Killed a rattle

I killed a rattle in my car today. It turned out that it was the linkage between the key mechanism and the door latch. I've attached a picture of the cause (don't know how to make it display the picture as part of the message). I fixed the rattle by disconnecting the top linkage (could not get at the bottom linkage without taking the window out), twisting the linkage slightly so that it will keep a slight tension on both ends, and puting it back in place.

 

The door is a real pain to get apart. Could not get the piece of plastic behind the door latch out without breaking one of the tabs that held it in. (it will come out a whole lot easier now ) The door handle not only had the tab on the top that others mentioned, but two clips in the middle. Made me think I was doing something wrong since it was so hard to pull apart. The pop in pins were also really tight. So tight in fact that the red one near the interior door handle pulled out of the panel instead of coming out of the door. I had to use some bent nosed needle nose pliers to pull it out of the door and put it back in the panel so I could put the door back together.

 

I did take some other pictures inside the door, but I'm on a dial up line, so I won't be posting them unless someone wants to see something specific inside the door.

I was wrong. I went for a drive, and the rattle was still there.

 

I took off the side column covering and found 3 things that could rattle, but none that I thought could cause a loud enough rattle to be the actual cause. I tied them all down with double sided foam tape, or superglue and started puting it all back together, not satisfied that I had found the rattle.

 

As I was putting it all back together, I at one point grabbed the column with my hand. I felt an exterior trim piece move, and heard a tap that sounded very much like the rattle I was chasing. It turns out that a shiny black piece of plastic trim that fills the gap between the two side windows was loose. It was only being held on by two of its four clips. On top of that, the receptical for the bottom clip was bent.

 

I took the trim piece off and took a picture. I then straightened the bent receptical (it is VERY soft steel), and snapped the trim piece back in place.

 

So this rattle can be attributed to sloppy workmanship.

 

I have one more rattle to track down. This one appears to be coming from the center console, about where the radio is. It sounds like a steel washer rattling under a loose screw. This one happens every time I rev the engine.

 

Pictures of the things I worked on are attached.

 

The last image is rotated since it is 480x640, and there is a size limit of 800x600 on this web site. (Yah it is smaller, but it does not like that 640 number to be the vertical dimention). Anyway, just turn your head sidways

nice stuff, btw how long did it take you to do the whole thing? looks like a major project to me?

Dude, is this the friggin' rattle that sounds like it's IN your left ear? It almost sounds like it's coming from the window itself? I have banged and pulled and prodded everything from the headliner to the seatbelt slider and have not silenced the rattle. Kduos to you if you've found thid horrible friggin' buzz. I'm gonna go give it a shot now.

It did sound like it was right next to my left ear. Look at that trim piece first though, it is much easier to check than dissassembling the interior of the car.

 

I'd guess I spent about an hour on the door, and an hour on the side column. The door was much more trouble than the center column, though be carefull of the seatbelt when you do it, you don't want to set off the seatbelt tensioner device.

Fantastic u found it.

 

I had a rattle coming from the rear, only a really light one, when I had my Liberty serviced, they didnt replace the jack in the right way, it just needed a bit more tightening.

Adam.

funny what lengths people go through to look for rattles. I'm the same way.

if i hear a rattle, usually i just turn up the stereo and it magically goes away!!

i've got a rattle coming from somewhere under the dashboard -- it sounds like something feel down in the defrost vents. My guess is that its actually a screw or washer i might have dropped in the center console when i took the radio out.

funny what lengths people go through to look for rattles. I'm the same way.

 

When the rattle is annoyingly loud & persistant even with the sterio on, Yes I will keep searching till I find it!

I had the fule line rattle but that was fixed with some foam.

I was wrong. I went for a drive, and the rattle was still there.

 

I took off the side column covering and found 3 things that could rattle, but none that I thought could cause a loud enough rattle to be the actual cause. I tied them all down with double sided foam tape, or superglue and started puting it all back together, not satisfied that I had found the rattle.

 

As I was putting it all back together, I at one point grabbed the column with my hand. I felt an exterior trim piece move, and heard a tap that sounded very much like the rattle I was chasing. It turns out that a shiny black piece of plastic trim that fills the gap between the two side windows was loose. It was only being held on by two of its four clips. On top of that, the receptical for the bottom clip was bent.

 

I took the trim piece off and took a picture. I then straightened the bent receptical (it is VERY soft steel), and snapped the trim piece back in place.

 

So this rattle can be attributed to sloppy workmanship.

 

I have one more rattle to track down. This one appears to be coming from the center console, about where the radio is. It sounds like a steel washer rattling under a loose screw. This one happens every time I rev the engine.

 

Pictures of the things I worked on are attached.

 

The last image is rotated since it is 480x640, and there is a size limit of 800x600 on this web site. (Yah it is smaller, but it does not like that 640 number to be the vertical dimention). Anyway, just turn your head sidways

 

So the actual solution was to remove the exterior part of the B-pilar (mine rattles on the passengerside), reclip the clips, and bend the piece so it fits better? This was driving me nuts this morning!

I definitely have that rattle near the seat belt... drives me crazy. Turn up the volume FTW