Need help with rattle

Hi folks. My otherwise perfect CS has developed a rattle and am hoping someone may be able to help me identify the cause and cure. On sharp bumps or bad roads I get what sounds like a plastic on plastic rattle, coming from the mid-back part of the car on the passenger side. It is not the trunk clunk, which I had fixed, nor does it come from the privacy screen, which I removed. It sounds like it could be the top of the storage compartment in back of the passenger seat, but I get the noise whether the top is closed or not, even when I insert a towel between the lid and the bin itself. Anyone have any idea what might be causing it? Thanks much, Steve

Someone else found that to be the oil filler cover. Worth checking.

Hey Steve, I had a similar plastic on plastic type of "squeak" and it turned out to be the 3rd brake light. It has the tendency to vibrate at a certain resonant frequency and it was bugging the heck out of me. It took me quite a while to narrow down the problem but I'm so much happier that I have tackled that problem. I did see someone post on this site that their dealer replaced or did some modification because it was a known problem but I can't recall the specific details. You might want to do a search to find that thread. I'm not sure if this is what you are experiencing but I thought I would mention my experience just in case we had similar problems. Good luck!

Thanks, guys. It is not the third brake light squeak - it is clearly a rattle coming from further forward in the car. It could be the oil filler door, though I checked that and it seemed secure. I'll check that out tomorrow. Anyone had any issues with the storage compartments in back of the seats? This is probably the cheapest plastic in the car and the sound seems to be coming from that general area - just can't figure why I'd get the noise whether the cover is open or closed. Thanks a million! Steve

YS, I put some microfiber towels in those cubby holes for emegrency use and to dampen any plastic on plastic noise.

I have the same rattle but from the drivers side. If I recline my seat back too far apparently it places pressure on the plastic housing surrounding the storage compartment behind the seat and an annoying rattle ensues. I just move the seat back forward when I hear the rattle until the noise disappears.

Thanks for the ideas, guys. I will put some towels in the cubbys to see if that helps. It's not the seatback - I thought of that in my original attempt at diagnosis and it is not the cause in my car. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated... Steve

Yell Sub...I seem to have exactly "your kind of rattle" , although mine is behind the passenger side (Left) of the car... I took it to the dealers twice with no diagnosis... If you notice, the lid on the little storage area behind the seats has four small rubber cushions ... They seem to get dislodged pretty easily.... Make sure you still have some of them on the lid ...... Mine has, but the rattle is still present.....

Mine had a similar rattle on the driver's side, behind the B-pillar. It turned out to be a loose clip behind the plastic trim above the side window, a few inches behind the B-pillar. The dealer pulled all the interior parts out on that side, found the problem, and fixed it.

Thanks for the suggestion. I continue to have no luck "seeing" where the noise is coming from, so this explanation sounds like a real possibility. I appreciate everyone weighing in here. What a great forum... Steve

I have fixed mine. Gone through 3rd brake light, privacy screen, hatch etc but still there. Mine ended up being the metal piece between the front and rear fixed window that rattles below/behind where the seat belt comes out and sounds plasticy but it actually isnt. Try this fix. When driving, hold onto the metal vertical upright in between the windows really hard, I pushed mine out against the windows and rattle disappears. If this works then unclip top cover on seatbelt and tighted the bolt holding the bottom of this metal piece in place....no more rattle. Did it on both left and right sides and both bolts were loose enough to cause rattle over undulating surfaces. Easy to do, just follow your nose to bottom of that metal piece and tighten bolt Good Luck

its probably the same as my rattle. when you are driving put pressure on the vertical black thing that the vertical part of the passenger window rests against. i bet you it goes away while your hand is pushing on it. drove me crazy until if figured it out.

These are great ideas, guys - thanks. I'll run through these tomorrow and hopefully resolve the issue once and for all. Thanks! Steve

My rattle was definately the oil filler lid. I only found it by driving w/ the lid open and the rattle went away. Closed it and it came back. An easy test to do. I have had some trouble getting it to stop and now just drive w/ it open all the time. If this is your problem and you find an easy fix-share it!

