center console and tighten up anything that appeared to be remotely loose. Unfortunately all of his efforts associated with the dash did not eliminate the rattle. After about an hour and a half of dash work we then looked under the hood and found some rubber tubing with a metal cylinder on it clanking against some other piece of metal that ended up being the rattle that sounded like it was coming from the center of the dash. Long-story-short, the noise source of creaks and rattles can be very tough to find and are not always logical nor intuitive. I'm not saying it's your subframe bushings, but I'm also not discounting them.

 

[thefranchise713]

I think I'll call this my official noise chasing thread.

For those keeping score, I fixed the sunroof rattle, and also figured out what the b-pillar noise was.

But the last noise to chase is a random popping from the back from just the right NVH. I'm pretty sure it IS the spoiler -- when it's been sunbeaten a while, it tends to pop and creak and what not when the door opens, similar noise I get while driving. If I break the thing loose, it quiets down for the rest of the time.

Any thoughts?

 

[peterk9]

NVH ???