"Rattling Noise"

[Steely Dan]

I have noticed that when going slow, over less than smooth roads, or backing down my gravel driveway, I can hear a knocking or rattling noise. To me, it seems to be related to the drivers side, maybe a strut??

I cannot find anything loose. Has anyone had a similar situation?

I have had this car since new, took it to dealer for all maintenance. Now, seems things are going out.

1.) Headlight (passenger)
2.) Rear hatch struts are getting weak.
3.) Rear taillight on drivers side had a lense to "pop out"
4.) Dash clock works sometimes

This has been my favorite car but I am getting worried. Just paid it off back in April. It's got 90,535.00 on it. I plan to put at least 200,000 on it.

[fishexpo101]

More likely to be a worn endlink or swaybar bushing - known to wear out for some owners. A worn strut isolator or spring seat, worn upper strut mount can also cause noise (excessive slop). Can also be the exhaust manifold heat shield flexing from the chassis flexing. would have to take the wheel off and do a visual inspection of what their condition is first.

The digital clock has been an issue for both Corolla and Matrix - not much you can do about that other than replacing it. Never seen a taillight lense pop out like that - they do stick out a little bit, but not that extreme. Do you notice any water condensation inside the housing? Headlamps were a weak point on both the Corolla and Matrix - even the previous 8th generation Corolla.

Not sure exactly what the deal is, but on my 1996 Camry - it has all the original lamps on there, save the dome lamp. Lighting is still pretty bright - nothing special about the bulb, just a COTS Sylviania bulb. I'm pretty sure it has something to due with the DRL system that were mandated on all new cars. Extra heat + greater likelyhood to cloud the headlamp lenses may have shorted their lifespans.

I also have the sagging hatch struts - much to my dismay. More than a few occasions have I open the hatch, only to have it either stop partway up or worse, sag downward, and end up crashing my forehead into the edge of the hatch. Looked at having them replaced by the dealership wants a little more than $180 a set, cheapest online was $60 each. Someone had mentioned that they used one for some other application, nearly the identical lift cylinder - just has a different mating end, for $12 each - but misplaced that link somewhere.

No worries about the rest of the car - as there are quite a few Matrixes with more than 100K+ miles, many with 200K+ miles, and even a few with 300K+ miles. Just keep up with the maintainence and you will have no trouble loading the miles on there. Have 110K+ on the Matrix, 160K+_on the Corolla - neither one has a major issue, just these little nagging things.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by fishexpo101

More likely to be a worn endlink or swaybar bushing - known to wear out for some owners. A worn strut isolator or spring seat, worn upper strut mount can also cause noise (excessive slop). Can also be the exhaust manifold heat shield flexing from the chassis flexing. would have to take the wheel off and do a visual inspection of what their condition is first.

I'm hoping the slight knocking noise is nothing serious (it is a faint noise). There is no sloppiness in the suspension. I will take it to the dealer and have the coolant flushed, tranny flushed and the plugs changed in a few weeks. I will also have them check the problem you addressed in the other thread (starting) and have them look at the endlinks and swaybar.

I am a diehard Toyota guy. I will hopefully purchase a Tacoma this summer. I traded my old truck in for the 2010 Corolla in August. I haven't been without a truck for 23 years and I miss having one.

Again, thank you for your help, SD