This has been drivng me nuts.  I replaced those two little springy-things with what seemed light a tighter pair, and the rattle persists.  What's the fix?  New gasket or something else?

check the license plate.

Are you sure it's the hatch? I had a license plate that used to make a lot of noise.

 

Is it while driving only ar can you get it to make the sound manually?

This isn't a light-and-tinny plate rattle - it's a got-some-mass door rattle.  It manifests with normal road vibration; when I wiggle it by hand it seems like there's the play that would cause it.

What's left other than the gasket (which seems to be in pretty good shape) and those little springy-things?  The latch itself?  Do they wear?

Edited March 16, 20197 yr by jonathan909

Try wrapping some electrician-tape around the mating surface on the latch-loop (the steel-loop attached to the sill of the trunk).

No too much tape, or else the latch won't work. Just a wrap or two can cure rattling a hatch-back.

That sounds like a perfectly terrible answer - I despise electrical tape at the best of times, and in this case it's guaranteed to get trashed and spread its disgusting gooey adhesive all over the damn place.  But it might be a good diagnostic for a worn latch mechanism.

Pull the cover around the latch hook on the body.  There are 2 12mm bolts that hold it.  Mark it's present location, loosen the bolts and give it a good tap.  it will move back about an 1/8".  That should do it.  It's worked for me more than once.

Larry

I agree with @Imdew, you need to adjust the latch to tighten the hatch to the body when shut.