986 with GAHH hood - rattle driving me MAD!

[perleman]

I'm not 100% sure if the rattle started after installation of the new hood or not but it is very noticable on slightly bumpy roads at 30-60 MPH. It seems to come from about 12 inches away from my right ear (the car is right hand drive) and is a light tinny squeak / rattle - I'm pretty sure it comes from within the car (i.e. not suspension), and it sounds like a light plastic shirt button being tapped against a table top i.e. not a deep or hollow sounding noise but a light rapid tap-tap-tappety-tap-tap kind of thing, with multiple taps per second.

Could it be the guide cable that surrounds the metal wire of the hood mechanism? Or something inside the hood?

[roadracer311]

I'm not 100% sure if the rattle started after installation of the new hood or not but it is very noticable on slightly bumpy roads at 30-60 MPH. It seems to come from about 12 inches away from my right ear (the car is right hand drive) and is a light tinny squeak / rattle - I'm pretty sure it comes from within the car (i.e. not suspension), and it sounds like a light plastic shirt button being tapped against a table top i.e. not a deep or hollow sounding noise but a light rapid tap-tap-tappety-tap-tap kind of thing, with multiple taps per second.

Could it be the guide cable that surrounds the metal wire of the hood mechanism? Or something inside the hood?

I have this exact same problem with my original Porsche top on my 2003 Boxster S. Did you ever find a solution for this one?

[kbrandsma]

I recently started getting a similar noise at about 70 MPH. It sounds only with the top up. I have original top and window is in good shape.

[geoff]

I'm not 100% sure if the rattle started after installation of the new hood or not but it is very noticable on slightly bumpy roads at 30-60 MPH. It seems to come from about 12 inches away from my right ear (the car is right hand drive) and is a light tinny squeak / rattle - I'm pretty sure it comes from within the car (i.e. not suspension), and it sounds like a light plastic shirt button being tapped against a table top i.e. not a deep or hollow sounding noise but a light rapid tap-tap-tappety-tap-tap kind of thing, with multiple taps per second.

Could it be the guide cable that surrounds the metal wire of the hood mechanism? Or something inside the hood?

You didn't say what year your Boxster was. There's a TSB from 2003 titled "Rattling Noises from the Cabriolet Top" that describes a new "centering peg" that goes where the convertible top meets the top of the windshield. I replaced these on my '01 Boxster and it got rid of most of the rattles I heard with the top up. Since the GAHH top is much newer than 2003, they should be using the latest parts, but you never know. You might want to check with GAHH to see if this might be the cause of your rattle. The newer replacement parts are pretty inexpensive from Sunset

[roadracer311]

Solution!

After a year of chasing this sound, I've finally made it go away on my car (2003 Boxster S with the original top).

The sound was exactly as you describe: shirt button hitting on a hollow tube. It was really taking away from my enjoyment of the car. So much so, that I was avoiding driving it unless I could to so with the top down.

I've attached two photos. The fist shows where to look. In my case it was on the passenger side (right side) under the spring loaded flap shown in the photo.

The solution was loosening the torx screw, pushing down where shown, with one finger while tightening the torx screw with the other hand. The position of the head of the screw moved from one end of the slot, to more than half way toward the other end of the slot.

Caveats: I have no idea what this spring loaded slotted thing is for. For me, it made the rattle go away, and has had no negative side effects. But that was only 24 hours ago.