Rattle/Squeak coming from Hatch on '05 Prius

There are lots of wiring inside the hatch.
If I were you, I would
- take off all the inside trim pieces of the hatch
- inspect for potential culprits (anything that could make noises) - use foam tape to insulate them
- have you wife drive the Prius, and you can locate source as you did before
You should be able to locate the source.
Most likely some small pieces went loose inside the hatch making noises.

 

Have you tried a little lubricant on the rubber gasket around the hatch?

 

like to point if you decide to remove the panels in the hatch, be extra careful. The clips break easily, I broke off 2 of them when I Was routing my Sirius Ant.

 

I'm trying to figure out what is causing my rattling issue. Like everyone else I have removed all of the rear storage materials such that there is nothing but the open spare tire well. The noise seems to come from the hatch but I cannot pinpoint the source nor can I replicate it. it only occurs while driving over bumps inr the road.

The spoiler is nice and tight and there is no play in the hatch so tightening the latch doesn't appear to be a solution. The plastic hatch cover is off such that I can see all of the exposed wires but I wrapped those long ago to reduce vibration from loud stereo systems.

Any other ideas?

 

My 2005 Prius has the same "hatch rattle". I have found no solution. I'm getting tired of it and
especially passengers commenting on it. It reflects poorly on the overall high quality of the Prius.
I am very interested in anyone's solution.

 

If I figure it out I'll post the fix so your suffering can end to.

 

Thanks to the members that took out the spare tire, etc. so I didn't have to go through the effort. I opened the hatch and noticed a cone shaped rubber bumper/mount on the right and left hand side of the hatch that when the hatch is shut mate with a fastener of some type on the tail gate. I put a piece of foam pipe insulation about 1' long by 1' dia. over the cones (longer than the cones) and shut the hatch. I went on a 10 mile errand and did not hear any rattle! Of course when I opened the hatch the temporary pieces of insulation fell off so I now have to figure out a permanent solution. I hope that this is a fix. I will not be driving my car for the next few days so more testing will have to wait.

 

...can you reproduce rattle in the garage by opening hatch and manually shaking it? I see my license plate is loose on the bottom.

 

Nope. Long ago I placed a bead of silicone on the back side of the license plate, let it dry then bolted license it back on without a frame. This cures license plate vibration even with very loud stereo systems.

I cannot seem to reproduce the sound when not driving. I wrapped the plastic "stoppers", that are located on the bottom sides of the hatch, in felt to eliminate them from my list of rattle sources. I'll find out tomorrow if that helps.

T, edcould you take a picture of the area you are talking about?

 

So wrapping those "bump stops" or whatever they are significantly reduce the hatch rattle. I still have some rattling/squeaking going on but I am happy that most of it is gone.

Once I find out where the other noises are coming from I'll post the solution.

For now this is the piece I wrapped in a light carpet. If I had to go buy materials I would use a thin felt material.

The part I wrapped with carpet is located on the top of the hatch as identified in this picture as "upper side spacer".

 

I seem to have the same issue on my 2004 Prius. I am fast approaching 170,000 miles so I do expect a few rattles and/or squeaks, however this one in particular is quite annoying. I thought it was the spare not seated properly (nope), cargo shifting (nada), lift struts worn (zip). Anywhooo, I remembered when I owned a 1990 Acura Integra it had a similar sounding rattle. I isolated the cause to the catch mechanism which locks the hatch in place. My theory is that over time some "play" develops which permits the hatch to shimmy and shake when going over rough roads. In order to test my theory I stacked some napkins (all I had at the time) and cut a slit for the metal loop to go through. The thickness of the napkins created a tight seal which eliminated the play, hence the rattle is eliminated. I am going to come up with something better than stacked napkins, but I believe I've isolated the culprit.

 

Another possible solution might be to lubricate the rubber gasket with a silicone treatment, or to replace it. I am referring to the rubber that lines the opening of the hatch and is visible in the photo provided in post #12.

After 6-7 years the existing gasket might be flattened down, thus allowing the hatch to rattle around.

 

I know this is an old thread but I seem to have nailed it down to the cushion #1 (p/n) 67293-47010) or the stopper (p/n 67281-47010) or the cushion #2 (p/n 90541-09125).

After pulling everything out of the rear of the car as many have before the squeak was not going away and came and went with the bumps in the road. So I thought if I unlatched the hatch to the first catch and see what happened. The squeak is gone. So we drove for a while in silence until we went over a rail crossing and the hatch closed completely and immediately began its squeak.

So with an old plastic butter container I cut out some gaskets to fit behind the cushions and stopper. Loosened off the bolts and screws and put 2 behind each of the cushions and stoppers. Now on a trip to Las Vegas on the weekend there was not a squeak to be herd.

So will new cushions and stoppers fix it at a cost of about $80 or new weather strip to the trick? Or do I just leave it as it is?

 

Problem is likely caused by both the cushions and weather strip getting less springy.

If you decide to replace the weather strip you may still want to keep those “butter container shims” under the cushions. Unless you just replace the cushions as well.

Another way to fix this might just to adjust the hatch a bit forward and down. But adjusting any panel is never easy.

 

Here are photos of the cushion and stopper. I can see the wear marks and wonder if putting some felt on them may stop the squeak or not.