GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

FYI:When you close any of your 2009 Vibe doors, (from the outside) you will hear a tinning clanging sound. It comes from under the car not from the door. I beleive it is the thin heat shield sheetmetal rattling.

hmm i've never noticed heard any tin sound when closing any doors. only thing i've noticed was how the front doors sounded hollow when closing it. i had some sound deadening stuff put on the front doors and now it has a nice thud sound instead of the empty hollow sound. however there is this sound somewhere in the back when i close the doors. it sounds like a flap or something but i think i've read somewhere it's a small flap somewhere inside the rear that releases the pressure when you close the door. i only hear it when it's quiet outside. maybe that's the noise you're hearing?

Well when closing either front door, that's where the clang comes from. When I close the rear hatch door, again the sheet metal under the rear clangs. The rear seat doors do not sound that bad.What did you use as a soundproofing? I am thinking about adding mass to just the back of the door panels. Note my comments in the Interior section about the light under the dashboard.

i had some dynamat put on the doors. that kind kept the road noise down slightly. i saw your post about that light coming in but i didn't see any light when i checked.

I haven't noticed any unusual noises when closing any of the doors on my '09, or my brother's '09. My family seems to feel the need to slam them every time - so if there was a problem hopefully it would have manifested itself by now.From what I've seen, that heat shield is mostly bolted to the body. Maybe it isn't tightened properly on yours...The only unusual noise I've had was from my exhaust bumping my hitch when in reverse sometimes. I just zip-tied a piece of old rad hose to the hitch there - and voila! No more noises! Not very high tech - but effective.

No tinny clang from mine.

Just to make sure we are on the same page, You must be outside the car to hear it when you close the door. I nevered check any bolts or nuts for looseness yet. I did tap the heatshield sheetmetal with my hand a few time to locate the source.I will look again for the bolts soon. I understand that the heat shields are aluminum so it could not be spot welded to steel. I also think the exhaust pipe could a second source of clanging.

I have noticed this noise on both mine and my mom's '09 GTs, although with ours I only hear it when I close the hatches. I thought at first it was the license plate, but upon further investigation I realized it's something on the underside as you have said.

thats for all 09 GTs. but it has no more remained as a complaint. everyone says its soething that company needed to keep there!

Mine's not doing it, no tinny sound, knock on simulated rosewood.My family thinks my doors are from a 1995 Bonneville also.....slam away!!

If you have a moonroof its probably air being pushed through the drains and popping out from underneath the car.

>>>>If you have a moonroof its probably air being pushed through the drains and popping out from underneath the carNo I do not have a moon roof window. The sound is the heat shield over the muffler and maybe the heat shield over the cataylic converter. When I close the rear hatch door or either side door, I get a tinning rattle clang. You should get under the rear of the car and tap the heat shield to hear how flimsy it is.

Once in awhile, I notice my license plate rattles when the doors shut. I only notice this when I'm behind the vehicle and someone closes a door.Also, there is a cabin pressure vent in the trunk, on the drivers side. It's covered by a spring loaded flap. Perhaps you're hearing that flap flutter as the air pressure is released. I had the same noise on my '06 Malibu.

I also hear that sound but like you, I always thought it was the license plate. I guess I'll have to remove the plate and see if it indeed is coming from under the car. Not sure where that cabin pressure vent is. I don't see anything in the trunk. I thought cabin pressure was important in airplanes.