I am the 2nd owner. 2006 GT w/6500 miles. Bought it at 4500 miles.

Ever since I have owned it (did this when I bought it) the car has made an obnoxious ticking noise from the rear passenger side of the car. Like metal tapping against glass. It happens going over even the smallest bump. I can hear it if my windows are up and the radio is off. Yes I am picky. The car is practically new - it's not a 10 year old hyundai w/200K on it. I expect it to be tight and not make noises like this.

The dealer had the car in their body shop once for nearly a week. Seemed fixed. Three weeks later the noise is back. So I take it in again and they keep it for another 3 days. Ripped the entire back of the car apart practically down to the metal. They have given up and say that they cannot fix the problem and that it is probably something metallurgical. A weld. They aren't sure.

So they want me to bring it in when the Ford rep comes out from Seattle in a couple months. My question is what will the likely outcome of this visit be? Who are these representatives that come out to the dealers and what is their purpose? Am I screwed?

Their purpose is to buy back cars that cannot be fixed.

well the ford reps are engineers. White coats and everything usually. they are your best bet at fixing it but still no promises. Some things are hard to track down especially if the vehicle has to be driven to re-create thenoise.

ORIGINAL: Going for broke

well the ford reps are engineers. White coats and everything usually. they are your best bet at fixing it but still no promises. Some things are hard to track down especially if the vehicle has to be driven to re-create thenoise.


They'll just pretend they can't find the problem, like they do with all their cars.
Some problems are very hard to track down especially when ford doesn't want to fix it.

If they cant fix it then you have the right to yourmoney back.

i cant see them buying the car back over a sqeak. it would have to be a mechanical problem that is going to affect the car in some way like safety or performance.

ORIGINAL: howarmat

i cant see them buying the car back over a sqeak. it would have to be a mechanical problem that is going to affect the car in some way like safety or performance.


I agree.

Let me have the car for a week, i'll find that rattle!

The dealer has been very gracious and dilligent while trying to fix this. Their body ship has tore the car apart twice now and had it for over 8 business days between the two visits. I am very happy with Archie Cochrane's efforts.

This is the mother of all rattles IMO if their body shop can't figure it out after ripping the car apart like that. It most likely is some sort of loose or broken weld inside the body/chassis of the car. Does it constitute a safety issue? I doubt it. The car handles fine, tracks the road fine, etc..

I doubt they will just buy the car back from me. It's under warranty but I am the 2nd owner. So if a buyback is out of the question, what do you guys think they will try to do here? Rape me on a trade-in? Tell me to suck it up? I like the car I just wish it didn't do this. It was probably this way right off the assembly line and the first owner just didn't care.

You sure it is not the darn doorhandles on the inside? Mine made an unholy racket before I fixed them myself... no more rattles or clicking...

I would try to track it down myself. First thing I'd do is isolate anything that can rattle in the back of the car. That means removing the jack, spare and carpeted cover piece. Next i'd move on to the rear speaker deck, that's a good source for rattles.

Did they systematically tear apart the rear of the car? Including the interior? I'm sure a bad weld is possible, but there are so many other things it could be.

Next remove the rear seat backs, those suckers can make a lot of noise.;)

Is your exhaust stock? Everything else stock?

Duh! You have boomtubes. I'd check those first. The exhaust moves when warm and could easily be contacting something. Did you install the exhaust or was it allready on the car?

Can you record this ticking? I simply must hear this ticking.

Have the wife drive it for a while she will get to the bottom of it. But seriously I would drive around with the back seat folded for a while and see if it makes it easier to find.

i remeber a while back someone had a similar rattely type noise and it turned out to be his rear seat belt latch vibrating against the plastic side panel. simply latched the seat belt together and the noise was gone. guess yours isnt quite that simple.

