Interior noises - rattles, creaks, squeaks!

[Zone47]

My only other new Honda/Acura (RSX type S) had rattling front tweeters at the top of the dash, but they only rattled when it was cold. I finally had to pull them out and put some clear RTV around the edges which helped. You shouldn't have to do that on a new car.

Hopefully the OP can get some warranty work done. For a $50K car, it should be rock solid.

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[TypeRD]

@Zone47 It is a little frustrating especially as it is so unexpected. I went straight from an 8th gen Si (owned for 13+ years) to the FL5. The old Si had some rattles here and there, sure. But these FL5’s have more rattles in multiple places than they should (brand new). I agree with you on that, though most are pretty easy to fix. Maybe my expectations were a bit higher than they should’ve been too. Comparing this to older cars, I think older cars had simpler construction. There weren’t as many panels on top of panels. Plus there’s plastic trim pieces attached to those panels. I think that’s really the issue ; So many bits and pieces fitting together.

Note : A $50k car today is not the same thing as a $50k car 10+ years ago. My Si had a sticker of like $23k in 2009 which equates to roughly $34k in today’s dollars. $50k isn’t chump change, but these are built to a tight budget. I mean…the platform itself is a Civic, not a luxury car. I expect some minor stuff like this and for the most part (with light handy work) it’s been fine…especially now that my expectations have been tempered and I’ve accepted that some of the really minor stuff (that initially bothered me) is probably best left alone.

 

[ganzi2]

So I’ve got the buzz/rattle behind the infotainment screen. Only happens when it’s cold and the dealership say it’s the air intake that’s the cause. Doesn’t make any sense to me how the intake would affect this. Anyone else had this issue?

Can you replicate the buzz/rattle by tapping on the top dash next to the center speaker area?

I also had the rattle behind the infotainment screen that was driving me crazy. Took me a while but I finally found out the culprit which was the TCU unit. I took out the whole unit including the metal mounting bracket, the two metal screw fastener clips that secured the mounting bracket, as well as the other two metal screw fastener clips on the left side that were not being used for anything. Then, I put some foam tape around the two connectors, put everything back together, went out for a test drive and confirmed the noise was gone. Drove on some rough road and revved above 4k and no more buzz/rattle.

Now I can finally move onto the A pillar rattles...

 

[Shingo Shoji]

Can you replicate the buzz/rattle by tapping on the top dash next to the center speaker area?

I also had the rattle behind the infotainment screen that was driving me crazy. Took me a while but I finally found out the culprit which was the TCU unit. I took out the whole unit including the metal mounting bracket, the two metal screw fastener clips that secured the mounting bracket, as well as the other two metal screw fastener clips on the left side that were not being used for anything. Then, I put some foam tape around the two connectors, put everything back together, went out for a test drive and confirmed the noise was gone. Drove on some rough road and revved above 4k and no more buzz/rattle.

Now I can finally move onto the A pillar rattles...

Thanks so much. Sounds like the same issue I’m having. I’m going to give this a try. Hopefully I don’t damage the dash getting the panel off. Looks like it will come off relatively easy though.

 

[matttheazn]

I am getting a faint buzz rattle when going over bumpy roads. Any ideas? It sounds like it is coming from under the steering wheel. Hard to hear in the video over the bumps but it does not stop when I touch different areas of the dash and below. Thanks for any advice as it is killing me.


Not to mention the new door rattle from the stereo system. Every time the bass hits right my driver door rattles. I can see a lot of flex in the door panel and it stops when I put pressure on it. Any ideas on how to reinforce the door card and stop flexing? Otherwise it will be more foam stuffed in the corners just like every corner of my dash. :/

 

[JayFL5]

After getting an exhaust for sure I did notice some rattling from the plastics on the apple car play screen. A bit annoying but only happens in low end RPMs. Making the music louder does the trick.... still a honda at the end of the day. Overall interior quality still happy with

 

[ABPDE5]

I am getting a faint buzz rattle when going over bumpy roads. Any ideas? It sounds like it is coming from under the steering wheel. Hard to hear in the video over the bumps but it does not stop when I touch different areas of the dash and below. Thanks for any advice as it is killing me.


Not to mention the new door rattle from the stereo system. Every time the bass hits right my driver door rattles. I can see a lot of flex in the door panel and it stops when I put pressure on it. Any ideas on how to reinforce the door card and stop flexing? Otherwise it will be more foam stuffed in the corners just like every corner of my dash. :/

I have this same rattle in my ITS... driving me crazy. Let me know if you find the source; I'll come back here and do the same if I can track it down.

 

[AbeTypeR]

I’m getting a trunk area rattle that sounds almost exactly like a loose license plate. I’ve checked and re-checked my license plate. That’s not the problem. I can’t find anything else obvious to check. It’s a metallic tapping sound (or could be something plastic tapping on metal) and it only does this on really bumpy, cracked, road surfaces. The roads where I live are awful and I can hear the sound even with music playing. Anyone have any ideas on things to check? I’ll just take it to the dealer if necessary, but I like to try and fix minor things myself before resorting to that.

Any luck?

 

[TypeRD]

Any luck?

Funny, but not funny thing : Last fall when I took my car in for the last CEL (which ended up being that my valves were slightly too tight from the factory) they held my car over the weekend. I was concerned about them holding it, but whatever. Well…my concerns were validated. They had my car safely parked indoors the whole time, which is great, BUT someone in the shop tapped the rear bumper juuuuuust enough to where it put a little wavy bump in it. They owned up to it and paid for it. No problem. I told them while they have the bumper off the car if they could investigate the rattle that’d be the best opportunity to do so. Well, they couldn’t locate the problem. And since I got my car back I haven’t heard the rattle either. So…something in the bumper / diffuser assembly was apparently the cause. Really happy the problem is gone. It was sooo bad. Little creaks and rattles in the dash (which my car has) are a minor annoyance in comparison. Unfortunate I had to get a new bumper to get it sorted though.

 

[AbeTypeR]

Funny, but not funny thing : Last fall when I took my car in for the last CEL (which ended up being that my valves were slightly too tight from the factory) they held my car over the weekend. I was concerned about them holding it, but whatever. Well…my concerns were validated. They had my car safely parked indoors the whole time, which is great, BUT someone in the shop tapped the rear bumper juuuuuust enough to where it put a little wavy bump in it. They owned up to it and paid for it. No problem. I told them while they have the bumper off the car if they could investigate the rattle that’d be the best opportunity to do so. Well, they couldn’t locate the problem. And since I got my car back I haven’t heard the rattle either. So…something in the bumper / diffuser assembly was apparently the cause. Really happy the problem is gone. It was sooo bad. Little creaks and rattles in the dash (which my car has) are a minor annoyance in comparison. Unfortunate I had to get a new bumper to get it sorted though.

Lmao what a roller coaster of emotions. Glad it worked out for you. My search continues

 

[TypeRD]

Lmao what a roller coaster of emotions. Glad it worked out for you. My search continues

Right? I try to keep in mind it’s (just) a car. Virtually all things are fixable until they’re not.

Before the accident, I had all but narrowed the search down to a loose heat shield. It was almost definitely a metal on metal tapping sound, but I couldn’t investigate because I didn’t have a good way to lift the car up…let alone take the diffuser apart to look under there. I had looked at everything else that I could think of. At one point I removed my rear license plate and removed EVERYTHING from the cargo area (including tire inflator and any accessories that are easy to remove) just to eliminate all the possible simple culprits.

 

[Motpeds]

I have a similar sound happen but mine comes from the hatch’s latch. Depending on the road, there’s enough play for it to rattle - so annoying. lol.

I’ve been putting a couple layers of electrical tape on the latch and it works every time. I just need to redo it every few months as it starts to rip away.

 

[AbeTypeR]

Found my rattle, the two screws on the interior handles on the hatch were loose.

 

[TypeRD]

Found my rattle, the two screws on the interior handles on the hatch were loose.

Glad you figured it out and it was simple. At one point I removed the interior trim to the hatch to see if there was something loose in there like a wire harness clip or something. There wasn’t.

 

[AbeTypeR]

Glad you figured it out and it was simple. At one point I removed the interior trim to the hatch to see if there was something loose in there like a wire harness clip or something. There wasn’t.

I was in the process of doing just that lol. That's how I found the loose screws. I remember I had removed the trim to see how to install the option trunk lid LED and I guess I didn't tighten it properly.

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