AcuraJim

I have a pretty good rattle in the head liner just above the drivers head. Is worse the bumpier the road. If I put my hand on it, it stops. Has anyone had this problem and if so, what did you do? Thanks

AbovePrime.

I *think* the sound comes from the sunroof, and the only way to find out what it is would be to drop the headliner.

AcuraJim

I will take to the dealer and have them look. It only has 2,000 miles and shouldn't be making this type of noise this early Thanks

JsL138

I don't have a RDX, but my 2007 TL-S does that too. I'm going to take it back to the dealer sometime.

AcuraJim

Js, did you have an after market DVD player installed in your TL?

MMike1981

sounds like quite the similar problem as in my rdx...they are changing out the sunroof (today actually), sounds like the headliner...but its the cables in the roof mechanism that arent tightening correctly that are rattling around, its annoying as hell isnt it?

JsL138

Nope, my car is stock.


YES, its annoying as hell!

AcuraJim

Ok Js Well I had the dealer install an aftermarket DVD for the kiddies which works great by the way, but I figured they had to run a "power wire" up there and thought that may be causing the noise

AcuraJim

Mike, when you were driving down the road and heard the noise, if you pushed your hand against the headliner, would the noise stop? I have my rdx scheduled to go in to have this looked at, but would like to educate myself a bit before that happens Thanks

MMike1981

it depends...if there was a big bump, there was really nothing that would prevent the rattle, even with alot of pressure. In my car, the left side of the headliner (above your head) was alot looser than the right side...this may contribute to the rattle and im not sure if there would be anyway to make it tighter above your head. When my sunroof would be open, any slight bump and it would ratttle, a bigger bump and it sounded like the sunroof casing would be smaking against something. When i get my car back, im guessing it will be tomorrow, with the new roof installed, ill let you know whats going on.

When i went for a drive with the service tech, he had both hands against it and could not stop the creak/rattle.

I would say this though, the more times your headliner is getting pulled by the dealer, it may become less tight (just my guess) id be cautious on how you have the dealer approach it...i have faith in acura service guys, but the way i look at these things is the less work the better.

AcuraJim

Sounds great I would really like to know what you find out. Now, my noise will stop when you push against the liner and yes I noticed today that it doesn't seem to be a problem when the liner for the sunroof is closed

MMike1981

Got the car back today...and....not a chirp! not anything, its as solid as it should have been. the headliner is very tight with almost zero play and the sunroof is silent. ahhhhhh love it.

MMike1981

update.

i guess all it took were a few open/closes of the roof....and its now worse than the original and now i have a new loud metal smaking on metal rattle directly above my head which makes the car sound like crap.

been back in...they have no answer, possibly might get a different RDX in swap...

Dai

Well, my RDX is just over a week old now and i already have a headliner rattle.

Seems to be more behind the sunroof area, around where the dome light normally is.

I'll open and close the sunroof a few times and see what happens!

schen72

I am also getting this noise. It only happens on bumpy roads. If I press my hand on the headliner just behind the sunroof, it will be quiet.

cwepruk

I have that one too. Seems a bit worse with the cover open.

BackHome

Anyone ever get a genuine fix on this? My wife and I just picked up one of the last RDX '09s (deal was great), and the headliner is already a rattling mess, with only 1500 miles on the odometer. I know the dealership will just make things worse, so I'm hoping that a good DIY has been developed.

Incidentally, it is unquestionably the headliner, and not the sunroof cables, as stuffing a wad of foam between the headliner and the sunroof cover will reduce the rattle, as will holding it tight to the ceiling with your hand...

chipt911

I gave mine a strong wack with an open hand and it stopped, at least for a while.

schen72

I realized that I never gave an update for my headliner rattle. Just to re-cap: I had the headliner rattle shortly after taking delivery. If I used my hand to press up on the headliner, the noise went away.

It turns out that the headliner was basically coming apart from the roof. The dealer fixed this under warranty and it has been perfect ever since.

BackHome

Thanks for the update, Schen. Any idea what your dealer did? Mind identifying the dealer? Folks take a huge risk bringing their cars in for rattle repairs, and the "fixes" are often worse than the rattles. As such, I'd love to know who fixed your to your satisfaction!

schen72

They told me that they basically re-installed the headliner. Apparently, it was coming apart from the roof. The dealer was Sunnyvale Acura, in Sunnyvale, CA. It was over a year ago when they fixed it, and no issues since then.

MMike1981

glad you got it resolved. the re-install of my headliner is what caused all hell to break loose.

BackHome

MMike,

Any resolution to your issue? Were they ultimately able to fix it to your satisfaction?

-BH

MMike1981

no

tried fixing the sunroof a few times, then pulled out the assembly and installed a new one, which involved removing the headliner from my car which was only about 5k miles old or something like that....the new roof was 23432 times worse, so i got a new truck.

diggerdave38

I just had mine in to fix grinding brakes and these mystery rattles, and the mechanic thought it was my tweeters, so said that he re-glued them. I notice that this rattle buzzes when the subwoofer/bass kick in.

I'm surprised that nobody in the shop knew that this headliner is a known issue. I'd bring it back to have it looked at but I might just live with the noise if the fix might be worse.

rexmaster

I had rattles around the moonroof and dealer fixed it. Loose clip according to the dealer and it's gone.

bg905

I also have a rattle in my sunroof. Only when closed. When I open it the rattle goes away. Had in once and dealer said it was the sun shade. They tightened it? and rattle stopped for 2 days. Now it's back. Gonna have them look when I pay too much money for oil change next week.