Tailgate rattle/clunk

[Digiman]

Hi, I purchased a 2.0 TDi with around 2500 miles on the clock. I am generally very impressed with it except for the rattle/clunking I get from around the tailgate when going over slightly rough ground at low speed. When I first noticed it I decided to try and see where it was coming from so I emptied the boot of everything (spare, toolkit, boot floormat and parcel shelf), but it was still there.

I notice the following. with the tailgate down and latched, if I tugged slightly upwards at the bottom lefthand corner I can get a slight clunk.

The scirocco uses a kind of spring loaded bump stops on the bottom of the tailgate rather than standard rubber ones that screew in/out to adjust (I tought it might be there bottoming out).

The noise goes away if I place a couple of felt padsover each of the striker pads where the tailgate bump stops make contact with the tailgate. I am using this as a a temp fix till I take the car to the dealer.

I am still not exactlly sure what the prob is, maybe the gas struts for the tailgate. On that matter I notice that when you open the tailgate these struts do not provide a lot of resistance, don't know if that is normal.

[scirocco]

Ive come to the same conclusion the left side of the tail gate makes a metal on metal noise if you push it down with your hands (the right side is fine). The Black stopper appears to be a little to short. I Will be getting the dealer to look at mine come my first service which is 3 thousand miles away....

[drnick]

I swapped the left and right ones round and it cured the problem! The knocking sound was on the right on mine, as was the shorter damper thingy.

[Evil Derboy]

...shorter damper thingy.

Things are getting far too technical around here.

[Digiman]

I swapped the left and right ones round and it cured the problem! The knocking sound was on the right on mine, as was the shorter damper thingy.

How did you swap them ?

[dchuraman]

i had a similar problem wheni first got my car, going slowly over rough ground i would creak and clunk from the rear end. 2 trips later to vw and they replaced all the interior trim in the boot area, i dont exactly know what but the list on the warranty sheet is pretty impressive, needless to say i think the car was pretty much stripped down and rebuilt inside at the back

[drnick]

sorry for not replying sooner. I removed them by turning through 90 degrees, then they just pull out.

[jc74]

I swapped the left and right ones round and it cured the problem! The knocking sound was on the right on mine, as was the shorter damper thingy.

Any chances of some pictures to demonstrate exactly what you mean?
My car has just very recently started having exactly the same problem

[drnick]

gimme a couple of days and i'll do it.

[Digiman]

Also it looks like they are adjustable for length. So maybe extending them might help. If not I might look for some black self-adhesive rubber feet and stick them over the striker pads on the body, until such time as I can be bothered to go to the dealer.

[drnick]

if they are adjustable for length i couldn't figure out how to do it, but they must be as mine are different lengths!!



This is the damper in place



Tailgate without damper



Damper - note the locating pegs which match the shape of the hole in the tailgate. If you just grasp the sprung part and twist anti-clockwise the damper rotates 90 degrees then pulls out.

[matija1974]

i had a similar problem wheni first got my car, going slowly over rough ground i would creak and clunk from the rear end. 2 trips later to vw and they replaced all the interior trim in the boot area, i dont exactly know what but the list on the warranty sheet is pretty impressive, needless to say i think the car was pretty much stripped down and rebuilt inside at the back

Hi,

at first, I have to apologize on my English, I come from Slovenia and I'm not a native speaker.
I spotted the same thing at my Roc as you described - when driving slowly over rough ground it clunks/rattles from the back, but at higher speeds these sounds almost disappear. It really gets on my nerves and on Sat I'm taking the car to my VW dealer.

So, did the "rebuilt" of the boot area cure the problem? Could you write down the replaced parts?

Thanks in advance!

[rhcp128]

Heck I have the same problem my dealer was looking at it the whole day yesterday! He told me he tried everything and that I had to come back monday. I'll check it out now maybe it's the same part

[Digiman]

if they are adjustable for length i couldn't figure out how to do it, but they must be as mine are different lengths!!

I think I may have found out how to adjust. If you put an allen (2.5 or 3mm I think) up the end of the damper you will find a bolt that unscrews. Not tried to unscrew fully yet but will give it a try when I have the time

[Evil Derboy]

if they are adjustable for length i couldn't figure out how to do it, but they must be as mine are different lengths!!

I think I may have found out how to adjust. If you put an allen (2.5 or 3mm I think) up the end of the damper you will find a bolt that unscrews. Not tried to unscrew fully yet but will give it a try when I have the time

I noticed this problem tonight and Digman is right. If you loosed the allen bolt in the middle (goes through the hole in the rubber in the centre of the bump-stop) it creates a tighter fit between the boot lid and the frame. Not sure how it works but it does. My boot rattle is now gone.

Thanks Digman.

[jc74]

if they are adjustable for length i couldn't figure out how to do it, but they must be as mine are different lengths!!

I think I may have found out how to adjust. If you put an allen (2.5 or 3mm I think) up the end of the damper you will find a bolt that unscrews. Not tried to unscrew fully yet but will give it a try when I have the time

I noticed this problem tonight and Digman is right. If you loosed the allen bolt in the middle (goes through the hole in the rubber in the centre of the bump-stop) it creates a tighter fit between the boot lid and the frame. Not sure how it works but it does. My boot rattle is now gone.

Thanks Digman.

Thanks guys, I've got car booked in for tomorrow for this problem plus another. So I'll give it a look and it if fixes it, they can just concentrate on sorting out my parking sensors!

Update, just tried it and it seems to have fixed it. I noticed the allen key is quite a bit smaller than the hole so probably about 2.5mm.
This is good news, since I wasn't keen on them taking the damn boot apart!

[CockneyJock]

Hi guys, I must admit the first 3 months of driving with the clunk/rattle has become annoying to say the least. It has, however given me the opportunity to test out the excellent iPod connectable ICE. With help from this thread, though, I have sorted my rattle.

Loosen the Allen nut through the hole in the end of the damper with a 3mm key, you do not have to remove the damper from its seat. The nut loosens a sort of expanding plug inside and you can pull the sprung part out to the desired position. Don't worry if it comes all the way out, just push it back in and retighten the Allen nut. You may need a bit of trial and error to get them to the right length.

Hope this helps!

[matija1974]

You may need a bit of trial and error to get them to the right length.

Hi,

I've tried placing the damper in several positions and I must say it's better but not good - the slight clunking is still present while driving slowly over bad road !
Do I need to fully retighten the bolt or should I try different lenghts or what? I'm really loosing my patience...

My previous car (BMW 3er) was really "a box of silence" compared to this roc although it was already 5yrs old. I bought a new roc and the clunking is there since I drove it from the dealer's.

Thanks for any additional suggestions!

[Digiman]

Hi, I have mine adjusted out about 7mm and mine is OK. You should tighten the bolt or else it might just push in when you close the tailgate.

[matija1974]

Hi, I have mine adjusted out about 7mm and mine is OK. You should tighten the bolt or else it might just push in when you close the tailgate.

I put the dampers out for about 5mm, I'll now try with 7 or more (although I have some thoughts, I hope the tailgate will stay closed ).

Thanks.