First Ford Reps. are NOT engineers. They are just what there title states. (Reps) Normally they are at the dealer to review Warranty issues and Issues with customers on out of warranty problems that the customer feels should be repaired for different circumstances like out of warranty by date but has low miles. They have the authority to issue vouchers or even buy backs. I doubt that Ford would consider offering a Buy Back or anything like that as you purchased the car used. When I worked at the dealer and yes I handled situations like yours. I would ask the Ford Rep to make sure the problem is documented with there signature and even ask for a FREE Extended BUMPER TO BUMPER Warranty. It sounds like the Dealership has made every effort to repair a problem that honestly will never be fixed unless it gets worse. I would ask the Service Manager and the Ford Rep. call the Ford Tech Hotline and see if there are any similar problems with models like yours. I worked on a car once for 4 days then called the Hotline and after that fixed the car in 10 minutes. I ask the Hotline why they didn't release a Bulletin on the problem and they said they were still gathering data. Hope your get your problem solved.

Hey I'm the 2nd owner of a 2006 Black GT as well, got mine with 28,657 miles on it though.

Things that could possibly make that noise, as I've been going through mine trying to take every funky rattle out as well.

Door handles on the outside, both of mine were loose and made noises down the road.

Exhaust hangers, I had one loose on passenger side, made a very distinctive "ting" noise while driving, not always there, but when bumps were hit, you heard it. More of metal on metal though, not metal on glass.

5 year old banging his toy on the back window....easy fix sorta...this one I'm throwing out there because it took me awhile to diagnose this one. Everytime I looked back he was just sitting there smiling, had to use the rear view to catch that one.

Have you checked out the rear suspension? I know alot about Jeeps, not much yet on the Mustangs, unseated spring, shock mount not tight....guessing here.

This one took me over 2 days, but I had a hard piece of plastic in the far passenger air vent, where your ac or heat would come out. It happend to be a small kids toy, that slid around.

Just throwing things out there man. Even the most skilled can miss the obvious and not so obvious.

I used to work in a dealership, had a PITA rattle that turned out to be a piece of MIG welding wire with a glob of steel on it that was left over from when the body got welded.
It was just dangling there and if you hit the right bump in the road it would make noise. (probably some welders idea of a joke)! That took a while to find!

It's not the door handles. The sound is from the rear of the car behind the front seats. It seems to come from the parcel shelf near the right side. Could be up in the pillar though it's difficult to say.

It's not the exhaust. It was there before the boomtubes. It also sounds like it's interior to the car and not coming from underneath or outside.

With the back seat down you can hear the noise more clearly. We were still unable to pinpoint exactly what surfaces are causing the issue. No matter what we pressed or pushed on it would not go away.

I don't know everything they tried to fix the problem. Having had the car for as long as they did I'm sure they probably pulled it apart as far as they could. Part of the reason I took it to them was because I didn't want to have to deal with pulling that interior apart myself. It's a PITA.

The best description for this ticking sound is what I mentioned in the OP. Like a piece of metal tapping on glass. As far as a recording I'll try this weekend with my fuji digicam. I don't know if it'll show up since it's not a high quality camera but it's worth a shot I guess. It's not an extremely loud noise, just loud enough to hear and get on my nerves.

You need to drive around with somebady in the trunk....live preferably....and someone with good ears, at that.

I also doubt a buy back will occur, I've been through that Lemon Law with my previous Mazdaspeed 6, it was mechanical and very severe. I'd bet the Rep will check records for previous problems just like yours and see if any techs found the problem. That was the process for mine, they brought in a Rep from Japan... end result was he couldn't find the problem and with 8 months in the dealer's shop... I received a Lemon Law buy back.

Does it sound like its coming from the wheel wells? It sounds like the same problem I had. It turned out the bolts holding the rear control arms were loose and the arm would rattle between the bracket when i hit a bump. Sounded like loose nuts in the fender.

when I got my 06 gt, I tore it apart to undercoat it...one thing in the rear I found was the rubber spring insulator was not in position- the spring had almost cut thru it(never did replace it yet), never heard any noise, but maybe something to look at...
we picked up a 07 pony 2 weeks ago for the wife, hers had a interesting little issue- the rear 'strut' or whatever you want to call the vertical links that support the rear of the swaybar, and attach to the floorpan had broken off- the weld was minimal if ever there at all, was cleanly loose, just bumping metal to metal against the bushing end - maybe try pulling down on the swaybar(a few pounds will do it) to see if anythings detached...the welds on those links are mighty questionable looking.

