Annoying rattle solved

Hey Kevin...I always thought it was the leather straps making that noise! Good job brotha! 

Re: weather stripping.  I have a Beck, so I’m sure different.  I developed a door rattle and it turned out to be the door latching mechanism had become loose on the door side.  I recommend looking at the door latches and hinges first.

" I slide under the car, loosened up the bolts, raised the bumper, tightened a bit to verify straightness then cranked it in tightly. After a test ride this evening, no more rattle. I love it when it’s a simple fix."

Slid under the car ... that is a feat  

For the door weatherstrip, I used the same stuff as @MusbJim.  Unfortunately, I can't remember where I got it, but it works well.  I used some 3M weatherstrip adhesive to make sure it stays - Door weatherstrip can have a tendency to roll out of the way a bit in use but the 3M holds it in place.   Just don't get any onya.....It's tenacious stuff.

IaM-Ray posted:

" I slide under the car, loosened up the bolts, raised the bumper, tightened a bit to verify straightness then cranked it in tightly. After a test ride this evening, no more rattle. I love it when it’s a simple fix."

Slid under the car ... that is a feat  

It’s funny you mentioned that. I have to turn my head to the side in order for my nose to clear the bottom of the fiberglass body. 

I lost a bit of weight the last few months. My wife thinks I did it for her, but in reality I did it to get under the car so I could install the rubber gaskets at the horn grills. 😆

ok. So maybe a little bit for her too. 

For the door rattle, you may also want to check for garbage inside the door/ behind the door card.  Years back chasing a rattle I removed the door card to check all the hardware- for loose bolts on the latch or door hinges... all was good and tight, but sitting at the bottom of the door I found two large bolts that didn't belong to anything, bits of 12gauge wiring and a cigarette bud.   Basically- Garbage left behind by the manufacturer. I had purchased the car new.

i took the opportunity while in there to put Lock-tight on the door latch hardware... all the bolts, and install soundproofing material in the doors- Dynamat or Rockmat can't remember.. the heaviest/thickest I could find.   Gave the door some weight and a nice thump when it closes.

That rattle, and subsequent project led me to clean up the engine compartment. VS uses wood for the firewall and fiber glass for the side wall panels - both painted with fire retardant paint.    I repainted all panels with the highest rated  fire retardant paint I could find locally (engine block paint I believe), then lined the compartment with heat protection/ sound dampening material- also designed by Dynamat specifically for engine compartments/hoods, then, over that, lined the compartment with aluminum panels to make it look nice and clean, finally installing a fire extinguishing system with a sprinkler head over each carb. ( same system used by IM years back).  attached is an old picture... a few bits have been cleaned up further/been updated since.

Overkill I'm sure... but made me feel safer when going on long tours. ( I have seen a couple replica and originals  go up in flames due to engine fires in recent years while on fun social early driving season weekend tours... no fun!

Love the madness... every rattle leads to a project, which leads to another project, and another and another ;-)

Oh, for door weatherstriping i used a large foam 3/4 x 1/2 D shaped/type available at NAPA stores.. if memory serves me. it already comes with the 3M tape installed. Our local store had a large "sample book" of whether stripping available for every imaginable manufacturer.  The guys there were happy to let me thumb though it until I found one I thought would work ... brought out a couple for me to touch and feel before deciding on one. 

Something like this... above is a pic of my car.   You just have to find the right dimensions to fit the gap between the door and body, and the carpet and edge in your car.  Sorry I can't remember off the top of my head what I used.  It's been 3-4 years. I just have these pics of sample D foam trim in my iPad...

 

Happy hunting!

My 2 year rattle battle turned out to be the windshield wiper motor touching the underside of the dash and was eliminated with a piece of foam.  It was extremely difficult to pinpoint, because it sounded like it was coming from behind me for some strange reason. 

My door strips are pretty much the same thing as above.   Didn't know NAPA sold that stuff (too!)

Kevin:  do you make garage calls?  The Speedster is too noisy to notice anything, but I have this Buzzy/Rattle on the passenger side of my Rogue............    

I use the D shaped rubber molding from McMaster Carr but here's the difference. NAPA etc: Their D molding wall is thick , in narrow areas it is hard to compress and may cause you to have to slam the door  The McMaster Carr is the same outer dimensions as NAPA etc. but half the wall thickness so it fills both a wider or narrow space.

As we get older we all suffer from presbycusis... old hearing 

sometimes it helps most times it doesn’t

 

i have selective hearing;]

I'm a rattle lunatic.  They drive me right over the edge if I can't track 'em down.

I've had the wiper motor rattle also and that was fixed with a piece of an old wet suit.      The bumper was a squeak that took a while but now I just snug up the brackets whenever I grease the front end. 

The town I live in is putting in town water and all the back roads are like driving on speed bumps.  I think it really loosens stuff up.

Long time back I had a left rear rattle that drove me nuts it was almost a clunking sound...ended up being  a body to chassis loose bolt, since that car I've found quite a few that have worked loose.

There’s generally a loose nut behind my steering wheel :-)

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When I first got my car it had a couple of major rattles and clunks in the rear (place jokes here).  After some digging I found a pair of wire cutters and an 18” screwdriver left there by the build team.  Thanks guys!  They’ve come in handy.

They must be Gordon's. Sell them back to him(interest works on tool storage, no?)

LOL

 

Lane Anderson posted:

When I first got my car it had a couple of major rattles and clunks in the rear (place jokes here).  After some digging I found a pair of wire cutters and an 18” screwdriver left there by the build team.  Thanks guys!  They’ve come in handy.

There's probably a 10mm socket rolling around in there as well! 

Or several

I found a vice grip on the upper engine mount bolt behind the fan shroud on one of my cars.  Wasn't making any noise, but they were really nice.

Made up for the Ryobi rechargeable flash light I left in engine compartment on a car I sent to Germany. 

I found a few things over the years. One was a 7 or 8mm wrench I left on the Audi 5000 clutch slave, 5 years later!

Got my newer Audi inspected last year, and Michelle came home with a nice Snap-on single edge razor handle on the roof.

A couple weeks ago I found a Snap-on lithium/LED droplight. Just need a charger.