94 XJ hatch rattle. Cant trace it.

Hatch is closed tight bt SOUNDS like it isnt. Plactic interior hatch piece is on tight and there SEEMS to be no play in the latch but thats the only thing I can think it would be?:badpc:

This might be a crap shoot...But it happened with my hatch. On my 93 the back hatch is fiberglass, so the screw holes for the license plate were way over enlarged (it had about a 1/2" hole were the screws were supposed to go.) Previous owner used nuts & bolts to hold on the plate, and had lost a few nuts inside the hatch. I had to take apart the inside trim, park with my passenger tires on the curb, and shake the tailgate to finally convince them to roll to a spot were I could reach them and pull them out.

I know this sounds crazy....but It is true!

Lars :skull1:

When you open up the hatch and look (on the body) where the lower corners of the hatch would be when closed, you should see 2 rubber stops. Essentially these are bolts that thread into a nut that is welded to the body. The head of the bolt is a big rubber bushing. Unscrew the bolts a turn or 2 and then close the hatch and see if that helps. That's usually what causes the typical XJ hatch noise. Hope that helps.

-river

Take a look at the post, see if it has a groove worn in the backside. If it does remove the post and rotate it 180*...

My 94 was just recently fixed the same way.

riverfever said:

When you open up the hatch and look (on the body) where the lower corners of the hatch would be when closed, you should see 2 rubber stops. Essentially these are bolts that thread into a nut that is welded to the body. The head of the bolt is a big rubber bushing. Unscrew the bolts a turn or 2 and then close the hatch and see if that helps. That's usually what causes the typical XJ hatch noise. Hope that helps.

-river

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I think you are on to something. I unscrewed the driver side one and then unscrewed the passenger side one and it fell out. Now it cant go back in because there is no threading, just a hole? :helpme:

I found that the license plate frame I use rattles on the bottom where it is not fastned.

ccsp said:

I think you are on to something. I unscrewed the driver side one and then unscrewed the passenger side one and it fell out. Now it cant go back in because there is no threading, just a hole? :helpme:

Click to expand...

Did a nut come off with the bolt or just the bolt?

I found a neato magnetic pickup tool at Ace last week, though they don't seem to have it on their website. It's a thin coiled spring handle that can be pushed around corners (but wants to bend back to straight). There's a thin metal rod that can be inserted to the center of the shaft to make the shaft inflexible. The rod is a handy tool to poke things with, too. Pulled a trim screw out of the defroster duct, so it was worth the $10 to me for that alone. Perhaps it is time for you to browse the local Ace

Also, if you do end up taking the hatch cover off, you will almost certainly break the clips. This is not a problem: pick up these generic "trees" at the auto parts store, trim the sides down with a razor to fit the remnants of the clips:

And mix up a little JB Weld, fill the clip,

and stick the tree in. Let cure for a day or two, and they won't be going anywhere.