kennyc

My last car was an Audi A4 and that was a rattle trap, however, it did gave me a lot of experiences dealing with them.

So my after my dealership failed to fix the b-pillar rattle I thought I take a stab at it.

Disclaimer

I am not responsible for the damage you may cause on your own car. If you don't think you can do it, don't start ripping things out.

Parts you would need

foam/felt - I use Cascade Audi VB5 gasketing foam, it has the consistancy of neoprene, ahesive backed.
pair of scissors
flat head screwdriver
petrolium jelly - regular wd-40 or even white lithium grease will not be enough to stop the rattles - you would need heavier weight of lubricant. Since I don't have heavy grease I chose petrolium jelly.

Directions

1. Pull the rubber weatherstippings out of the roof, b-pillar, and the door sill. You don't need to pull them completely off, just enough to work on the b-pillar.

2. pull the rear door sill trim upward, you do not need to remove the piece off completely.


3. pull the front door sill trim upward, you do not need to remove this piece neither.


4. pull the lower b-pillar lower trim toward the driver seat, you might want to move the driver seat up and out of the way.

5. now you have enough room to remove the upper b-pillar trim. There is just 1 clip that secures this piece. Pull gently toward the center off the car until it pops out.







6. the rattle is coming from the white box. Use the flat head screwdriver to remove the cover by inserting it between the cover and the base. Becareful as there is a spring in there, make sure you do not lose the spring.



7. the source of my rattle is from the piece a vibrating within the track b. I used liberal amounts of petrolium jelly to grease the track and piece a. While you're at it, apply the jelly at location c too. Now slide piece a up and down to lubricate the track.

What it looks like after I am done...



8. Reinstall the spring and the cover...





9. Put a small piece of foam/felt inside the upper b-pillar trim, where the seatbelt height adjustable button makes contact with the mechanism.



10. Reinstall everything.

I am happy to say this completely rid of my b-pillar rattle. I have driven 90+ miles today and have yet to hear a peep from it.

Let me know if you have any questions... I'll post a followup in a week.

oppnyc

First o fall - you di dcreat job.
Second: how did you find this : "the source of my rattle is from the piece a vibrating within the track b"? Did you drive your TL with B - pillar removed and locate a source?
Thanks

kennyc

1. thanks for the compliment!
2. I found that rattle by running tone generator on my laptop, which in connected to my stereo system via a cassette adaptor. Playing tones from 50hz to 125hz.

Unfortunately, after I posted this message rattle reappeared again the day after, I will open the b-pillar back up after work today. It now takes me less than 10 minutes to take it apart and put it back together. I got a couple more tricks up my sleeves and I will get this rattle.

TorontoR

Please post again what you find. Great and thorough right up, I'll try this during the summer when its a bit warmer!

oppnyc

I wish you the best.
I am personally tired with rattles in my TL.
I do not understand how acura can build such low quality car (inside).
I have no problem with other parts yet, but these rattles run me crazy....
keep us (me) updated. I will still try to fight agains mine rattles...

so long

kennyc

I have been busy working on the car this past week. I opened my b-pillar up after work everyday trying to figure out what is causing the rattle. I found 3 separate locations in the b-pillars that could rattle.

The good news is I think I finally got the rattles.

The bad news is it's not going to be easy.

As I posted before, I hold no reponsibility for your own action. We are working around the seatbelt so make sure you are aware what your doing before you start. If you don't feel like messing around with it, please don't do it!

What you'll need:
micro flat head screw driver
petrolium jelly
foam/felt
hockey tape (cloth tape, also known as friction tape, available at sporting good stores)
sharp hobby knife

Here are the three locations...



Location A: Seatbelt Anchor
I think this is the source of most of the rattles.



First of all spacer (B) sits within the hole of belt hanger (C). I believe the majority of the rattle come from bolt (A) rattles within spacer (B).

Use a 14mm socket to loosen bolt (A)

After getting the assembly off the slider, you can see there's a washer behind spacer (E) that holds all these things to the bolt.

Remove the washer (not pictured) with a flat head micro screwdriver by inserting between it and spacer (E), rotate to lift a part of the washer up. Do not destroy the washer as you would need to reuse that. Once the washer is off you would be able to remove everthing off bolt (A).

Apply a piece of hockey tape arond bolt (A), right under the "hat" of the bolt. You want to make sure the tape sits between bolt (A) and spacer (B) preventing them from making direct contact.

