Noisy Rear On Focus

[NewHouse]

I recently bought a 2009 Focus 1.6 TDI.

Very pleased with the car and love the economy.

Driving Miss Daisy on a trip to the Cotswolds on the week-end averaged just over 78MPG.

However, passengers in the rear complained that there was a distinct noise coming from the boot from between the rear doors and rear seats that sounded like the door was ajar or the window wasn’t sealing properly.

Finding nothing wrong with the door seals and windows I removed the rear plastic trims from one side and found that the space behind had a lot of grit and dust. It was coming from a 5mm gap in a panel seam at the top of the rear wheel arch beneath the rear seatbelt pillar. It would appear that the gap is open to the underside of the car allowing noise and dirt into the cabin. Both sides were the same.

I filled the gap with silicon and as Ford are not generous on sound proofing their cars I applied extra sound insulation and flashing tape to any bare panels.

Problem solved.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

[catch]

I recently bought a 2009 Focus 1.6 TDI.

Very pleased with the car and love the economy.

Driving Miss Daisy on a trip to the Cotswolds on the week-end averaged just over 78MPG.

I'm so envious, not that you had the day out with Miss Daisy [there again a photo, and I may change my mind] no the fact you got 78mpg. Best I've ever achieved on a trip was 37.55mpg North Yorks to Kent [down the A1 and back] four on board, and not going above 70mph as the other two were the in laws. I was taking them to a family funeral.

However, passengers in the rear complained that there was a distinct noise coming from the boot from between the rear doors and rear seats that sounded like the door was ajar or the window wasn’t sealing properly.

Finding nothing wrong with the door seals and windows I removed the rear plastic trims from one side and found that the space behind had a lot of grit and dust. It was coming from a 5mm gap in a panel seam at the top of the rear wheel arch beneath the rear seatbelt pillar. It would appear that the gap is open to the underside of the car allowing noise and dirt into the cabin. Both sides were the same.

that's shoddy, and not on really.

I filled the gap with silicon and as Ford are not generous on sound proofing their cars I applied extra sound insulation and flashing tape to any bare panels.

Problem solved.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

Nice one, and a good tip to others.

PS: welcome to the forum

[poshpawsfiesta]

my dads had 2 new shape focus's an 09 and a 10 plate and they both suffer from this problem , i just put it down to less sound insulation in the rear , as the front is very quite on the motorway, in fact the back is noiser than the cheaper mk7 fiesta that he had but the fron is quiter :)

[jeebowhite]

I agree with the lack of sound proofing, my 55 ZC TDCI is fairly noisy on motorway runs, after sitting in a friends 52 Vectra SRi you can really tell the difference...

[WHITEyy118]

I've noticed that problem before and in the same location you described. That was way before I got my Focus but on another that my partners dad owns.

Anyway you can't really notice it from the front but as soon as you are sitting in the rear it is so easy to locate where it is coming from. Now I haven't found the hole you are describing but upon my inspection I looked inside the boot and I can see underneath the plastic bit where the seat belts are. Then inside there I can clearly see the car bodywork so I'm thought that's where the noise is from but also I was thinking maybe it was from the rear wheel arches to.

I to would like to fix this problem as speaking to passengers can be hard on motorway journeys. I've read a thread on here before and they mentioned noisekiller, but £40 seems a bit exsessive to me and I would like to just be able to pop out and buy it, inside of getting it online. So what insulation did you use? Oh and how did you remove the plastic by the seat belts?

[catch]

Oh and how did you remove the plastic by the seat belts?

If my memory serves me right, I think they are just a push and snap into place fit. But you need to remove the rubber water seal moulding from the door frame bulkhead where your working. As the plastic trim has lips that fit under the adjoining trim.

[WHITEyy118]

If my memory serves me right, I think they are just a push and snap into place fit. But you need to remove the rubber water seal moulding from the door frame bulkhead where your working. As the plastic trim has lips that fit under the adjoining trim.

I've managed to get the bit from under the seal to pop out but nothing else budges. I've looked in the boot and there is some plastic held on with screws or something, just had a quick glance, and to me it looks like it's one peice. Or am I wrong?

Anyway I'd really like to know what type of insulation to use, and where to get it from. Because from what I could see there is wires behind the seat belts and some kind of airbag, so would me bet putting in extra insulation be unsafe or a fire hazard?

[catch]

I've managed to get the bit from under the seal to pop out but nothing else budges. I've looked in the boot and there is some plastic held on with screws or something, just had a quick glance, and to me it looks like it's one peice. Or am I wrong?

Anyway I'd really like to know what type of insulation to use, and where to get it from. Because from what I could see there is wires behind the seat belts and some kind of airbag, so would me bet putting in extra insulation be unsafe or a fire hazard?

I've had that lot off when I was trying to see if I could push a dent out of offside rear wing. Here

Cannot remember it step by step, but had the plastic trim of between bulkhead and back seat. Then you

can also remove the boot liner quite easily, starting from removing that plastic trim across the base of the tailgate door opening. It will give you access for putting sound proofing in, which should not hinder any safety features. As the airbags are in the front seat sides, and the C pillar between driver and passenger doors. Your wanting to sound proof the rear arch wheel areas,behind the rear seats, right ?

I did not remove that plastic trim that the rear shelf sits on, because it does not afford you any more access than you will get by removing the boot liner trim.

