A few of us have mentioned this problem in other posts, but I have decided to start a new thread to attract everyone who is having this annoyance.

From what I and others have gathered, there is a "popping" sound coming from the passenger side of the car over small bumps or dips. The noise is quite loud and might be coming from the B-pillar between the two doors.

One owner has had his seatbelt tensioner replaced by the dealer, but the problem persisted. In another case, the dealership isolated some wires in the front passenger door, but this did not fix the problem.

Please post here if you have had this problem. Perhaps someone even has a fix they can share with the rest of us.

Thanks,
Nolan

rattle... I mean bump.

I remember someone scanning in a repair ticket where the hood hinge was the problem.

had the same prob.

Bringing it in this week - theyre taking the right side doors apart, as well as the b-pillar, to see what they can find.

My fingers are crossed.

I think it might be the window glass bouncing around.

This is a little pathetic that so many people are having the same problem.

Someone had a creaking kind of sound coming from the same spot. Turned out to be the part where 2 pieces of metal joined together they would rub/fold against each other on turns or bumps.

Open your door and pull on the u-bolt of the door closure attached to the B pillar, and see if it "pops". I was getting a clicking noise around my rear door and discovered this to be the source. I tried to tighten the screws but they were as tight as they could be, so I loosened them about 1/8th of a turn and the noise went away. Hope this helps.

Yup, having this prob too. I tried to isolate it by taking off all the plastic, but was unable to.:(

Ken,
I hope you come back to this thread - maybe I'll pm you.

Can you please find out exactly which pieces of metal were rubbing and what the fix was?

I hope that lugnuttz gets the problem fixed by the dealer. It seems like problems with noises and rattles are the most challenging to locate and fix.

I'll be trying the door latch tomorrow. I was wondering about the window also, but it seems that my noise is unaffected by any window position.

I'll save my non-productive bitching 'til after we've solved this problem.

Nolan

Ken,

Need more info on the metal rubbing!!
Please finish the story - once they found the metal was rubbing, what did they do???

Stay tuned. I emailed my service manager friend if he remembered his customer who had the problem.

Same problem, only rattle type noise issue I have. Was hoping to take the door apart this weekend but didn't make it. I have checked all the hinges, latches, etc. They are all tight and I can't seem to reproduce the noise by lifting and tugging on the doors and latches.

Sounds like it may be coming from internal to the passenger's door?? Want to check the window mechanism.

Would really like to fix this as it is really bugging me.

bump
rattle
pop

I have it too - next oil change (~1000 miles) I'll have the dealer try and do something about it. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one.

For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure the rattle is coming from inside the B pillar. I had a passenger with me try and locate the exact source this weekend...

This rattle was driving me nuts. A metal on metal sound which was most noticeable at slow speed and more noticable with lateral motion. I could reproduce the sound by tapping on the base of the B-pillar metal. I removed both lower and upper B pillar trim pieces, front & rear door panels, front & rear passenger seats. Also seat belt and side air bag sensor. Lifted the carpet and secured all the wiring and plumbing. The rattle still was there. Many thanks to my wife for laying on the floor and locating the area of the rattle. The base of the B-pillar
The cure for my car was a liberal spraying all over the base of the B-pillar of Eastwoods Heavy-duty Aniti Rust.
http://www.eastwoodco.com/cgi-bin/sgin0101.exe?T1=16018+Z&UID=2001100119244691&UREQA=1&FNM=20
This product dries like soft wax and deadend the sound in my WRX. Let me know if this helps you cure your rattle.

SupeRuWRX,
Thanks for sharing your solution to this problem. I hope everyone else who has experienced this will share even if they haven't found a solution.

I guess lugnuttz will have plenty of suggestions for the dealer when it goes in for a fix.

SupeRuWRX -
1. Do you think it is possible to undo the problem or is it necessary to deaden the sound? I would hope that we could just fix it rather than put a Band-Aid on it. I wouldn't be much for welding, though if that is what it takes. I'll ask the dealer to do that.

2. Do you have to pull up the carpet to find the source or is the lower plastic on the B-pillar enough? I just want to find out if I can do this in one evening or wait 'til Saturday.

Thanks again,
Nolan

bump

Well I too was getting a wierd noise/rattle and it turns out it is the "oh ****" handles above the passenger side front window. I have wrapped a cloth around it to keep it quiet and will take it in to the dealership and have them check it out soon. It was quite pronounced especially on the highway.

bump....

I tried the "u" bolt pulling idea - didn't make any noise at all.

Ken - you got anything for us?
:)

Hey lugnuttz,
When are you taking your car in for service?

I tried the "u" bolt thing also. No dice.

The "oh sh*****" handle doesn't seem to be it either. Thanks for the info, though, god.

I am going to pm SupeRuWRX about his solution.

