Loud clunk noise behind driver's seat

[tmshinro]

I bought my car last December and it has always had a loud clunk noise behind the driver seat when going over bumps.

I've looked a couple of times for something that was loose but never found the source. Today I think I finally found it. I took the wooden lid off of the compartment behind the driver seat but couldn't find anything loose in the metal tray. I then took the door of the cubby hole off and pushed up on the tray and found it was free to flop around on the outboard side.

I took a video with my phone but the file is in mp4 format and I could figure how to attach it

I'm guessing there should be a fastener to hold the tray down put couldn't see where it was. Can anybody shed some light on this?

[mark w]

there should be two bolts. they are small. 4mm thread, 8mm head, One at the top- toward the bulkhead, another by the ECU connector. I think. I also put some double sided foam tape on the right side of it- towards the door opening side, to stop it from making a similar noise.

[tmshinro]

Thanks for the response. It is nice to know I'm not the only one who has had this problem.

I have looked and looked and cannot find where the tray is bolted down, which is probably due to my bolt not being there. Could somebody take a picture to show where these bolts are located to keep the tray from flopping up and down? I would like to think it would not be necessary to use double sided tape to keep it from moving.

Much appreciated.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Thanks for the response. It is nice to know I'm not the only one who has had this problem.

I have looked and looked and cannot find where the tray is bolted down, which is probably due to my bolt not being there. Could somebody take a picture to show where these bolts are located to keep the tray from flopping up and down? I would like to think it would not be necessary to use double sided tape to keep it from moving.

Much appreciated.

The screws tend to be frozen and need to be broken off to remove the tray. Probably a PO did that. That on in the corner on my car had to break off to remove the tray.

[Josh]

there should be two bolts. they are small. 4mm thread, 8mm head, One at the top- toward the bulkhead, another by the ECU connector. I think. I also put some double sided foam tape on the right side of it- towards the door opening side, to stop it from making a similar noise.

They are M5x.8 Bolts.

[tmshinro]

Shout out to DMC Houston tech support.

I was looking at the picture of the tray in their parts catalog and didn't see any hole for a fastener on the outboard side (which I assumed there was since this part of the tray was flopping up and down).

I called their tech support line to ask how that part of the tray is secured to the body but didn't get through so I left a message. I was quite impressed that they called me back in about an hour. I asked where the fastener goes on the outboard side of the tray and was told there isn't one. He said he has had similar issues with the clunking noise due to that part of the tray moving up and down. He said to put a piece of foam rubber on the bottom of the tray where it contact the car body and when the lid is fastened down it will compress the tray into the foam rubber to prevent movement.

I put a strip of thick 1" adhesive weather strip under the tray and put everything together and went on a test drive. Pleased to report that 90% of the clunking noise was gone. Got back and pushed up on the tray from inside the cubby hole and saw there was still a little movement at the very end of the tray by the trim panel. I took the lid off and put some more of the weather strip on the back of the lid where it makes contact with the foam pad on the tray and now the noise is 95% gone. Pushing up on the tray still produces a very small amount of movement but I called it good.

Now when I drive over bumps there is next to no noise. The little bit of noise I do get is more related to turning and sudden start/stops. I wonder if the lid is shifting around to produce this sound. One good thing about using the foam rubber is the lid now fastens tightly to the tray when turning the locking tang onto the tray flange.

Am I mistaken there should be no noises coming from the interior while driving or are occasional knocks typical of Deloreans?

[Rich]

Am I mistaken there should be no noises coming from the interior while driving or are occasional knocks typical of Deloreans?

No, you're not mistaken about what you should strive for.

Ours is rattle-free inside on even the roughest (paved) roads.

I've done some sleuthing and adjusting now over the years to maintain a squeak/rattle/clunk-free interior in ours, which is nearly in factory spec.

Typical interior noisy parts include a failed steering column bushing, failing heater fan, bits of the door latch/lock linkage inside the doors, and the speedo cable section under the dash. It's all fixable.

[BladeBronson]

Ours is rattle-free inside on even the roughest (paved) roads.


Now I know who I'm hiring to get rid of all my little rattles.

[tmshinro]

I had removed the back trim panel when I was trying to find the source of my clunking noise (which was later to be identified as the electrical tray moving up and down).

I see that there are metal prongs on the back of the cargo net hooks that engage holes in the wooden panel to hold it in place. I can't figure out how to get the prongs into all the holes when reinstalling it and as a result the panel is loose and moving around.

Is there a trick to doing this?

[tmshinro]

Still trying to figure out how to get the back panel re-installed.

I see there are two brackets at the bottom of the bulkhead which look like they hold the bottom of the trim panel in place. When I place the trim panel on top of those brackets I can't get the trim panel low enough to squeeze in the top of the panel to fit into the metal hangers at the top. It looks like you have to really push down on the panel to flex the lower brackets down to get enough room at the top to push the top of the panel in. When I push down and pivot the top in I run out of room for my fingers.

I hesitate to use a hook tool to push the panel down for fear it will mar the vinyl trim above the panel.

There has to be a trick to this and hope there is some good advise to be offered.

[Patrick C]

Still trying to figure out how to get the back panel re-installed.

I see there are two brackets at the bottom of the bulkhead which look like they hold the bottom of the trim panel in place. When I place the trim panel on top of those brackets I can't get the trim panel low enough to squeeze in the top of the panel to fit into the metal hangers at the top. It looks like you have to really push down on the panel to flex the lower brackets down to get enough room at the top to push the top of the panel in. When I push down and pivot the top in I run out of room for my fingers.

I hesitate to use a hook tool to push the panel down for fear it will mar the vinyl trim above the panel.

There has to be a trick to this and hope there is some good advise to be offered.

My method that takes all of 5 minutes if you're taking your time:

1.) Insert the board at an angle with the top of it pointing towards the front windshield. Hook the bottom brackets on first.
2.) Once the bottom brackets are hooked on, push the board towards the rear of the car so it is now vertical.
3.) Now take the 4 brackets for the top of the board, push them in sideways, and then rotate them so they clip to the top of the board. Then screw into place under the window.
4.) Voila! You are done.

I hope that helps!

[tmshinro]

I appreciate your reply describing your technique. I talked to another owner over the weekend and he also said that I needed to remove the wire hooks before trying to push the panel in at the top.

After removing the hooks I pulled the panel out of the car to see how they hold the panel in place. I saw that there was two prongs on the end of the hook; one is bent toward the front (horizontal) and the other is forward of the horizontal prong facing downward. I saw that the back of the panel had holes that the horizontal prong is inserted into and then the hook can be pulled over the top edge where the panel edge fits in the space between the prongs with the vertical prong squeezing the panel and holding the hook in place.

I put the hooks onto the top of the panel and put duct tape over the back prong to keep it from moving and coming out of the hole. After placing the bottom edge of the panel into the lower brackets I pushed the top edge back toward the bulkhead. This sounds easy but it took me over 2 hours to get it past the dome light. I was working from the side of the reclined seat and just couldn't get the leverage needed to get the top edge pushed in.

I finally moved to kneeling on the seat with the seatback upright to get my arms around the seat to get the leverage to push the panel in. Once the panel was pushed in at the top it was a matter of moving the hooks sideways to get the slot to line up with the screw hole. I had to lay on my side over the console between the seats to get in position to enable me to get the screws started while fighting the getting the hook into position.

I finally got all the screws in but it was a miserable 3 hours of twisting and turning my old body. I happy now that the panel is locked in.