Fixing the creaking from the rear deck/parcel shelf

[Shad 20]

A common issue that's by far and away the worst creak/rattle in the car. I've seen a video showing how you can stuff some foam into the void underneath the trim from the boot. I'd like to go a step further and remove the trim to fit a large piece of upholstery foam underneath. Does that sound doable? I can see there are 4 clips on the front edge of the trip piece, but does any other trim need to come out as well? Any guesses what thickness foam would work, before I take it apart?

Thanks

[will300 812]

You just need to remove the 4 clips on the front and lift / bend it in the middle and the piece will pull out, you could pull the sides on the C pillar off to make it a little easier.

As for the shelf deck, it's not flat and there is some electronics in there, so covering it with 1 piece of foam won't be easy. I just stuck some sound deadening and insultation foam in there, see below. I find most of the rattle comes from the 3rd brake light housing, at the time of doing the sound deadening I had an Intec high mount light, so I didn't get any rattle, I've now put the stock 3rd brake light back and the rattle is terrible. 

 

[Shad 20]

That's really useful, thanks @will300. I guess I just need to remove the brake light before trying to bend it in the middle. Do you think the brake light rattle is from the brake light against the glass, or something else?

[will300 812]

Yes you'll need to remove the brake light before removing the shelf. 

The rattle could come from a number of places,

1. As you've already stated against the glass.

2. The brake light housing is in two parts that push fit together plastic on plastic.

3. The power cable to the light as this goes through the lower plastic half and the metal shelf. 

Not that it's recommended but you could remove the light and go for a short drive to see if that makes any difference. 

[Shad 20]

Ok that makes sense, thanks. As well as fitting some foam I'll see if there's anything I can do to the brake light unit and cable run to help there 👍

[Church 209]

Worst noise issue from that area for me was from U latches of reclaiming back of seats. IIRC more permanent fix should be reassembling latching mechanism in seat back, but as temporary workaround some ducttape can be applied around those latches (after few opening/closing soft tape will probably be cut through).

As for brake light .. maybe some felt or something alike can be cut and sticked on between brake light and glass?

[Luke 193]

I found the best way to solve this was to get back there and do the car wow tap test. Then I folded and stuffed wedges of upholstery foam. You can use a cut up t shirt for testing purposes. They’re are loads of access holes to stuff foam into so I don’t think it’s necessary to remove but easy enough if you want to. My rattle noise was coming from the play in the clips that hold it down, so bolstering it with foam worked really well.

[Shad 20]

Had an attempt at this last night. Didn't quite go to plan.

First of all, how to you actually get the brake light off in a BRZ? I thought I understood the workshop diagram/instructions but maybe not. The unit would split in two ok, but I couldn't detach it from the parcel shelf (without risking breaking something). Are the two legs at the front supposed to lift up and unclip, and then the unit slides forward?

The parcel shelf did appear to be partially glued down, but with the brake light still on I couldn't get it moving enough to come out. So I resorted to the above approach and strategically stuffed some foam in from underneath. There was something metal on the RHS that seemed to buzz when that area of the car was tapped, which was easily solved. Did a test drive and it was ok for a few miles then back to being noisy again.

[Conscript 45]

1 hour ago, Shad said:

Had an attempt at this last night. Didn't quite go to plan.

First of all, how to you actually get the brake light off in a BRZ? I thought I understood the workshop diagram/instructions but maybe not. The unit would split in two ok, but I couldn't detach it from the parcel shelf (without risking breaking something). Are the two legs at the front supposed to lift up and unclip, and then the unit slides forward?

The parcel shelf did appear to be partially glued down, but with the brake light still on I couldn't get it moving enough to come out. So I resorted to the above approach and strategically stuffed some foam in from underneath. There was something metal on the RHS that seemed to buzz when that area of the car was tapped, which was easily solved. Did a test drive and it was ok for a few miles then back to being noisy again.

You can unclip the top of the brake light and remove it if you unplug it from its connector in the boot. However, the legs can't be removed without taking out the whole shelf and drilling them off. But you are able to remove the shelf with them in place by bending it. 

There's a guy on the GT86 Drivers Club Facebook group who was selling a kit to lower the brake light (I assume he's on these forum too) and he made an excellent video showing you how to fit it, which includes detailed instructions for removing the shelf from the car...you just have to be a bit heavy handed and bend it a bit. But it's not going to snap and will return to shape fairly easily. And he shows you the approximate locations of the securing clips. 

https://youtu.be/aiCh61698pw

[Shad 20]

Great video, really cleared things up, thank you!

Used a combination of some foam and some fabric wiring loom tape on the shelf and brake light, so if it still makes any noise then I will just live with it!

Thanks for your help all

[Shad 20]

Welp, there's still an occasional creaking/ticking noise from the back 🤦‍♂️😂

I'm damn sure it's not the parcel shelf now tho, and the brake light seems unlikely after some minor mods to that too. Anything else common back there for making noises?

[BRZ-123 174]

2 hours ago, Shad said:

Welp, there's still an occasional creaking/ticking noise from the back 🤦‍♂️😂

I'm damn sure it's not the parcel shelf now tho, and the brake light seems unlikely after some minor mods to that too. Anything else common back there for making noises?

C pillar plastic trim can rattle. So that is the next thing you should try, if you are paranoid. But honest advise is learn to live with it. It adds character

[Conscript 45]

2 hours ago, Shad said:

Welp, there's still an occasional creaking/ticking noise from the back 🤦‍♂️😂

I'm damn sure it's not the parcel shelf now tho, and the brake light seems unlikely after some minor mods to that too. Anything else common back there for making noises?

Yup, the ticking noise is a common issue. Stick your head in the boot and look up. You'll see some small gaps in between the panelling and frame, held together with spot welds. It's these which cause the ticking noise as they flex. Squirt some silicone grease in between those gaps. I did it just after I bought the car years ago...ticking noise hasn't come back since.