This topic will get ^^bumped^^ until we fix this problem.:)

Another day,
Nolan

Bump-a-de Bump

Bling bling.
bump.

Sorry for the delay in repling Nolan , I've been as busy as a one armed paper hanger.
I theorize there was a piece of something rattling around deep down in the base of the B-pillar. Maybe a small plastic or metal piece left by the factory. I tried to vacuum it out without success. That cavity is pretty narrow and deep. If it is as I suspect the wax should hold it permanently. But then again I might have it all wrong. So far so good
When I sprayed mine I only had to cover the carpet with a rag to prevent over spray from making a mess. There was no need to pull up the carpet.
Also my rattle may have a different source than others. What convinced my as to the location of mine was driving around with the bottom B-pillar trim off and noting that the sound was louder, then having someone lay down and listen while I drove.

Thanks SuperRuWRX,
I guess I will probably tear into the B-pillar this weekend while also hoping lugnuttz gets the problem worked out with the dealership. I just worry myself when I think about pulling plastic off and potentially breaking something.

Part of me thinks that this noise will go away with time, but there is no way to tell how long and if I can stand it until then. I am also worried that the source might be a body joint that may take some serious work to straighten out. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Thanks for your help,
Nolan

I want to find out if this works for anyone else, so....

B-U-M-P:alien:

Here's what you've been waiting for:

The dealer heard the two rattles. One was isolated and found to be a clip of some sort in the b-pillar. Found, fixed & taken care of.

The second noise cannot be isolated. SOC reports that there has been one other car with this problem, and it was remedied with a few spot welds (which would likely mean that Ken was right, and that it is in fact two pieces of metal rubbing when the chasis flexes.) <...Ken I'm still hoping you'll respond.>

I have been assured that it can be fixed, but I am somewhat worried - should they really need to re-weld a car? Shouldn't they get it right the first time?? :confused:

Realistically, I don't think that SOC would give me a new car regardless of how much I begged. I do find this somewhat disturbing.

Sorry for the bad news.

lugnuttz,

This is good...but bad. I agree that we need to hassle Ken for his information. I'm going to work on mine this weekend and then make a service appointment if necessary. At least you have a commitment to fix it. I worry that I'll have to jump through a lot of hoops to get the work done.

Thanks,
Nolan

...To me it's unacceptable that the car is rattling already, let alone that it should need additional welds after it has left the factory!
...at least the dealer is being wonderful at doing their best to solve the issue!

...but I'm still preturbed with the quality issue. What's next?

lugnuttz:

Were both problems on the passenger side B pillar area or are you talking about 2 different locations? (I tried re-reading the thread, but could not find a clear reference to another location).

thanks,

Not sure yet.
One was in the b-pilllar, and the other I will find out about soon - as soon as I get more info on the status of my baby.

...will continue to keep you posted...

The dealer says they have isolated the other one to be somewhere in the floor around the b-pillar or door.

No reply yet from my service manager guy.. I think I'll call him if i have time at work.

I am also experiencing a popping noise in my WRX. I'm not exactly sure what a "B-Pillar" is, but my noise seems to be coming from the driver side frame (between the windshield and the driver side window). I'm am going in early tomorrow to get it checked...they have said this is their first noise complaint, so this may be a long process. I'll let you all know if I find out any new developments.

Eric

This is my first "problem post", lets hope it is my last. I'm getting this too! It is comming from the pasenger side of the car and it sound like it is coming from the seatbelt area. I'm very interested in finding out about this.

Regan-

I am taking my car in tomorrow to get this thing fixed. I already took the top plastic and seatbelt off of the B-pillar.

Do you think I should leave it off or put it back together before it goes in?

I don't want to put it back together for them to find out I tampered with it and think that this was the problem. On the other hand, if I leave it off I wonder if my tampering will somehow influence the warranty service or something.

Any thoughts? Maybe I should take the bottom plastic off too.

Thanks,
Nolan

save yourself the possible headhache & put it back together.

bump rattle

Ken?
Any word yet from your service manager friend?

guys,

I believe I have the same rattle in the B-pillar. Mine however, disapears when someone is sitting in the passenger seat. I can't seem to be able to pinpoint the noise from the seat itself.

I'm sure that it's not the seat belt assembly...I've buckled the seat belt with no one in the seat and the rattle still occured.

Are we talking about the same rattle here?

My car has been at the dealer since yesterday - no word yet. I had removed all of the plastic and seat belt anchor before I went in. When I dropped it off, I made sure that their tech rode along to listen.

After having a friend drive the car while I listened from the back, I am pretty sure that the sound is coming from the lower quarter of the pillar - possibly at the floor as others have described.

I drove by twice to see my car just sitting on the lot. What's up with that? :rolleyes:

I'll keep you posted.

Nolan