Hey guys,

Anyone else having their headliner creak? I have a little over 7k miles and it seems like things are really starting to loosen up. I have really enjoyed driving this car but it is just so disappointing. I have owned many cars and I have to say that Acura has more work ahead of them if they even want to compete with Lexus, BMW or Audi. Damn, back to the dealer again for more warranty work.

 

Have you been able to identify the location of where the noise is coming from? Is it a plastic on plastic sound?

 

Yeah, I have isolated the creaking to the area where the headliner recesses for the back seat passengers. If I press on the headliner I can duplicate the noise I hear. It is a plastic on plastic sound very audible over bumpy roads, speed bumps and driveways.

I pray they can fix it without causing any other problems or loosening other parts of the car. I'd hate to trade a creak for another creak but this one is just damn annoying for a 50k car.

The weird thing is that I had some creaking in the center console area for a long time, it was slight and now I dont have it anymore. I only speculate that things have loosened up to the point where there is no more friction between pieces. But still, I don't think the headliner will go away on its own, its definitely only getting worse.

 

Rattles and other noises are notoriously difficult to pin down in cars, in my experience. I've had some rattles in my car that I'm just now beginning to resolve, and I've owned the car for a year now. This might sound silly, but the most annoying rattle in my TL ended up coming from the lens in the dome light. I thought it was somewhere in the headliner - at first near the back window, and then behind my head - but it ended up being as simple as that. It was extremely annoying but now my car is essentially rattle free. It sounds like your rattle might be similar. I simply removed the lens and bought some white grease to spread around the lens. You might try taking off the lens and driving around to see if that's the culprit...

 

Sorry to hear about that. Take it to your dealer if you can't get it to stop and have them try to fix it. My TL had a headliner rattle and they replaced the headliner and it was gone. Hopefully they can make yours go away without much trouble.

 

The problem with having your dealer fix rattles (or anything else in the interior for that matter) is that the more things they take apart, the more potential future rattles they create. All of those factory clips holding things in place aren't really designed to be pulled apart and put back together again. Good luck.

 

I've got headliner creak from the passenger side area by the back of the sunroof, but it appeared only after the dealer made repairs to the sunroof which they say were responsible for my a-pillar rattles.

Supposedly, my headliner is being replaced on Monday.

 

I am a master at finding out what is rattling. A car company should hire me for the rattling finding and proofing job.

 

Rob, want to visit me?

 

Word of advise. The design of th sunroof can leave one with ALL KINDS OF CREAKING SOUNDS and drive one crazy. All they need to do is LUBE the sunroof......to test it, get in your car. Leave engine off. Now press against the sun roof glass. If you HEAR any creaking sounds, that is the culprit. Something I learned years ago from my Honda Service folks !
Try it....as it returns when it gets colder and visa versa (summer/spring).......

 

I'm not sure if this is what I had, but I seem to have fixed it with your advice.

I left work on a particularly warm day (Monday) in San Diego, and as I drove there was an unpleasant creaking sound coming from what sounded like the right rear passenger compartment. It almos sounded like a bad bushing by the wheel, or something rubbing against something else.

I did some searching on the forum and tried pressing on the sunroof to see if I heard anything. Sure enough, there was a rubbing sort of sound from the back of the sunroof, so I applied some silicon lube to the weatherstripping. I also located a similar sound when pressing on the seam between the headliner and the C-pillar liner.

Anyway, the sound seems to have disappeared with the application of the silicon lube to the dry weatherstripping around the sunroof, and whatever pressing I did on the headliner.

Thanks! I was driving myself crazy thinking about bringing the car to the dealer for this. I'll see how it holds as the weather changes.

Rob144

 

I've noticed the same thing the last couple of months, but mine comes directly from the sunroof and is only apparent with the shade opened. I'll try the silicone lube. So do you apply it directly to the weatherstripping, or just in the seams of the weatherstripping?

 

I prefer the white lithium grease - seems to last longer. I apply grease to a rag and wipe the seal where the actual sunroof touches when closed. I usually need to do this every 6 months.

 

Try pool filter lube. It's clear, silicone based, and has other properties to help it maintain its effectivness in wet environments. I use it for the o-rings in my filter system and started using it on my car a few years ago. Works fantastic. There's lots of different brands.

 

My sound came with the shade closed. I didn't think of the sunroof until I did a search of the forum, and then I went right trying to fix it rather than experimenting. Up to that point, I was shaking the car up and down to hear if it was a bushing or strut.

I opened the sunroof in the vent position and wiped the silicon lube (from a spray can, which I sprayed into a cup as it is rather foamy) onto the rubber weatherstripping that frames the glass. It also lifted off some dirt, and I gave it two applications.

Rob144