Rattling?!?!?!

[chavocrazy69]

90 Accord YET AGAIN! Evidently I am on a quest to make it PERFECT>

On my quest, I discovered that it rattles quite a bit. I realize that it is old and it should be expected, but I would like to do something about it. I was thinking of maybe filling the gaps and holes with something, to drown out the rattles,(and vibes from the sub), but I don't know what kind of material to use. (?) Should I use like an expandable foam stuff, or like a foam sheet material...or what? Any thoughts?

[BullShifter]

You can get some gew for weather stripping, not sure of the exact name but it's like a clay. Put that under the weather stripping to build it out. Tighten every nut, bolt, screw you have access to - not too tight or you will start snapping stuff.

[BullShifter]

You can get some gew for weather stripping, not sure of the exact name but it's like a clay. Put that under the weather stripping to build it out. Tighten every nut, bolt, screw you have access to - not too tight or you will start snapping stuff.


Where are the noises coming from?

Easiest fix - turn up the radio

[chavocrazy69]

Well, most of the rattles are coming from the doors, the back, and dash. The sound system is not a great idea. It causes more rattles!

[Tom_91_LX]

I've had '84, '86, and '91 Accords, a '00 Civic, and '01 Prelude, and they all rattled. But a lot of the rattles can be eliminated by experimenting with different materials.

There were two major rattles in my 91 sedan that I was able to almost completely get rid of. One was coming from the area of the right front door. I bought some self-stick felt pads at Home Depot and cut them into several 1" squares, and then stacked them together so they formed a block about 1.5" thick. I stuck it on the end of the passenger side of the dash (the part that is hidden when the door is closed) so that when the door is closed, the felt block puts pressure on the door panel. You know how sometimes you can press your hand against a door or dash panel and it stops rattling? It's kind of the same idea. Worked great. The other bad rattle was my glove box, and adjusting the latch didn't help. I used some clear self-stick rubber bumpers, the kind you put on the back of framed pictures to hold them out from the wall, and put them next to the latch so that I have to press hard on the glovebox to get it to close. It closes more tightly, and the result was that it rattles a lot less. I still need to get into the driver's door because what I think are the door lock rods are clanking in time to the beat of the door speaker.

My '00 Civic's dash rattled like crazy. Actually, it was more like a ticking sound from a lot of different places. I took off most of the lower dash panels and glovebox, and used pieces of thin self-stick moleskin between every place I could find where two pieces of metal came together, also, I put the moleskin over all the screw grommets for the dash panels (you can puncture right through it when you go to screw them back in).

My '01 Prelude's rear deck would buzz badly when the music was turned up. The problem was that there was (if I recall) no insulation between the molded deck panel (where the speaker grilles are) and the sheet metal underneath that the speakers themselves are mounted in. I removed the panel and sandwiched some foam padding from a craft store between the panel and the sheet metal. The panel was held in place by clips, so I had to press down really hard when reinstalling the panel to get the clips to engage. But the foam padding, along with the fact that the deck panel was much tighter, eliminated the buzzing.

Those are just a few ideas. Sometimes it's good to have someone else drive so you listen for exactly where the rattles are coming from. Press your hand against different surfaces and if the rattle stops, you know that is the area where you need to try and install something to duplicate that same pressure.

Tom

[jajimo]

You wouldn't have two midgets in the backseat wrastling would you?

^Anyone gets that and I'll send you a cookie.

[aluminumpork]

I'm annoyed by rattles too. Like when it's cold out, my 96 Accord's dash squeaks and clicks. So I crank the heat and turn it to upper vents so the dash heats up. After that, no more noise.

My passenger side front door also rattles when unlocked, so I always lock my doors. There are numerous other door rattles, but I just turn the music up or turn on the fans.

But since I like to have a solid feeling/sounding car with almost NO rattles, I plan on buying some sound deading material (same stuff that's used with systems) and cutting it to shape for my doors. It would be the same shape as the moisture barriers. Should help put extra pressure on door innards, deaden outside noise and rattle noise + add a little extra depth to my sound.

[chavocrazy69]

Tom_91_LX , your response was invaluable. Oh man, you know your facts. Couple questions:
Moleskin, is that called something else? And where can I find it? About the foam padding, how thick? And what kind of foam? Styrofoam? Anyway, thanks a lot in advance.

[Tom_91_LX]

Hey, glad to be of help. The moleskin is the stuff people put on their feet when they've got blisters or other nasty things. I bought it at Target and it was their store brand "Moleskin Plus" but Dr. Scholl's makes it too. You can find it in the pharmacy section of Target, Wal-Mart, etc. It's almost paper-thin and comes in self-adhesive sheets so you can cut whatever size piece you need. It's good to use wherever you see anyplace where you suspect that two things are making contact and causing a rattle. As for the foam padding, the kind I bought was (I think) about 3/4" thick and came in a package of four 1-foot squares and I think you can also buy it in rolls. I think it was referred to as "chair padding" and would be used for reupholstering dining room chairs or something like that.

I can't remember if anyone else mentioned this, but keeping the door seals lubricated with silicone spray also helps to keep things quiet. Spray it on a rag and then wipe the door seals with it. I've also heard of people using talcum powder instead of silicone spray, but I've never tried it.

[chavocrazy69]

shit, thanks man. Ill see how it goes.