My 85 camaro(bought new- my first brand new car) had a heavy rattle, dealer tore the car apart first trip(expected to find a full can of pop rolling around in the quarter or something- was pretty loud), didnt find a thing, took it back, they dropped the tank, looked inside for something rolling around- nothing...15 years later(noise never went away) I had the car up in the air stripping it to repaint- had up on stands, popped the wheels off, suspension hanging...closed the door after masking around something-'klunk'. hmm...started shaking stuff, finally- could repeat the noise! started looking around, here the front lower rear control arm bolt was loose from the factory, and the bolt would wallow around in the hole if you hit the right bump...after 60k miles, it had elongated the hole about 1/8", welded some heavy washers over the area, tightened it up and viola- no more rattle. thank God GM used locking nuts on those points or I probably woulda had a heck of a wreck sooner or later had that bolt ever fell out...good luck!

Twice I've tried having someone drive around with the seats down sticking their head back under the parcel shelf. This is more or less in the trunk. Both times they were unable to pinpoint the source of the noise. They could tell where it was coming from in a general sense but not exactly. Both times the car was at the Ford body shop I took one of their techs on a test drive with that back seat down so that they could get a clear indicator exactly what noise I was talking about and where it was coming from (in the general sense). They took the car on several test drives in the process of troubleshooting this and trying to fix it. To no avail.

I tend to agree that a buyback is unlikely in this situation. I would be willing to discuss other options such as a trade in on a 08 GT. But I would want to get close to what I paid for the car back in February less the mileage I've put on it. I paid 21750 for it in February and have put 2000 miles on the car.

I won't have a chance to see the Ford rep until sometime in late June at the earliest because that is when he returns to my area for another visit.

Not original owner = no buyback .

I have the exact sameticking - just started a few months ago. I also have an identical type tick coming from my driver door jamb area (see my thread here: http://www.mustangforums.com/m_4754658/tm.htm). If I pull on the door trim at the top toward me (anywhere along the length of the window), it goes away. It's not the window because ifI press on that it doesn't change. it's not the usual door issues (behind the handle, behind the arm rest) because I've addressed those before with foam, and manipulating them now doesn't help. I have tried to isolate the source with no luck. I can actually reproduce the tick by pulling back and forth on the mentioned trim ONLY WITH THE DOOR CLOSED, so it has to be in the door jamb area somewhere. Since puliing on the door trim helps, I actually just have a rubber foot thingy wegded between the door trim and rubber molding in the door jam area temporarily and that elimates 95% of it - only hear it now over very large bumps. It was constant before. I'll find it someday whenI have more time.

Ibring this up because, as mentioned, I hear an identical type tick coming from somewhere near or behind the back seat passenger side. I haven't looked into it yet, but the first thing I'll do is check all plastic trim and molding inthat area.

Honsestly, with the radio on I can't hear any of this, so evenI can't find it, no biggie.

Mee TOOOO...http://www.mustangforums.com/m_5020167/tm.htm...I noticed it this weekend...I first thought mine might be the saftey release in the trunk tapping...but it is strapped down...mine sounds like it is in the trunk or something...it is annoying as hell!!!!!!!!!!

woops my link didn't work...

My roomate's 07 GT is perfect. No ticking, tapping, rattling, vibrating, etc.. Pisses me off.

I doubt it's a plastic molding since Ford has removed all of that when they tore the back end apart trying to fix this.

I plan on getting under mine this weekend and try to find that rattle...It is very annoying...hope ya find yours...if you do...let me know what it was will ya...

Hey man, I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, but really.. My car makes ALL sorts of strange squeaks and rattles here and there.. Just turn the radio up. You bought a $25k american-made muscle car, not a $50k european luxury sedan. If the noise isn't a safety issue, then why all the irritation over it?

I have a rattle that comes from the rear too. I don't think it's the same thing your describing, but mine is a piece of plastic in the latch on the back of the rear seats.

I found that my rattle in the runk was the trunk liner bouncing. I put a towel between it and the spare and it fixed it. Hope you get yours all worked out.

exx1976 I appreciate the tact (seriously). The way I look at it is that the car is of such low mileage along with the fact my roomate's 07 GT is perfect that I shouldn't be having an obnoxious noise like this. There are times when it's cool outside I want to run with the windows up and hear the sound of my engine. The noise is obnoxious during those times.

