I picked up my new TL on Tuesday night (Vin #68xxx) and on the way home heard a constant ticking rattle from what I thought was the navigation system. I took it in on Wednesday for repair and the they claimed they tightened a bolt or screw under the radio. Sure enough about 10 minutes after picking up the car, the rattle started again.

After some probing I think the rattle is coming from the shifter. Someone posted earlier that this rattle is caused by the metal of the shifter hitting the fake wood. I went ahead and used silicone on the shifter and am hoping that fixes it.

Now I hear a rattle from the rear deck. It's a constant ticking sound while driving. I have searched the forum and it seems like it can be from the rear seat belt, subwoofer or shocks. Has anyone had success in eliminating this kind of rattle and what's the best way to probe the area for the source of the rattle?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

For the rattle on the rear deck, park your car and gently tap on the rear shelf. If you can replicate the area of the noise, it might help you identify which of the three things it is. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that it's probably one of the seat belt mechanisms since that seems to be the most common culprit, especially if it's a light metallic ticking/tingling noise.

 

68XXX hmm... there are people into the high 70s, maybe 80s, in any case, I dont think all rattles will be eliminated. Everyone is bound to have rattles, its just a fault of production, no car is perfect. I bet you anything a 745iL will have its share of rattles too and that car is 100K+

 

I couldn't agree more. A new car is bound to have a rattle or two here and there. Your dealership should accomodate you without much resistance- this is nothing new for them.

 

I understand what you guys are saying. But, there are several kinds of noise that are not acceptable, such as metallic/clicking noise, constant vibraiton near the rear deck even on smooth roads (which I just acquired two days ago etc).

 

Melny - Lore is right on about that rear deck rattle. One other thing you can try is taking the center seat belt and pulling it out as far as you can, until it 'locks'. Then try tapping the rear deck near the center speaker. You will still most likely hear the rear deck vibrate when you tap it but that metallic clicking noise should be gone, if that's indeed the culprit. If the noise is gone I would bet it's your center seat belt mechanism, unfortunately the back seat needs to be taken out to get to it. I was able to get my hand on it be removing the 'cover' in the trunk to expose the bottom part of the rear deck. Anyway, give that a try, hopefully that will narrow down your search for this annoying rattle.

Novice - sorry to hear that you just aquired this annoying rattle, how many miles on your car?

 

Hi, Goldglv:

Vin#21XXX since Jan 2004 and 6700 miles. Every visit to a dealer added a follow-up visit to replace what they damaged. So I will probably turn up the volume of the radio or something and ignore the rattle.

 

Wow, you definitely don't drive that much. I have a 21xxx VIN as of Jan 04 as well and have slightly over 8500 miles.

 

By the way, in case you want to try fixing it yourself, the key is to take really thick foam and stick it near the center seatbelt mechanism so the metal doesn't touch the deck anymore.

 

Thanks, Lore:

My commute is only 3 miles each way. It would've been less than 5000 miles so far if I didn't go 10 miles away (intentionally to drive more) to get gas!!

 

Right, like I said earlier, I can get my hand on the seatbelt mechanism from inside the trunk but not sure if I can stick any foam up there, the area is too small to get my whole hand in there but I may give it another shot. I don't want to take the back seat out, if I get the rattle(it comes and goes), I usually just pull the seatbelt all the way out and let it roll back up, that takes care of the rattle for a little while.

Novice - sorry to hear about the dealer sort of making things worse for you, that's the only reason I haven't taken my car in to get anything fixed, I'm worried they will screw something else up.

Do any of you guys have any driver's side or passenger's side door rattles? Mine is getting so loud but I haven't heard of any fixes yet. I know the door panels need to come off, I have the service manual, so I'll try doing it myself.

 

Of course! I have that rattle.I found this from the garage section. I bought some weatherstrip thing at Home Depot (kinda skinny/narrow adhesive foam tape) and followed the instruction shown in the below thread. It worked!!!

Pretty sad though that we have to do this after buying a very nice car


http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84527

EDIT:

Oppps. SORRY! You are talking about the door panel.

 

My 2002 Nissan Maxima has no rattles, but my lease is up. The Maxima was a great car! If the Maxima has no rattles, then you would expect the TL and especially the 745i not to have any rattles.

I am getting a brand new 2005 Cadillac CTS with the luxury sport package and nav system (light platinum & ebony interior).

I just put money down on it today. I'm picking it up in a few days.

I thought I was going to buy a TL, but I decided to go with the Caddy instead. I'll let you know if the CTS rattles.

Since I am posting this on the internet and I am all excited about my new caddy, I am sure that some problem will pop up with my CTS...

 

Thanks for the responses.

I don't know about others, but psychologically I have a tough time ignoring loud rattles in a car I just purchased a few days ago. Turning up the music helps, but sometimes I just want a quiet car.

I went into the back seat to try and duplicate the sound, but I seem to have a hard time without driving. Once I start driving again I immediately notice the metallic clicking sound. I pulled all the seat belts out and knocked on the rear deck, but the sound is not the same. The only thing that resembles the sound I hear is if a push the deck down at the far right and left sides of the deck. It sounds kind of sticky.

The deck rattle is pretty loud and constant so I won't have trouble identifying it to the dealer. I just don't know when I'll bring it in again.

The car is great to drive. If I can find a way to eliminate the rattle I'll feel a lot better.

 

Sorry but if you read this forum before your purchase, the TL has been rattling since 1999. Just ignore it now.

 

I had a very annoying rattle that I noticed on my way home after picking up the car. If I tapped my steering wheel firmly I could duplicate it. The next day the dealer fixed it. There was a loose bolt in the dashboard. I haven't had a rattle since.

 

Maybe that's because they had years to figure out why the 1997 Maxima was such a rattlefest. Lol. I had the 1997 Maxima and it was fun to figure out where it would rattle next. Of course that car really gave me few other problems in its 130k miles, but those rattles drove me nuts initially. That's why rattles don't bother me much anymore.

 

My rattles, which were fixed for less than a week, are back with a vengence. Still love the car, but I know how hard it can be on the rational side of your brain when you know your 1994 Camry had no rattles and your shinybrandspankinnewTL sounds like a lesser vehicle.

I love the interior materials and layout...best I've ever seen, truth be told. But the build quality / fit is proving to be brutal.

 

I have a very loud rattle coming from the driver side door panel. It is very annoying as it is right by my ear. I really don't want to take the panel off myself so I'll eventually take it in to the dealer. I'm just afraid the dealer will break something else. Let me know if you fix this. Also I have the clicking rear deck. And an intermittent very loud rattle in the upper left dash that only occurs when it the car has been out overnight.

 

My TL rattles more than my 98 explorer. Unacceptable. I don't care if it is inherent to TL's. The one in my dash somewhere bugs the shit out of me. If I could just fix that one, I could live with the rest. It's a clicking noise and sounds like it's coming from the instrument cluster. But, it's not. I think it's in the dash near the window. Who else has this? Has anyone been able to rectify it? If so, how?

 

I have this same rattle, it sounds like it's coming from behind the instrument panel as well but I'm not sure, it's hard to pinpoint. I have not looked at this yet but I intend too, if I figure it out, I will be sure to update you guys. I want to make sure it's not the center speaker vibrating/rattling, I plan to out some foam in there first and see if that takes care of it.

 

I had this problem & put a piece of felt between the bottom of the 'A' pillar and the dash. This seems to have fixed the rattle