Hello, Steve. After getting several noise problems fixed (or mostly fixed) in my Cayman S , another one recently appeared. It's very similar to what you've described, except it's sometimes definitely a squeak not a rattle. When I have it looked at I'll report back here. For all the inherent excellence of these vehicles (I had similar problems in my former 987 Boxster ), it's these little defects, the ones you endure at the edge of the main driving experience, that get me wondering whether Porsche can't do better or if they simply won't. Snaxster

I wonder if car manufacturers get how frustrating these quality issues are to people who really love cars. It certainly seems that they could make a tight car if they really wanted to. Hopefully one of these proposed fixes will work - I'll be thrilled if this is just a loose bolt that can be tightened up. I find the CS to be pretty well screwed together by and large. My daily driver is a 550 and the interior quality is much worse than the CS. Good luck chasing down the squeak... Steve

Yellow Sub, I have the same problem and just last night I looked and tried stuffing 1/4 inch foam where I thought it might be, NO LUCK! It's a plastic to plastic squeak and it only happens on rough roads or bumps. I was wondering on spraying a pure silicon along the back where the two plastic pieces meet. I've checked all the before mentioned areas and to no avail. Other this little pesky squeak the car is perfect. My wife thinks I'm nuts about it, she keeps telling me it's not the luxo boats you used to drive!

Has everyone with rattles taken their cars into the dealerships? I think it's the dealerships problem and not yours. I took mine in y-day for what seemed like the hatch rattle but turned out to be something differant and they stuffed foam in. I didn't get an answer as to what the rattle was because i was in a hurry and my service technician was on the phone. BTW, i called my dealership in the morning, and they told me to stop by after work. They fit me in and finished the work in an hr. This always happens, i took my service tech out for a test drive to try and isolate the rattle. We drive for about ten minutes without 1 rattle. He told me about a bulletin they received from Porsche and that they will just go ahead with that work hoping that this is the cause of my grief.

I've been to three dealerships in the Los Angeles area complaining of various squeaks and rattles. They either can't or don't want to take the time to replicate the noises, and therefore the problems persist. I am sorry to say that this is the worst put together car out of all the cars I have ever purchased. This is not my first Porsche , by the way, and I am sick and tired of comments from the dealer such as "have you driven a Porsche before" and "This is a sports car" implying that I am inexperienced and that performance justifies shoddy workmanship. Arrogant bastards.

Yellow Submarine, I know exactly what you're talking about and have the same noise in my '06 CS. I think there might be some merit to looking at the third brake light, as the light assembly makes very similar squeeks when I press on it with my hand with the car sitting in garage. Does anyone know how to "fix" the light noise?

novacayman, a couple of people have posted (do a search to find them) that the dealer was able to fix the noise from the third brake light. It is the dealers job.

Welcome to the club. here is your problem http://www.planet-9.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=7&cat=6

Mine had loose screws on the rear speakers.

I just sprayed PURE silicone where the two plastic rear sections come together, at the moment, it's seems to have worked. The squeaks I had sounded like "plastic to plastic" and it only happened when I hit s severe bumps. I said "pure" silicone not WD-40 , that sh_ t has oil in it.

Rattle is Fixed! It's taken me a while to get to this due to work and travel, but Reeves Porsche in Tampa fixed my rattle today. Thanks to everyone who weighed in. Proy - the problem is exactly as you described. Here are some additional details in case anyone runs into the same issue. I had some trouble running this down, as the first time I took it to Reeves the noise did not appear when I drove the car with the service tech. After some observation/experimentation it became clear that the rattle was much worse when the passenger window was down and when the weather was hot. The rattle would manifest itself in two ways - an off and on rattle over particularly rough roads and a brief one time rattle upon acceleration form a standing stop. As Proy suggested, the cause was a slightly loose nut/bolt assembly under the seat belt cover which allowed the black B pillar to move up and down, which caused the rattle. The solution is as Proy indicated. One other note of interest. When I took the car to Reeves, which has an outstanding service department, I brought along a print out of this email string. I was not sure if they would be receptive, but the advisor indicated that they consider Cayman Club to be the definitive source for Cayman information and visit the site regularly. Thanks for the help everyone, especially Proy! Steve

i took my car to reeves for this exact same rattle and they adjusted the window. it is better but still present. i'm so glad to read your last post so i can get rid of this rattle.

Mine rattles usually when car is cold but after running in for a while, the rattling stops. Could you show a picture of where the rattle is coming from?

I had this noise and this is exactly what they did at my dealer to fix the problem. They adjusted the window and thus far there is no more noise. I used this forum to help the tech figure out the issue. Thanks CC

Just compiling all the successful solutions to this plastic-plastic buzzing problem on the left side of the car behind the seat.