I have an '07 NC soft-top which is my pride and joy - bought late last year and I have put over 100 hours into improving what was a bit of a stinker.
But there is one rattle I can’t for the life of me find the cause of. I’ve attached a recording below (phone was on the rear shelf). Hoping someone here has heard the noise before and can help my diagnose before I phone the dreaded Mazda dealer this week.
The noise comes from over my right shoulder as I drive (RHD). Generally the rattle is worse when I pull off or change gear semi-aggressively, and doesn’t tend to correspond to when the rear suspension is under stress from potholes or general bad roads (though it can). It sounds like it’s either coming from the soft top fixings below the rear plastic parcel shelf, or from the rear suspension on that side. I’ve spent hours poking and prodding the rear suspension components and have replaced the drop link, rear anti-roll bar and added coilovers all around the car. Irritatingly, the noise does seem to largely go away if the roof is down, but can still happen.
Go to the plastic shelf behind where the hood drops down in to. I had it on my NC soft top, only when the hood was up. Quick remedy, get some pipe insulation from B&Q and put it around the front edges (nearest the seats) to pack it out. Permanent remedy is to remove the shelf and put some more permanent packing under there to deaden the rattle/vibration.
I did the easier option
If its not that then more searching required, pipe insulation just a couple of £ss.
When you release the soft top from it’s locked down position the hood should “spring-up” slightly. Mine had stopped doing this, so I fitted two 5/8 inch rubber walking stick tips, to fit over the rubber “stops” the hood is supposed to rest on, whilst in the down position- one each side.
This restores the “spring” when the hood is released from the lock position, and quietens the area behind the drivers head. Locking the hood down takes a bit more of a push/effort, but this definitely cured a few rattles behind my head and made that area feel more solid.
Brilliant! My 06 has just reached that state of affairs. I shall look out for someone passing with a zimmer frame so as to save the few pence at B&Q . . .
I have exactly the same issue on my NC2. A buzzing resonance when pulling from low down in most gears around 2000-3000 rpm. Only occurs with the roof up. After prodding and poking i found if i rest my hand on the plastic soft top tray it stopped. I’ll steal some pipe lagging out the loft and try this fix.
I’ve made a fresh recording which might help as it’s a bit clearer. It’s not constant hum/vibration caused by the exhaust, more a clunk/rattle when moving over rough road. Sounds like metal on metal, almost like a nut has come loose or something has broken beneath the shelf (or could be the suspension itself!). I also managed to recreate it with the top down.
I think I’m going to have to tear down the plastic trim below the roll bar and have a proper look behind the seats (does anyone have a guide/video on how to do this?). The local Mazda dealer wanted £150 to even look at it so I quickly told them where to go.
If anyone else has heard a similar noise I’d be really appreciative of your experience!
Might have already done this but have you had a good look in that area in the boot/wheel arch area where the jack is kept? There’s enough room for a spanner or three to get lost less than a couple of feet from your right ear. Is the jack loose?
That’s a similar sound to one I had after a company car repair at a main dealer. It was a lump hammer left on top of the wishbone.
I did - that was one of the first things I ruled out. I actually stripped down the whole boot, including the fuel line protective shield to see if that was the culprit. No change.
If only it was as simple as finding a rogue tool sat on top of my suspension!
I had a rattle which irritated especially going over small patches of uneven road. Going over really deep holes or those sunken manholes (usually try and avoid) and no rattles, a strange one.
I had a complete suspension change to MeisterR’s, after the change the rattles stopped. I suspected the original Bilsteins were the cause of the rattles, couldn’t be anything else.
I note you’ve had a suspension change so maybe not your problem there.
Funny you mention MeisterR’s as that is exactly the set of coilovers I went for, and they are superb.
Very similar experience to you Mick in the sense that going over large potholes, bumps etc there is no rattle/clunk (other than what you’d expect from driving over a massive hole in the road), but driving normally over semi-bad road the rattle/clunk is at its worst!
I thought I was in luck when I discovered that the spring on the rear coilover (MeisterR Sportive) was so loose that it moveable by hand - set the height to 50mm (to the point where I couldn’t rattle the spring by hand) on both sides but it’s still there!
If it’s the same rattle I had, try looking in the area of where the support is situated and place a piece of foam under the support, it worked for me and several other people, when the hood is down the support is pushed down by the weight of the roof…
My PRHT had a couple of rattles / buzzes that annoyed me. One was the back back, loose stuff inside. Swapped for a Cobalt and that has sorted it. Other noise was the heatshield under the car resonating. Sorted that by bending it slightly.
I would add that all the noises were transmitted you through the rear drains which had the flaps on the bottom stuck open… I took the pipes out and cleaned up so the flaps work as they whould and the car is much less noisy. From that area anyways !
So to complete the saga here - I took the car into Colin at C&C Sparkes in Woking (highly recommended). He and his brother diagnosed the rattle as a bearing issue with the differential, so an expensive repair coming up!
Glad I followed through on getting a second opinion for something that seemed so inoffensive!
