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Clacking/rattling sound near driver's side door (I think) ?

19K views 18 replies 16 participants last post by  nkoulian 
#1 ·
I've got something clacking or rattling when I'm driving sometimes. It's hard to nail down exactly where it's coming from, but I think it's coming from somewhere near the driver's door, or at least the driver's side of the car. Seems to be "inside" the car, either inside the cabin, or maybe in the door.

I thought at first it was the seatbeat thing behind my ear, but when I hold it when driving, I can tell the sound isn't coming from there.

It doesn't happen all the time, I'd say about 50% of the time. Most evident on a road with imperfections, where it will clack and rattle as I'm driving. Noticed as I was driving in to work this morning, it didn't seem to happen when I turned right, but I still need to confirm that.

Anyway...before I started digging around and tearing things up trying to find it, has anybody else had a similar rattle, and did you find what was causing it?

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
I can suggest one thing to try. This weird rattle can seem to come from the seat belt mechanism as you say. But for many people, the real issue is the door latch and striker positions. If you look at the striker on the door jam, you'll see a couple of bolts. Loosen those and move the striker inwards just a tad and retighten. That's all it took to get rid of my rattle noise. Nice to have a problem which was so easy to fix!
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the replies!

I'll check these out over the next few days. The rattle comes and goes. Some trips, it doesn't rattle at all. Other times, it does. It's not so bad I couldn't live with it over time, but I would like to fix it if possible.

Thanks!
 
#10 ·
Is your exterior driver's side door handle loose? I had a mystery rattle as well and turned out that my door handle was slightly loose...
 
#11 ·
I had something similar to that and it ended up that the noise was coming from the 4WD Transfer Case. In 2WD, there was a rattle/annoying noise coming from the shifter. This took a little while to locate because it wasn't always present, and when it was I was driving and couldn't locate the source myself. There was a thread around talking about this, I opted to shift to/from 4WD and it went away for a bit. It's incredibly annoying when it happens though . . . .

edit: here's the thread - good luck!
http://www.wranglerforum.com/f274/manual-transmission-rattle-idle-and-3-4-gear-fixed-1472985.html
 
#13 ·
Took mine in today to get this very thing fixed. It sounded like someone was shooting my jeep with a pellet gun on the passenger door when I went over bumps in the road. Turned out to be a loose bolt on the passenger side door handle like @fishrising's issue. My dealer fixed it and I fell back in love with my Jeep.
 
#15 ·
I had a rattle that appeared at road speed on our 16 2 dr Sahara. Turned out to be a spare fender fastener inside the rear fender. It was easy to removed. Just pulled out the fender and shook it out.
 
#17 ·
I think I have this same noise that you guys are talking about. It isn't the striker, I know that for sure. It does not make the noise when the door is off or when I drive with the door open (yea, I've tried everything), so I know it has to do with the door or the door closure.

The noise isn't there at full speeds, but comes out at slow speeds over bumps and when letting off the accelerator.
 
#18 ·
So out of sheer luck I was able to locate the clicking/clacking/grinding noise this morning. It is coming from the rear passenger door hinge. I didn't get a chance to try anything to fix it because I came across it right when I got to work, but it is definitely that. I would imagine some cleaning of the inside of the hinge and the pin as well as some grease would do the job?
 
#19 ·
Windshield brackets do clicking as well. One drove me nuts for a while. Sounded like it was coming from inside the dash, at times seemed like it was the passenger door, but not quite...Found it, it was a bit loose. Took it off cleaned the back side and the frame area behind it, applied a thin layer of synthetic grease in contact areas and tightened it back on. Been 2 years since, no more clicking. Food for thought...


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