dennarda

I have an annoying tapping/creaking noise coming from the rear area of my RDX. I If I sit in the backseat, it seems to be coming from the area between the gas cap and cargo area. I took off the side carpet panel and tried wiggling things around, but could not get the noise to happen with my hands. It seems to vary with temperature and happens primarily when the rear is flexed (i.e. one side is higher than the other over a bump or something). Any similar noises, or more importantly, solutions out there?

Tripp11

Welcome to new Acura ownership. In the new 3 Gen TL's, owners about hung themselves trying to fix rattles on their own.

Personally, I never experienced many rattles in my 3Gen TL; however, if I had, I would have made a short list of rattles until I brought my car in for service and had them all fixed at one time.

If you can duplicate the rattle for the service tech, they SHOULD fix the rattle for you.

sasair

Sounds like it is very close to the rear suspension area.....

jinx

my friend had a similar problem in his 06'TL and the problem was due to his passenger seat,which was covered in his warranty.

mvwood

I got one when I drive that I have kind of localized to the middle of the rear seats (which doesn't make a whole lot of sense because it is not the seatbelts. A plastic-y sort of click/rattle.

And I just got the car back from the A1 service and forgot to mention it.

Still working on localizing it exactly, but I usually drive so I haven't been able to sit in the back and poke around for it while the car is moving.

Really annoying...

sasair

You sure its not under the car? that's about where the catalytic heat shield would be.....

dennarda

I had an 05 TL and it had lots of rattles, of which I managed to fix all but one in the front left air vent. I have always had bad luck talking to service centers about noises. They generally suggest such things are normal or better yet threaten that their search for the rattle will probably just make more rattles. As such, I tend to take these things on myself.

I seemed to have finally fixed this one last night though. I went a little coo-coo and started ripping out interior panels until I could isolate the rattle. After spraying a lubricant between a few of the spot welded sheet metal behind the left rear seat bolster area, the creaking went away!

PERDY

I have the same problem. There is a plastic sounding rattle in the rear seat/cargo area and in the front passenger dash. It seems to be louder when it is cooler out and sometimes stops all together when it is hot (above 85 degrees f.). I would love to be able to figure out what is going on with it but I am always a lone driver and unable to poke around safely. If anyone finds out what they might be please post it.

brizey

To the OP and PERDY:

Try pulling the seatbelt all the way out then letting it ratchet back in. Pulling it all the way out puts it in "car seat mode" so it can ratchet tight. Buckle the seat belt and ratchet it TIGHT against the seat.

I have a similar rattle and this makes it go away, so it is obviously related to the seat belt tensioning system.

optik_rdx

I have the same problem a squeaky backseat rattle that is really really annoying when i drive without the stereo. It is also is not encouraging to me as I've only had the car about 4 months now and I'm thinking if rattles are developing already I might want to trade it for a more carefully designed car that doesnt rattle all the time.

optik_rdx

Thanks for the suggestion, I will try that and let you know how it works out. Right now I actually completely folded down the rear seat hoping that would stop the constant rattle.

How'd you figure out it was the seat belts making the noise? Do you have to do that each time you start the car or do you just leave it buckled all the time and it stops the noise?

sasair

If its a constant rattle then take it to the dealer and tell them to fix it.

JJog23

I had this issuse. It was the catalytic heat shield that was rattling! It started when I put it in reverse and then after a week it was rattling at idel. Took it in when I did my b16 service(2days later) and they took care of it.

econman

My RDX had rattles from the two little speakers (tweaters) that are mounted at the top of the door sides right by the dash and below the window. The passenger side was the worst, but both annoyed me.

Acura replaced both but they still rattle, meaning of course that it is a design defect in the part itself. I fixed it myself with a creative use of closed-cell foam (memory foam) that I put inside each speaker case (they simply pull out of the door).

FYI, The rattle was a subtle sort of "tap,tap" sound.....

sasair

Mine occasionally make a sort of buzzing noise and I push on the tweeter grill and it stops for a week or two and it starts buzzing again. Only on the drivers side so far as I can tell. I'll be taking mine off to stick something in there soon. The rear high monted speaker in the rear reported had problems with rattling and they had a service bulletin that told the dealers to mount some kind of felt material in them to stop them from rattling.

tillithz

i noticed only a rattle sound coming from the rear, a tap if you will. turns out that its the string and plastic piece that holds the rear deck to the rear door. the actual plastic sitting on the nub. I simply took some cloth material and cut out a small square, and put it over the ball in which the plastic connector fits on top of, bammm no more rattle, tapping sound.

brizey

I just leave it buckled.

My wife figured it out riding in the back just trying different things to make it stop. She held out the belt for a bit and it went away.

I may have the dealer look at it at my first oil change (down to 30%).

riddicks

Dennarda, I think I have the exact same problem you're describing. It seems related to body flex and its definitely in the area between the gas cap and the cargo area. I took the RDX to the dealer to see if they could fix the creaking sound but no luck. They played dumb and said they couldn't hear much of a noise.

I'm a little hesitant to start pulling out the carpet panels to get at the body, but I think its worth a shot because this noise is really annoying. Could you provide me some of the details on the procedure you used? What lubricant did you use and is it possible to describe which panel or clips you had to pull out to get at the welds? Any help would be very much appreciated.

Other than this noise, love the RDX!

Thanks,

Sonomaa

Make sure when you take the car into the dealer that you road test with a technician and duplicate the noise for them.That way they know what noise and can't deny it or say they didn't hear it.

Not to alarm anyone, but I have seen 2 RDX's, an 07 and an 08 that were missing bolts from the factory.One was missing a fuel tank strap bolt which allowed the fuel tank to shift and rub on the drive shaft. And the other was missing the left rear control arm bolts, which allowed the entire control arm and wheel to shift around. Both of these were found by the tech doing the pre-delivery inspection, and they were both VERY noticable. Personaly I have yet to work on an RDX for a noise complaint. Compared to the other Acuras built in North America, the RDX has some of the best fit and finish. But the Japanese built cars still have a higher build quality.

AbovePrime.

Yeah, our MDX was disappointing, they left fasteners off at the factory and the panels didn't line up properly, still wasn't perfect after the dealer fixed it.