[WHITEyy118]

I've had that lot off when I was trying to see if I could push a dent out of offside rear wing. Here

Cannot remember it step by step, but had the plastic trim of between bulkhead and back seat. Then you

can also remove the boot liner quite easily, starting from removing that plastic trim across the base of the tailgate door opening. It will give you access for putting sound proofing in, which should not hinder any safety features. As the airbags are in the front seat sides, and the C pillar between driver and passenger doors. Your wanting to sound proof the rear arch wheel areas,behind the rear seats, right ?

I did not remove that plastic trim that the rear shelf sits on, because it does not afford you any more access than you will get by removing the boot liner trim.

Yeah I'm looking to sound proof above the rear wheel arches behind all that plastic. That's where 80% of the noise is coming from I believe. The actual boot itself is pretty well insulated.

As for the airbag I mentioned. You know the bootlight when you open the tailgate? There are a few holes in that plastic looking up, almost behind the brake lights, and in there I swear I read something about an airbag. Not sure if it was actually an airbag though :S But in there I can see the bodywork of the car, which I where I assume the road noise is coming from, but also some wires.

[NewHouse]

Apologies, I started this thread and then left it unvisited for a couple of weeks.

The noise in the rear of my focus, which you are all describing was coming from an open (unsealed) flange joint inside the boot at the top the both rear wheel arches beneath the open bracket that holds the rear seat belt mechanism. It was obvious the rear of the car was open to the outside behind the plastic trims as both of the wheel arches were covered in a trail of road dust and fine gravel leading to the flange joint.

From the outside you can’t see or get access to the offending flange because the top of the rear shock absorber is in the way. Anyway, to remove the shock absorber you have to remove the inside trims.

To gain access to this area the trims next to the side window, rear seat, on top of the seatbelt entry point, above the rear wheel arches and the piece of carpet on the side of the boot well all have to come out.

From memory the first trim to be removed is the window trim above the rear seat which is held in by a concealed screw. Prize the cover off with a small screwdriver remove the screw and pull. The seat side pieces are next held in each side with two push through clips and two behind trim clips. You just need a little courage and pull them carefully out. The rest of the trims come out the same way and I managed it with not even a broken clip.

Once I had sealed the open flange joint I set about deadening any panel I could get access to with 225mm Flashing tape I purchased for £15 from Screwfix, a fraction of the cost of the proper stuff but nearly as good. I also purchased an off cut of heavy underlay, the reconstituted multicoloured foam type and glued pieces over the flashing tape, behind the boot carpet and any other exposed panels using carpet spray adhesive.

One other thing I did to reduce a lot of the road noise from the boot area was to glue a layer of carpet felt underneath the parcel tray and then cover it with black felt to hide the unsightly underlay, again glued in place

The overall difference is quite noticeable and well worth doing.

[WHITEyy118]

Sounds like a lot of work LOL. So how long did this all take you?

It's something I definatly want to do, and will do, when I have some time. I will try all the steps you wrote and tell you how I get on. Thanks for the help.

[artscot79]

Sounds like a lot of work LOL. So how long did this all take you?

It's something I definatly want to do, and will do, when I have some time. I will try all the steps you wrote and tell you how I get on. Thanks for the help.

my concern would be that carpet underlay holds moisture so youll get a lot of misting and condensation cant understand why there would be a flange that far up open to the outside and or how its open to the outside some pix would be helpfull are we sure this isnt a moisture vent? its not often things are left like that for no reason sounds very weird to be honest

[NewHouse]

my concern would be that carpet underlay holds moisture so youll get a lot of misting and condensation cant understand why there would be a flange that far up open to the outside and or how its open to the outside some pix would be helpfull are we sure this isnt a moisture vent? its not often things are left like that for no reason sounds very weird to be honest

Extra padding inside the boot space won't be a moisture problem.

What surprised me is that the dirt that had worked its way inside was dry so it was blown there. There were no signs of water stains or runs.

I don't particularly want to take the panels off again so, apologies no pix.

This gap is definitely not a vent but the overlapping flange seam of the two halves of the wheel arch. Which is spot welded and sealed with gunk up to where the seatbelt bracket is welded on but left unsealed underneath the bracket.

My thought was that this 3" section would be difficult to get a robotic arm in so it is always left, which is as you say a bit weird or it was the workers tea-break when it was my car's turn to be done.

[WHITEyy118]

Just A very old thread but today I attempted to insulate the rear of my focus.

In about 1 - 1.5hours I was done. Second time (second side) around was a lot quicker as I knew how to remove the panels. As with Newhouse I did find a little bit of dust and dirt but only what I'd say is normal. It didn't look excessive and I couldn't this whole however mine is the older mk2 model so maybe that's a factor.

Anyways I couldn't find any flashing tape anywhere so I used another kind of similar tape and also added some extra insulation. I managed to completely remove all the grey panels beside and behind the seat which allowed a lot of access. Also to my amasement having removed the grey plastic in the boot space on the very back of the car, on the inside, I found a 3-inch square gap in the panel work. Rather strange I thought so in went my hand and I found some foam insulation that is installed as standard. It didn't look very good but I was just intregued about the gap.

I'll finish by saying I have lots of pics if others want help but as of yet I haven't drove about to see if my work has worked. Finger crossed

[jeebowhite]

Please do post the pics whitey, the more help you can offer, the more people who will be tempted to soundproof their cars a little more!

[WHITEyy118]

Please do post the pics whitey, the more help you can offer, the more people who will be tempted to soundproof their cars a little more!

Ok will do.

I'll just start by saying my work has finished and the car does sound better but having seen this on amazon, I've gone for some proper stuff and I'm going to redo it again.

Anyway here are the pics I got..

and here is a picture I took of the standard insulation my car already had...