I admit to being picky. It's a character flaw. ;)

True, I can see that (wanting to hear the sound of the engine). I guess I just never put that much thought into it since I have a vert (lots of wind noise) and side exhaust (hides the engine noise anyway)...

Best of luck on tracking it down!!


One thing on my car that used to rattle (only fixed it because it was annoying when I opened the trunk every time and found it dangling) was the lens for the light in the trunk. The passenger side of it used to pop out and rattle rattle rattle.. Could've also been due to the 10's in the trunk, but hey.. Either way...


As always, YMMV.

ORIGINAL: smoothcruz

I used to work in a dealership, had a PITA rattle that turned out to be a piece of MIG welding wire with a glob of steel on it that was left over from when the body got welded.
It was just dangling there and if you hit the right bump in the road it would make noise. (probably some welders idea of a joke)! That took a while to find!



A robot welder with a sense of humor?

The workshop manual shows a tool with multiple microphones
to be placed at stratigic locations for finding road squeeks and noises
coming from the body. There is also very detailed instructions of
how the tech should use the tool to find unwanted customer claimed
noises. Did they employ the special tool in their search? :eek:

Thanks for the tips guys and also the sympathy. ;)

Getting back to the main point of the thread what do you think this Ford rep will tell me if he realizes they can't fix this? Will he say that I'm stuck with it? Does he have any power over the dealer to help me get a good value on a trade?

I'm done trying to fix the rattle myself. If the body shop can't get to the bottom of it after two visits there's no way I can. I'm not a mechanic and the most I've done is put my boomtubes on and change a flat tire.

The Ford Rep will or can do a couple things.

1. They can issues a voucher for x amount of dollars to trade the car in on a New Ford.
2. Tell you it a normal condition.
3. You bought a Used Car.

Your car is only worth what it books for, Not what you paid for it.

I spent 20 years in a DealerI can tell you some stories about everything from picky people to people that thought they were owed something.

From my experience they will tell you that you do not have an Abnormal Problem if you have to turn all the accessories off to hear the noise. If they problem gets worse or more evident then it maybe able to be repaired.

ALL MANUFACTURE'S are good about saying that is a NORMAL CONDITION and Does Not Hurt the durability of the Vehicle.......

have you tried to isolate this noise to a speed or an rpm?? when it happens put the car in neutral and coast. Does is change? Does it go away?? The only thing I can think of that wouldn't be easy to identify but could make a noise like that is the ball bearing thats in the seat belt retractor. When you slam on the brakes the ball moves and locks up the belt. they usually aren't noisy but if it was bouncing off of something maybe thats causing the ticking...?? Hard to say without being there.

Let me tell you this one story anyway.

This guy brings in his Explorer and says it has an Engine noise. He stated he heard it all the time. Had the vehicle at several area Ford dealers without anyone finding a problem. He called Ford to Complain and Ford told him to bring it to us. The Tech inspected the vehicle and drove it. He didn't find a problem so he came to me and ask me to drive it. I drove it about 20 miles without any accessories on and didn't hear a thing. Customer comes in to pickup his vehicle and starts bitchin. Ask when the Ford Rep will be in so he can speak to her. He comes in the next day (Rep is here) and I go for a ride with him to here the noise, we get maybe 1/2 mile down the road and he has everything turned off with his ear up against theairbag and says do you hear that. I said No I don't hear anything, he says you have to lean forward and listen real good. Its 90 degrees outside and I am sweating my ass off, so I reach up and turn the AC on. He says what are you doing you can't hear it with the AC on. I said I heard all I needed to hear turn around and go back to the dealer. He said what is it? I said The Driver has a Screw Loose, yeah he didn't like my comment but oh well. I ask where do you work? He said FORD!!!!!! I said yeah I figured you were an IWAF....On the way back he is bitchin how would you like to pay 32K for an Explorer the has an Engine problem. I said hell I would paying 32k for one of these vehicles anyway.We pull back in the service area and the Ford Rep is standing out there and ask if I knew what the problem was, I laughed and said yea The Driver is an Idiot and you will Never guess where he works. She said does he work at (LAP). Louisville Assembly Plant, I said yep. She told him if the problem gets more evident then it will be repaired, but No Attempt will be made to repair something that can't be found or heard under normal circumstances. His issue was Ford had some problems with some Explorer Engines in certain date coded vehicles and he new his had the same problem even though his was built after the date of the problem engines.

