Creak in rear/boot

[AndyL61]

I nearly took Caliban over this the day before yesterday, but caution prevailed.

View attachment 26978

The Google Streetview van appears to have made it over, but I was a bit nervous about grounding the bottom of the battery case.

You should ground the sills before the battery as they sit a bit lower but you don't really want to be grounding anything so probably a good decision.?

 

[Rolfe]

I didn't walk to the top of the bridge to see what it actually looked like close up, maybe it's not as sharp as it seems from the bank. But on the whole, even though the way round was a gummed-up traffic jam, probably best to avoid it.

 

[tsedge]

Have finally gotten around to addressing this issue with our car.

I adjusted the two bungs at the end of the bootlid. That involves twisting each one left 90 degrees and then pulling/prying them out a bit. Only a small adjustment was needed and they moved very easily. I initially moved them too far, closed the boot and couldn't open it again! But a bit of downwards pressure on the bootlid and the latch released.

I have also put a small piece of insulation tape on the latch edge that is nearest to the rear (where the latch makes contact).

Hopefully this will resolve the rattling noise we have been hearing... I will endeavour to report back.

 

[Ralegend]

The taping method didn't work. For the bungs method, the screwdriver set just arrived and I tried it right away. Unfortunately the noise is still there. The noise is like a constant almost silent ringing bell. The noise starts at 45-50 km/h in the bumby roads. Any more ideas?

 

[tsedge]

The taping method didn't work. For the bungs method, the screwdriver set just arrived and I tried it right away. Unfortunately the noise is still there. The noise is like a constant almost silent ringing bell. The noise starts at 45-50 km/h in the bumby roads. Any more ideas?

Mine isn't constant and it isn't like a bell - I get what started as a creak and is now a clonk sound.

What you are experiencing sounds quite different from your description, perhaps it has different cause?

 

[Ralegend]

Mine isn't constant and it isn't like a bell - I get what started as a creak and is now a clonk sound.

What you are experiencing sounds quite different from your description, perhaps it has different cause?

Thank you for your reply.
Maybe I should open another topic. It's very annoying. It's been there since I bought the car and although I didn't care at first, it's starting to bother me now. It is a very silent ringing bell noise but I can hear while driving. And I drive the car every day.

 

[tsedge]

Mine has been completely fixed by the changes I made - just tested it this morning and the sounds are gone.

 

[mg4mc]

I adjusted my rubber stops and it went away, but came back again a week later

The stops seem to be made out of very hard rubber - much harder than other cars I have had, I wonder if that is part of the problem. The adjustment positions are quite coarse too, my other cars had adjusters that screwed in-out so were effectively infinitely adjustable.

 

[tsedge]

Thank you for your reply.
Maybe I should open another topic. It's very annoying. It's been there since I bought the car and although I didn't care at first, it's starting to bother me now. It is a very silent ringing bell noise but I can hear while driving. And I drive the car every day.

That sounds like some kind of resonance at speed, I really don't know what could cause that.

 

[tsedge]

I adjusted my rubber stops and it went away, but came back again a week later

The stops seem to be made out of very hard rubber - much harder than other cars I have had, I wonder if that is part of the problem. The adjustment positions are quite coarse too, my other cars had adjusters that screwed in-out so were effectively infinitely adjustable.

Yes, all the stoppers do is adjust the resting position of the closed catch. That's why both mods are needed I suspect, it can easily still rattle on the stoppers alone, particularly if they compress after a while in the new position.

 

[securespark]

The noise starts at 45-50 km/h in the bumby roads. Any more ideas?

Move to somewhere the roads are nice and smooth?


I joke, of course, but I live literally round the corner from a road that must have the most potholes of all the roads in my postcode area.

Our old Honda FRV covered 174K before we sold it when we got the 4. Obviously we used this potholey road a lot. And we changed droplinks regularly. The rest of the suspension was original factory fit, including the shock absorbers, but the droplinks seemed to be sacrificial.

 

[Ian Key]

The taping method didn't work. For the bungs method, the screwdriver set just arrived and I tried it right away. Unfortunately the noise is still there. The noise is like a constant almost silent ringing bell. The noise starts at 45-50 km/h in the bumby roads. Any more ideas?

You've checked that the tyre pump, tyre sealant etc. under the boot floor hasn't come loose and is knocking against each other?

 

[Barry Ryan]

Good morning,
My MG4 Trophy is 7 months old and has developed a creak in the rear/boot.
This does not happen on smooth roads, just on uneven country lanes.
It seems to be if the car flexes causes the creak.
I have been all around the rear of the car pressing and prodding but everything seems to fit well.
Does anybody esle have the same creak? or have a cure.

TIA

Tim

My MG4 is exactly the same. It seems when the body twists, e.g. over speed bumps, it causes the creak. Did you find an answer?

Bingo, fixed it.
AndyL61 was correct, it was the boot catch. A wrap of insulating tape has cured the problem.
Thanks for all your help.

Tim

Hi Tim, can you explain what you did with the tape and what is insulating tape?
Electrical tape, or other?
Regards. Barry.

 

[tsedge]

Insulating tape is electrical tape you can buy from B&Q and other DIY stores, in different colours.

Get some black insulation tape and wrap a short piece around the "U" of the boot latch, only on the rearmost side of the U, which the latch latches to. Don't put too much on or you'll find the latch sticks. But a small amount wrapped round tightly just once should be enough.

This solves many rattles / creaks.

There are also two rubber stoppers in the edges of the bootlid that you can rotate 90 degrees and pull out one or two notches and then rotate back - these will tighten up the bootlid and make the latch fit more snugly.

Again, don't pull these out much or you'll find the boot will get stuck shut or not close - if you run into the stuck situation, pressing down on the lid while operating the boot release should release it.

You'd hope dealers knew about this but mine was clueless.

 

[Ian Key]

if you run into the stuck situation, pressing down on the lid while operating the boot release should release it.

Can I add, DON'T push down on the spoiler it will break it but near the bottom of the lid where it slightly curves out.

 

[Barry Ryan]

I have the same issue. If it's caused by the same thing I might give this a go. Have you a pic of what you did?

Good morning,
My MG4 Trophy is 7 months old and has developed a creak in the rear/boot.
This does not happen on smooth roads, just on uneven country lanes.
It seems to be if the car flexes causes the creak.
I have been all around the rear of the car pressing and prodding but everything seems to fit well.
Does anybody esle have the same creak? or have a cure.

TIA

Tim

Yeah the problem is the boot lock. Wrap some tape around the striker and no more noise.

 

[David9448]

I had this problem, annoying rattle/creak, to prove it was the tailgate latch, I laid a thickish tea towel over the latch, shut the tailgate, and took it down a local bumpy road, and the noise was gone, so I took out the trim around the receiver and adjusted the receiver down a bit to tighten up the locking mechanism, job done.

 

[mg4mc]

Me too, I adjusted the bump stops, but the adjustment steps are too large. It was either too tight or too loose.

The striker plate had been slapped on at a odd angle. I straighten it up by only adjusting one side. No rattle now.