Tempest811

The infamous bass rattle I have experienced lately (and it seems many of you have too) has finally been silenced today when my dad and I finally busted open my trunk and found the problem.
This may not particularly be where the rattle is coming from for all of you but upon inspecting the area, it was pretty clear that there was a pretty large design flaw and plenty of space for vibration between the rearmost vents along the windowsill and the chassis around the trunk light.


This is the area I am talking about - this rear vent sits about 1/4-1/2 inch above the chassis and isn't fastened or insulated.


There are holes in the frame in these locations where you can stick your fingers through and literally lift the rear vents and some of the rear deck.


This is what the hole looks like that is just to the left of the trunk light. Push up on that piece of plastic and the rattling should go away


Stuff some padding (a cut up towel, cotton, etc..) into the holes so there's padding between the plastic and the frame.

Here's a video to prove to you the difference it makes when you lift that area off the bare metal:
[DivX video - click here]

Let me know if this works for you guys! Hopefully it helped at least SOMEONE because that rattle drove me nuts!

bigmoetl1

thanks i will definatley give this a try.

lusid

That rattle drove me wild... I could never listen to music at the level i wanted to play the music. Took it to the dealer and had them fix it, but this should be a good alternative for those who cant take it into a dealer and fix the obnoxious rattle.

Tempest811

I actually took mine to the dealer and they told me that they heard it and it's "perfectly normal". He explained that the rattling was the "baffles" releasing extra air from the heavy excursion of big bass songs.
I have never heard someone spout so much hyperbole in my face.

Please report in and let me know if this works for u guys!

JsTL

Great post. I'll have to try this out. Is it fairly easy to remove that panel?

KeithL

I have had an 04, 06 and 07 TL and my 04 was horrible that they screwed down the back deck. My 06 was fairly quiet, but my 07 is making some noise. I had made a BASS TEST CD that I gave my dealer back in 04 that they still use today on all TLs that have back deck noise. They don't consider it fixed until my test CD plays clean in a car.

Tempest811

There's just 4 plastic plugs you have to pull out along the upper lining. You can see the holes where they were in the second picture...with the lining pulled down.

VelfarreClubber

How can i get a hold of this "bass test cd"?

AMIC

You can download a tone generator program and set it to several low frequencies, save the tones, and burn them to a CD. Play it in your car to test for rattles.

Here is the program I have used before: http://www.nch.com.au/tonegen/index.html

Carbonic TL-S

My 07 TL-S has the same problem and is getting fixed right now as we speak.

TLRIDA

Wow , really informative

AckTL189

I tried the exact fix using felt pads cut to size and it worked like a charm.

lifetimeofwar

Sorry but, what are these random vents again? I hope they dont have anything to do with rear defrosters?

I have this problem when my sub is turned to 3+ setting.

jsong83

going to have to try this after i take my car into the dealer next week if they are not able to fix the problem for a 3rd time. i already scheduled the appt and i believe that the dealer should fix this problem instead of me considering my car is new. thanks for the informative post, picture and vids

surebob

so i was able to remove those 4 plugs along the upper lining but i still couldn't pull down the whole panel like in your picture. is there anything else i have to do?

AckTL189

Just pull down. Make sure you have your music playing and you'll hear the rattle clearly once you have that cover off. When you push up through those holes in the metal you'll see the rattling stop. It's a really easy fix trust me, I'm not the handy type at all.

jsong83

can someone explain to me how i would get the liner off?

jsong83

awesome. a problem that i have been trying to solve ever since i got my 06 in aug and all it required was 1 minute of my time and 3 cotton balls. you deserve a f'in pulitzer, OP.

jwclements1

those trunk liner clips are really hard to get off for me, what tool/method should I use or are they not going to break when I pull on them?

jsong83

just pull it. i thought that too but i just pulled hard on the liner near the clips and each one just falls out

ankur914

This thread was really helpful! Thanks! Fixed the annoying rattling in the trunk, and while I was in there, put some R19 insulation in the rear speaker area (didnt stuff too much of it by the sub....) and in the actual trunk lid. Probably worthless, but didnt want the ricer trunk rattle to occur whenever the bass is going..Hahaha! And those F***in clips! The first time removing them, I broke two! Now they come with with reasonable amount of force. Anyway, Thanks again!

HQTL6SPD

Just did it! took only ten minutes, and what a difference!

azeemdadream

This is the type of info that makes me love this site. I will try this as well and let you know how it goes. Thanks for sharing the info, you're awesome!

JD TL-S

iTrader: (1)

I have the same problem when I play music with low bass freq. My 06 TL had the same problem. They fixed it but it took ALL day? They said nothing was loose, they added some foam insulation to cure. Definately a design flaw. I will fix my 07 Myself. I was going to fix my 06, but it was new so I figured they should fix it.

