Bought a used '04 last week and there is something loose and rolling around somewhere in the car. Whenever I brake hard, accelerate hard, or turn hard, I can hear it roll and then hit something and stop. It sounds like a small piece of plastic tumbling around. I am wondering where it is coming from, because it is driving me nuts. It sounds like it is coming from right behind my seat, to the left, when sitting in it. So that would put it where the top sits, right above the back left tire (when sitting in the car). The trunk is empty, and I have put up the top and checked the area where the top usually lies but haven't found the source of the sound. The storage area under the arm rest and the "secret compartment" are empty. There isn't anything under the seat either. Any ideas on where to check? It looks like there is a plastic panel behind the driver's seat with some hooks on it...is there anything in there?

Thanks you all!

 

Could be a loose plastic fastener rolling around in between the channel behind the seats. There's about 2 dozen different plastic fasteners that are back there and it's possible.

 

it sounds pretty sizeable, maybe like something the size of a matchbook. how do I get to that channel?

 

Have you check where the spare tire sits? I found a can of old fix-a-flat taped with electric tape, it fallen off due to old age. It would roll around everytime I turn, it took 2 weeks before I dug into the trunk to find it.

 

You can either get to it by removing the trunk interior panel (very easy) or by removing the panel behind the seat (there are screws inside the hook thing... Pry the flip lid of the hook gently to expose them).

 

Easiest is probably removing the seats and the rear panel behind the seats. After that just grab a flashlight and magnet and see what you can come up with.

 

After I got my top replaced, the place that did it left a small piece of metal or something inside one of the roof rails. If I take a corner hard with the top up, you can hear it slide from one side to the other. Pretty annoying, but I so rarely drive with the top up that I didn't notice for like a month after I had the work done and didn't feel good about making them take the whole thing apart again to get it out.

 

I have a bolt from the roll hoop still going back and forth when I take left/right hand turns hard. One of these days I'll actually take the time to disassemble everything and get it out.

 

Sounds to me like something might be where the Spare Tire sits.

 

maybe tighten the donut.