A new and strange howling sound resonated from the open roof of my 2004 TL this past weekend (o.k., I was doing 75 on the freeway). Hmm.

A day later I noticed a recent post on sagging headliners, and sure enough the double-sided tape strips holding the headliner behind the moonroof had loosened, leaving a 1/4" gap.

So anyone know what the dealer fix is? I am sure they will handle it, but if the tape loosens after 2 months of ownership, tape replacement won't cut it...

 

Several people reported the dealer replaced the entire headliner, and some of those reported the job was screwed up and they had to do it again.

How bad is it? Mine sags a little because 2 of the velcro strips don't stick on the metal brace anymore, but I am going to wait until it gets worse.

If you open the sunroof and look into that area from the outside of the car, you will see how they are supposed to stick to the metal brace and then decide which way you want to go.


Here is a reply I made in another thread which may clarify things for you

Just to clarify. There are three blocks, about 1" square, across the inside of the headliner, with velcro. This is different from the velco I have seen, because both sides are hard plastic, where usually velcro is hard plastic on one piece and a felt like material on the other.

There is a metal channel across the roof just inside the front edge (at the rear of the sunroof opening). The top piece of velcro is stuck to that. This is the piece that is coming loose. On mine, 2 are loose, and the one at the driver's side is still stuck on.

The headliner is like a shell. It is not just cloth glued to the roof like on some cars. The shell is like a thin plastic, so it is fairly rigid. This means that the headliner will not droop down excessively. I believe it is made this way so that some type of soundproofing material can be inserted between the headliner and the roof, but I could be wrong.

I believe having the sunroof open, at faster speeds, is part of the problem since I think the airflow helps separate the velco from its mounting.

Mine is only hanging down about 1/4", not enough to worry about yet. Some reports say it is 2-3", which is way too much and needs fixing. Some people say Acura replaced their headliner. Unless the plastic material stretched, which is not likely but possible, the best fix is for Acura to come up with some velcro with a better adhesive. This can then be repaired without removing the headliner, since opening the sunroof gives you access to this area and the new piece can easily be attached to the metal channel.

The best fix would be for some mechanical link between the metal channel and the headliner, but for now we are stuck with velcro that comes unstuck.

 

Thanks Ron - that helps. Unless someone has a great dealer-fix story, I'll wait too. It does sound a bit dramatic to replace the entire liner. The sound at 75 mph with an open roof is damn eerie though...

 

I had mine in with 600 miles on it. The headliner dropped at the rear of the moonroof. The dealer changed the clips (as he called them). So far so good for that repair but the headliner is now creaking behind the driver area. I'm going to wait a little longer till they get a better fix for this nonsense before I have them look at it.

 

maybe some of you can relate to this....my headliner doesn't droop but it doesn't look 100% right either, its got this lumpy look to it, like it is stuffed with loose fiber and not foam. Even this Mazda 6 rental Acura gave me has a better looking headliner. :banghead: