We all know our TLs are prone to rattles, squeaks, buzzes and creaks. There are quite a few "Rattle Fix" threads here on AZ.

I bought my 06TL in February 09 with 29K. My salesperson let me know that as part of the CPO process, they went through the car and cleaned and lubricated all of the seals with something called Shin-Etsu. At the time, I was too excited about buying the car to think to inquire further and she only made a passing reference to it and I quickly forgot about it.

I was very impressed with how quiet the ride home from the dealer was. It didn't take long for rattles to show up, however. I had the 3rd brake light rattle (take off the cover, check all of the clips, lubricate the rubber seal and replace. Be careful handling the fabric cover), the sunglass holder rattle (remove the holder), the center console trim rattle (remove trim, check clips and holders, run thin felt strip in channel, reinstall trim). Even my Illuminated Doorsill caused a helluva rattle when the double sided tape came loose (added 2 more layers and reinstalled)!

But the one rattle that was the most insidious was the sunroof and window chatter. These start very small and keep growing over time. You kinda get used to the noise so you don't really notice it until its really bad. I identified my sunroof noises when I closed the sunshade one day and noticed how quiet things had gotten. I have seen numerous threads which suggest adding felt to the rubber seals, white lithium grease between the metal and the rubber and all kinds of voodoo sounding fixes. Admittedly, these guys have all gone the last mile to find and fix their issues and I applaud their efforts, but sometimes people can't seem to see the trees through the forest and tend to over-think things, I guess.

I have done my research on the various rattle fixes and I am very grateful to those that came before me and posted their experiences and fixes on AZ. However, in all of the threads I have read, only a very few have ever made reference to Shin-Etsu. This is a silicone based grease that comes in a tube (like toothpaste) Honda Part #08798-9013 and is used on the rubber seals around the doors, windows, trunk and sunroof. Put a small amount on a paper towel or cloth and apply a very thin coating to all rubber seals and window channels. It took me about a half hour to do the whole car and it is very quiet now. This should be a first step to any rattle trace you may undertake to eliminate the rubber as a possible source of the noise. I guess you could use any silicone grease, but make sure it is silicone-based, as that is an inert product and will not react with the rubber and vinyl to damage it.

This is good stuff!

 

armorall works for this as well, might not stay as long as the grease but good for a quick fix until you can get the grease. I use pure silicone fluid I snagged from work

 

From what I hear, Armorall will dry out rubber/plastic. I wouldn't use it.

 

Agreed---do NOT use Armorall on the rubber.

 

Shin-Etsu is a product sold and labeled to dissipate heat on CPU blocks.

I was not aware this is used in the Auto Industry.

 

Armorall is diluted silicone slurry, why would it dry out rubber? This is what it is for.

 

dwb993 speaks truth. Shin-Etsu is the the, bonafide, undeniable, SHIZNIT!!!

You simply can't compare it to Armor all. If you are using silicon spray now, which is very good, you should "up" to the "shiznit" next time you place an order at a place that caries it. Just a little dab will do ya (showing my age) so the tube will last forever.

 

Ha!

I may give this a whirl...thank you. I actually have it and ordered it to remedy the window stick for "auto up". I have that and the dielectric grease for all electrical connections. handaaccessories.(com). Pretty cheap and you can order a bunch of stuff you may need and the shipping doesn't go up much.

 

I like to know if this would help to reduce the rattle around the driver side window?

 

Is it a rattle or chatter? I know it's subjective, but a rattle is more like a collision of two pieces, while a chatter is like a rubbing sound.

Try it on all the rubber first. Then see if you still have the rattle. At the very least, you will have eliminated the rubber as the cause and can continue to track it down.

 

I remember one day i was at home depot looking at some silicone lubricant for the garage door, but i dont remember the brand. Is this stuff found at the home depot stores?

 

No, it's a Honda part...



BTW: Shin Etsu is a manufacturer. They make all sorts of products.

 

Maybe it's just cause I spent 45 min. rubbing this stuff all over the seals on the car...but I swear I've lost that "chatter" I was getting from my window on the highway.

Great stuff...my car will look like new in 10 years from now.

 

You will confirm that it helped reduce the noise. Glad I could help.
Best part is you already had it in your toolbox---free mod! (well, almost)

 

UPDATE: Just noticed my sunroof chattering again this week, so Shin-Etsu treatment lasts about 3 months or so.

 

No its not , it is just a PDMS resin, with a little mineral spirits to increase the "wow" factor (polydimethalsiloxane)

 

polydimethalsiloxane is a silicone...

 

Opps sorry .. should have been a little clearer .. it doesn't contain petroluem distillates and dimethal silicone fluids which are the ones of concern regarding vinyl & rubber. ( Old Armorall wives tale )

 

bump for shin etsu been using it for a few year starting with my acura legend it is an absolute life saver for the rubber window channels and everything else!

 

This is definetly good stuff.

 

Just re-applied the Shin-Etsu. Nice to have a quiet car again!
I should be good until mid-Summer now.

 

dwb993 - Can I go to Bobby Rahal and purchase the Shin-Etsu from the parts department do you think? How much is it? I have to get wheel locks for my new rims this week, and thought I could get this at the same time. I am getting a front passenger and rear passenger door sound..hard to tell if its a rattle or chatter though lol Can't hurt to apply this to all the rubber parts/channels.

 

Call them to make sure they have it.
If not, I got mine from Bernardiparts.com when I ordered an ATF filter and some Z1 to flush the tranny. Good service, fast shipping.
BTW, have you heard about the College Park, MD meet in May? I'm gonna roll down with a bunch of other members, if you're interested.
https://acurazine.com/forums/mid-atlantic-311/2010-university-maryland-spring-meet-may-2nd-2010-a-765343/

 

Thanks for the information.

I havent heard about the MD meet. I don't think I have ever been to the region forums before I'll keep it in mind. I used to go to meets when I had my Mazda3, but havent been to one with the TL yet.

 

UPDATE: The sunroof is chattering again, but we have had some pretty high temps here in the Mid-Atlantic lately.
Time to re-apply!
Stuff lasts pretty much 3 months or so.

 

This is an old thread that seems to have gotten lost, but on the recommendation from this detailed post, I just bought some of this off eBay to fix my creaking 60k mi 2003-made TSX. I've tried spray silicone, but that didn't help very much. Thanks so much for the post! I hope it will help, and it sounds like it will!

 

What is creaking? This renews the rubberiness of the seals. If you've got creaking try bearing grease. Picked some up at home depot for my squeaky clutch pedal. Problem solved!

 

bump. i just picked up some from my local honda dealer. it costs about 17 dollars. will report back.

 

$17

 

well worth the it!

 

I'm glad this thread got bumped.
The creaking is more of a rubber on glass chatter---hard to describe. But once you use this, you will notice a difference.
Remember to apply it very lightly and you $17 tube will last the life of the car.

 

Gonna go out to Honda dealer and buy it =)

 

i have a tube of shin etsu at home. my window regulators make some creaking noises when its fully opened, its been bothering me for awhile now. im gonna take out my window regulator this weekend and see if shin etsu will save the day!

 

I had a door seal problem on the left passenger side door. Always heard sounds from the corner and greasing the weather seals just fix everything. Car sounds quiet like it was before! Worth every penny. Still have to do the sunroof as a precaution. Thanks for the heads up!

 

I need to redo mine too...normally, I put a glove on and lube it up with my fingers...

 

Bringing this thread back from the dead.

I've been living with various rattles & creaking noises for a while now. I just replaced the stock Michelin's with some Continentals. It smoothed out the ride a little bit and I noticed some of the rattles went away while others are not as bad. I do have that same chatter sound with my driver window that drives me crazy so I just turn up the radio so I dont hear it. I'm going to order some of this stuff and give it a try.

Just one question though, I assume you should clean all the rubber first before applying the grease, what's a good chemical/cleaning product to clean all the rubber first before applying the Shin-Estu grease?

Thanks.

 

I've wiped down the rubber with a damp cloth and then have used a conditioning product. There's a TSB about the window squeaking for the driver side!

I would put some on my finer and just work it around personally! I use 1Z Gummifledge stuff and it works great!

 

at "shit-zhu" grease

 

Sounds like I should give this stuff a try, just ordered a tube from Amazon for $16 and change. Anybody have pics of where they put it on the doors? I get the weather seals but are you guys taking the door panel off and putting it in the tracks? I have a minor rattle in my drivers door, I did some sound deadening and it's till there.

 

Bumping this for my first application of the year. This stuff truly is amazing. The whole car seems silent.

I clean the rubber with a damp towel, then apply.

You want to apply this on all of the door weather seals. There are 2 sets---one on the door itself and one surrounding the door opening on the body.

The second place is the vertical window channel on the B-pillar side of the window (that is, the side closest to the rear of the car). I think this location is the prime offender for the window chatter.

If you've never heard of this stuff, go get some. Works on any car with rubber weatherseal!