Sunday, September 20, 2009

Eliminate rattle under rear roof lining/trim

Occasionally there came a rattle in my Jetta from the roof trim located at the very rear, at the edge of the rear window. It's the roof lining piece that covers the rear brake light. Well nobody likes rattles, so let's deaden it. Continue reading to find out the easy DIY fix.

1. Slide your fingers between the trim and the rear glass. Pull downwards to pop the first clip. Continue pulling the clips out and work your way to the other end. The clips come off with moderate force.

2. Notice the two clips on each side of the brake light. These will probably be the last two remaining clips, since they are a bit trickier (only a bit). They are attached to bendy plastic that might break off if it is pulled too hard. Use a flat headed screw driver to pry the two clips off.


3. The rear roof trim looks like this once removed. You can see the 10 metal clips that hold it to the roof.

4. The rattle in this case was caused by slightly loose metal clips. I fixed it by removing all clips, sticking some tape on them, and then putting them back in. The tape adds some thickness to the clips so they stay firmy put and do not vibrate against their plastic sockets. No vibration no rattle, awesome!


5. All clips are taped and back in place. Just to be sure I also added small stripes of deadening material (Dynamat) to the side that lies on the rear glass. Then pop the trim back in place and you're done.

Please use the comments box below for questions and comments. Thanks.

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