Remove spacer (B) from belt hanger (C) - spacer (B) is made of soft plastic, so it's easy to remove.

Coat where spacer (B) and belt hanger (C) makes contact with petrolium jelly, reinstall spacer (B) back into the belt hanger (C).

Coat washer (D) and spacer (E) with liberal amount of petrolium jelly. Make sure every surface is coated evenly.

Put everything back together, install the secure washer (not pictured) last.

Bolt the assembly back onto the slider.

Location B: Adjuster Spring Assembly

Easiest one of the three. Come to think of it, DO THIS LAST!!



Make sure you coat everthing with a heavy layer of petrolium jelly - including the spring.



The cover rattles under some circumstances. Coating between the cover and the base will eliminate this rattle.

Location C: Seatbelt Rail

There are 2 possible sources of rattle at this location. First one is when the whole seatbelt adjuster assembly vibrates within the track, causing rattles. Second one is when the bolt in the adjuster assembly vibrates within the adjustment holes.





Remove the upper adjuster track bolt and slide the adjuster assembly out of the track.



Cut a piece of tape and cover one side of the track completely, then fold the excessive part into the track, including under the track. Thus completely covers it.

Do the same for the other side. Now the tape sits between the track and the assembly.

Cut another piece of tape and this one goes within the track, covering all the holes.

Use the sharp hobby knive to cut an "H" into each holes. That will create a buffer between the adjuster assembly bolt and the holes in the track.



Install the adjuster assembly back into the track. It will be a little difficult because there are no longer space between each parts. Install the upper track bolt.



While I was in there I installed/applied additional felt/petrolium jelly on the cover.



Reinstall b-pillar and you're done.

I have put it to test for the past couple of days and so far absolutely no rattles coming from the b-pillar. I have hit all the rough roads in the area and so far not a peep.

I will be happy to answer any questions.

J.Edward

Morning All,

Is there anyway a helpful person could post the instructions for the rear sill removal as the linked pictures do not appear to be working.

Thanks!

kennyc

what rear sill?

SiGGy

Has anyone simply had the dealer replace the seatbelt unit? If so what was the outcome...

I Hate Infiniti's

I had to have the passenger seatbelt replaced due to it buzzing under hard acceleration. Its silent know. They also replced the thing the buckle snaps into. It ratlled too.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

stop using petrolium jelly and get some correct grease...once the jelly starts to get warm its going to break down and run out of the spot its in and get all over every thing else...

TLTrance

I had my entire driver side seatbelt unit replaced.. The rattles are completely gone. The first time, they just greased things. The rattles came back. Thus, I complained again and they replaced it. Problem solved!

eh? spec

Was it easy for you to get them to replace the seatbelt assembly? Did you have to convince them at all?

I need to get this done ASAP. When the weather gets cold outside my B PILLAR rattle is enough to put me in a mental hospital.

carlosriosness

you need white lithium grease

search amazon for this: B000HBNV58

MandoTL

I just tackled it this past weekend. No vibration from the seatbelt.

But now I have an annoying squeak coming from the driver side mirror assembly, like something is loose, so I don't know how to handle that task.

dcmodels

The correct grease/ lube for the right job: there are (maybe) a million different spec-greases out there - this calls for a grease specific to plastic/ metal parts.

Honda specs Dow Corning MolyKote MH-62 grease grease for HVAC application, for both cold/hot and plastic/metal combinations. And Honda specs 20 other greases for specific applications - there is a list they provide to dealers. See TSB (Technical Service Bulletin 99-030 RECOMMENDED MATERIALS dated 10 Feb 2007) Materials for eliminating sqeeks (rubbing plastic parts) are also listed.

A less expensive alternative, readily availble, is Synco Super Lube® Synthetic Grease with Syncolon® (PTFE) which is spec'ed by GM also for plastic/metal applications, available for a GM dealer or ACE Hardware stores, aerosol and tube.

Either is good from -40 to 400 degrees, so it won't melt. Petroleum jelly may have applications of a personal lube nature, but not for automotive applications. And any petroleum lube such as (white) lithium will damage plastic parts.

The greases I mentioned above are synthetic, and specs can be found in the following link, scroll down a bit:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13884378#post13884378

EM2typeflex

Hondas or at least the ones I've owned are notorious for their a pillar rattles, and it drives me crazy. I haven't heard any rattles on my tl's a pillar, but I'm subscribing to this thread just incase I do.