Annoying Rattle / Clicking from Rear (Interior)

[razmeister]

Hi, wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar in their Mk3 Leon?

Here's a recording of the noise:

Annnoying Rattle from Rear of Car.aac

drive.google.com

Please listen from about 50 seconds onwards and you can distinctly hear a "clicking" sound as the car goes over bumpy surfaces. It's driving me mad!

I've tried to narrow it down and am pretty sure it's not any of the following:

• Seat belts
• Parcel Shelf
• Head rests
• Nothing loose in the boot
• Nothing loose in the door bins

It's a "plastic" sounding noise but no trim panel etc seems loose. It definitely sounds like it's coming from the interior of the car and not something buried under layers of trim (as it's not a muffled noise) but for the life of me I can't figure it out!

The noise seems to be less noticeable when there's 3 people sitting in the back and also strangely when the weather and the car is very warm...

Any help appreciated! Many thanks!

 

[GTunney]

Hi, wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar in their Mk3 Leon?

Here's a recording of the noise:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vghn1q7ztu4hzg3/Annnoying Rattle from Rear of Car.aac?dl=0

Please listen from about 50 seconds onwards and you can distinctly hear a "clicking" sound as the car goes over bumpy surfaces. It's driving me mad!

I've tried to narrow it down and am pretty sure it's not any of the following:

• Seat belts
• Parcel Shelf
• Head rests
• Nothing loose in the boot
• Nothing loose in the door bins

It's a "plastic" sounding noise but no trim panel etc seems loose. It definitely sounds like it's coming from the interior of the car and not something buried under layers of trim (as it's not a muffled noise) but for the life of me I can't figure it out!

The noise seems to be less noticeable when there's 3 people sitting in the back and also strangely when the weather and the car is very warm...

Any help appreciated! Many thanks!

Haven’t been able to watch the video but the Perspex on the dials uses to rattle on my old mk3 and was a common issue. Next time you’re in the car put a finger on the Perspex and see if it does it.

 

[LouG]

My Cupra gets a buzzing sound from the rear headrests if they're up.

 

[Deleted member 103408]

check this thread out, might be this https://forums.seatcupra.net/index.php?threads/new-67-plate-leon-rattles.443168/#post-4765903

 

[JACUPRA280]

Hi, wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar in their Mk3 Leon?

Here's a recording of the noise:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vghn1q7ztu4hzg3/Annnoying Rattle from Rear of Car.aac?dl=0

Please listen from about 50 seconds onwards and you can distinctly hear a "clicking" sound as the car goes over bumpy surfaces. It's driving me mad!

I've tried to narrow it down and am pretty sure it's not any of the following:

• Seat belts
• Parcel Shelf
• Head rests
• Nothing loose in the boot
• Nothing loose in the door bins

It's a "plastic" sounding noise but no trim panel etc seems loose. It definitely sounds like it's coming from the interior of the car and not something buried under layers of trim (as it's not a muffled noise) but for the life of me I can't figure it out!

The noise seems to be less noticeable when there's 3 people sitting in the back and also strangely when the weather and the car is very warm...

Any help appreciated! Many thanks!

That sound is plastic on plastic. My guess would be a trim clip.

Only way you'll find out is with somebody in the boot.

 

[GrayT]

I have similar. Sounds like it’s from the offside on mine. I have an SC. Wondering if it might be where the split/fold seat catch is but I’m going to have to get my Mrs to drive some time while I try to narrow it down! On mine I think it’s worse from cold as I only notice it in the first couple of mins of a journey.

 

[LouG]

Mine started it's buzzing about 200 km's after I picked the car up. After coming from the babies rattle that the 86 is, I thought that's just what I need. So, my wife got in the back seat and started hunting down the noise, and found the left headrest was the culprit.
Bloody rattles etc are the bane of my life. I can't hear people talking in noisy rooms, but I can hear a rattle at 1 decible from a mile away.

 

[razmeister]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I'm not the only one who finds these noises infuriating! Seems SEAT are quite prone to this? But then with our roads being as poorly surfaced as they are, it does put a lot of strain on any car...!

Will continue to investigate. Will need to get someone to drive while I sit in the back I think. Contrary to what I said previously it does still seem to occur when people are in the back, however when the car is warmed up (e.g. after a spirited drive) the sound does seem reduced.

 

[ryzzey]

I had a similar noise from the same area on my 2017 FR. Turned out to be the latch for the folding rear seats, the latch was rattling against the metal loop it clicks into.

I just folded the seats down and wrapped a small amount of duck tape around the loop, haven’t heard the noise since!

 

[weasley]

I have recently found exactly the same thing - the rear seat latch on the RHS. I found it is more of a creak than a rattle (so it happens as the latch slides along the loop, rather than being a rattle of a loose catch). I haven't yet fixed it but plan to start with a bit of GT85 or similar to see if that stops it.

 

[razmeister]

I haven't tried taping those loops yet. Will give that a shot....fingers crossed.

 

[razmeister]

Taped the seat latches. Didn't work :-(

Also thought it was this....as I noticed it was a bit of loose plastic on metal:

I taped it up, drove down the road and cheered as I thought it was fixed...only for the sound to come back moments after! Aaarrgghh!

The search continues.

 

[ryzzey]

That’s a shame it’s still there!

Have you checked the parcel shelf where it clips onto the white bits? I thought mine was rattling there and it was slightly but wasn’t noticeable.

 

[Curtly]

For myself it was something in the boot lid - took off the plastic panel and soundproofed behind it with no problem since

 

[veno]

I had similar issue, and spend a lot of time fixing the 5th door stoppers, lubricating everything... finally found to be the rear right C-column plastic not fixed well.. clipped it and everything was fine since then! Mine is ST though.

 

[razmeister]

Okay, so I've finally figured out where the noise is coming from! That's the good news. The bad news is that I don't quite know how to get to the actual source as it is coming from under the rear seat bench. I am able to unclip the rear seat base which exposes the metalwork of the car, it's coming from under that!

(This image is from a Golf I know, but it's just to illustrate where the noise is coming from)

This means it could possibly be coming from the underside of the car, this would explain why the noise seems to be less once the car is thoroughly warmed up.

Might need to take it somewhere to get it looked at properly...alternatively I'm wondering if just getting some proper sound deadening might muffle it enough to stop it being so audible inside the car?

 

[veno]

check the bolts that tighten the fuel reservoir. i had this issue. there was a clicking sound. you need to lift the car. or it could be the fuel pump making a noise. mine is quite hissing.

 

[razmeister]

Thanks Veno. Definitely gives me something to go on. Will be taking it in for a service soon so will ask them to check those things. Fingers crossed. I feel like I'm getting close to finally fixing this!

 

[LouG]

I had a rattle from behind the head unit on our Toyota that would disappear when the interior warmed up. It was a thin plastic shield that lost rigidity when warmed and stopped vibrating.
Rattles are the devils work.

 

[razmeister]

Ok, so some good news! Took my car to SEAT Hatfield for annual service and asked them to investigate the rattle (this thread and the recording came in handy!) They heard the clicking sound also and narrowed it down to an "exhaust hanger pin" on the underside of the car which was loose. So they said they re-fitted it with lots of lube so it no longer has the play in it that it did previously.

On the drive home, I was nervous, but thankfully the clicking sound is no more! I will monitor it over the coming weeks to ensure it doesn't resurface. But so far so good!

Thanks to those on this Forum for your help...hopefully this comes in handy if anyone hears this sound....also thanks to SEAT Hatfield, impressed with their service.