By The Way an IWAF is a Ford Employee. The First words out of there mouths are: I WORK AT FORD......

I handled ALL the Problem Issues for the Last 3 Years I was there.

I bent over backwards to repair vehicles that had legitimate issues and even helped customers get things from Ford when we could not solve there problems.

My Main Concern Was To Make Sure The Customer Was Happy or Fully Understood That We Did Everything We Could Do To Fix There Problem.

I doubt that the Dealer got paid for every minute that was spent trying to fix your car. Ford does Not Pay Hours of Labor to Diagnosis Problems. Most Often The Dealer Eats It.

Good Luck.....

ORIGINAL: Going for broke

have you tried to isolate this noise to a speed or an rpm?? when it happens put the car in neutral and coast. Does is change? Does it go away?? The only thing I can think of that wouldn't be easy to identify but could make a noise like that is the ball bearing thats in the seat belt retractor. When you slam on the brakes the ball moves and locks up the belt. they usually aren't noisy but if it was bouncing off of something maybe thats causing the ticking...?? Hard to say without being there.


The noise is independent of the engine and powertrain. It occurs whenever you go over a bump. Even a small bump. If the road is almost perfectly flat then you don't hear it. Hit a tiny bump in the road, even a crack, and the ticking noise is produced. It does not go away and it is constant. You can hear it better with the rear seats folded down.

@TripleH

The Ford techs have never had any issue recreating the problem. They went on test drives with me both times I dropped the car off and could plainly hear the noise. I told the body shop I appreciated the work they have put into trying to fix the problem and they know I am satisfied with their efforts. Hence my initial post identifying this rattle as the "mother of all rattles". I have no complaints at all about the service the dealer has given me, especially as a 2nd owner. This problem may be unfixable short of truly ripping the chassis of the car apart.

Considering the car market right now I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I doubt Ford will be able to fix this cost effectively and will probably say I'm ether flat out stuck with it or they will issue me a voucher for a trade in. However I will probably not get what I need out of the car on such a trade and will be forced to decline. This is what I think is most likely to happen.

Still, it doesn't hurt to talk to the rep and see how they want to handle this even if the expected outcome is not positive.

I've had the same noise...first week I bought it. Then, magically it went away. Occasionally I will hear it. Give your Stang a little longer. Sometimes, creaks and rattles work themselves out.
(I once had very annoying tapping noise in my Blazer, driving me absolutely nuts...I was ready to trade it in. The culprit was an empty plastic CD case, the very thin type, and somehow a penny had worked it's way into it creating the "tapping" noise that was driving me crazy).

Hang in there!

Riptide,

Let me give you a word of advice when you meet the Rep. The Nicer you are the more luck you will have. If the Rep ask you what they can do to resolve the problem, just tell them you want a Mustang That does not have problems that cannot be fixed.


We had a Focus one time with a severe waterleak. We totally stripped the car interior engine and all. Found several seams that had no seam sealer. The customer was offered a Buy Back, but could not afford it.

Ford charges mileage for any car that would be bought back.

I still say the control arm bolts that hold them to the frame. Your description sounds just like the problem i had.

I realize you attract a lot more bees with honey than vinegar. When I talk to the Ford rep I will be on my best behavior. Honestly I've been very happy with Ford because they have tried very hard to fix this issue. I intend to mention that to the rep and also am considering drafting a letter to send to the dealer GM indicating that although I'm disappointed that the car seems to be stuck with this problem I think his staff has provided excellent customer service, etc..

noonyb and others I appreciate the suggestions but I'm done trying to figure this out. That's why I took it to the body shop and I have to assume they have tried everything possible. If they can't fix it then I know I can't. The noise sounds like it's coming from inside the car and up in that parcel shelf area, not down where the control arms are. Hey it's possible you're right and they didn't check that stuff at the body shop but I'm not going to second guess them at this point.

Has anyone looked at the connector to the rear window defroster? Just a guess but maybe that's loose and tapping the glass.