Tempest811

I wanted to bump this post.
I'm interested to see if any of you guys who took your cars into the dealer were successful and whether you tried this fix afterwards or not.

FYI you can try to pry the 4 plastic clips out to get the trunk liner out of the way but it might break the clips - they can't take much lateral force. Like jsong said, you may just wanna grab onto the liner around the clips and pull down so it doesn't snap any of the plugs off. There are only 4 and you can see the holes in the liner where they are in the second picture.

I'm really glad to hear it has worked for you guys. Did it NOT work for anyone? Or is this possibly the true fix for the infamous bass rattling.

pete94tsi

I've had mine at the dealer going on 3 times now for this same problem. I can fix it myself i'm sure, but I do have a waranty and don't feel like I should have to fix rattles in a one year old car. I also have the passenger seat rattle and center dash rattle all of which they are supposed to be fixing. I really wish that I had purchased an RL instead. American made cars are just plain shitty no matter who engineers them.

TL310

I just did mine. It was real easy took me 15 mins. Tricking taking the lid off but it came off. Just cut a towel in piece and stuck it in there. What about the door rattles?

lusid

Tools used


What you are trying to remove x 4 qty.


My removal method step 1


My removal method step 2


What you will be looking at after the 4 plugs are removed.

I hate cars

With my two 12W6s I've found it works better to stuff a strip of cardboard between the glass and deck cover. They can be cut thin enough to where you don't see them. Worked better for me than stuffing things in the hole and you don't have to remove anything. It's a never ending battle with rattles. I don't listen to my music that loud very often but for those rare times I really crank it, I don't want rattles.

BlueTypeSGuy

I broked all the clips lol. I need to replace them, where can I get the part online? And if I go to the dealer, what I cal them? Trunk liner clips?

escalerajermel

Thanks for the information, worked like a charm and saved me a trip to the dealer.

brett

I didn't notice this problem the other day until I started playing my iPod through the Aux with the iPod bass boost on. When I opened the truck I could hear where the rattle was coming from, so I naturally came here first to find out how to fix it.

I just pulled down the liner and put some force on the clips and they popped right out. I wedged some foam strips between the rear deck and rear panel and the rattle is gone. Took 15 minutes max. Thanks.

blazinginder

+1....I just fixed mine by wedging some pieces of towel but also broke 2 of the "snap things" in the process of taking the cover off in the trunk...any idea where to get replacements?...besides Acura dealers...I'm going to go try pep boys in a bit haha

darksom1

I'm going to use the same song you guys used by the Game "It's Ok (One Blood)"...except I'm using the 12 min. mega-remix so I can know it's fixed for sure!

Lil Wayne part: "...and if you gettin' greasy I'm an ulcer..."

I'll do my test tomorrow and let ya know!

blazinginder

maybe I'm just imaging things but it seems that my bass sounds different after wedging pieces of towel into the holes/slots...any one else notice this?...does that plastic thing (that's actually rattling) have anything to do with the bass?????

wingt

I have a 07 TL, and i started having this sub. rattles two weeks ago, and i tried padding the hole around the rear vents area, and still have some other thing rattles, so i find out the other rattling from the right side seat belt holder(the mounting bracket). so i fixed that too and now is fine!!

TL|GTX

Okay so i did this yeterday night took 15min to do, i broke 3 screws i ripped the truck cover thing off. And i put pieces of towel, by the vent area. And then some rattles went away. Then i went in the back seat and i heard alot of rattle coming from the red back light in the top of the ceiling of the car right, its right on top of the middle seat in back. And i pushed up on it, and the alot of rattling went away. But when u stuff it up in there, ppl see it clearly if thier behind u in traffic. U could try superglue. Or some kind of clear drip free glue. But now the sub rattles like hell. And the only way to fix that is get a better quality sub. This stock sub is no good. If i turn vol-7 it rattles so bad even with the bass down to a little more then half.

BlueTypeSGuy

TL|GTX, what they did to mine is adding an extender to the third brake light so the rubber do not touch the windshield.

TL|GTX

Ohh, btw when they give ur car back can u show me a pic. Maybe when i get my first oil change and 4,000 miles, ill ask them to add an extender to the third brake light. But im afraid they can do nothing about the sub? It rattles way to much, and sound even worse especially when ur in the back seat, it will sound like shit. And if i get a new sub i will have to get a new amp and all that shit.

Be-in my TL

I believe the sub is not the problem. The problem is the plastic vents smacking the rear windshield. As for the purpose of the vents... could they be ports for the bass to *exhaust* it's sound?