squeaks and creaks while driving

[amar_fiaz]

Guys,

I need some help in identifying the cause of a creaking noise coming from the headlining area where it meets the windscreen. The noise seems to have gotten steadily worse.

My initial thoughts were that with the cold weather we've had recently (frost, snow), this was causing the windscreen to "tightened" somehow. The creaking noise isn't so apparent when its raining (i.e. slightly warmer).

Anyhow, as i say the problem seems to be getting worse. Everytime i go over a speedbump or the smallest of potholes i always get this creaking noise coming from the where the headlining meets the windscreen (its bloodly annoying!!).

I did have the winscreen replaced about 2 years ago, could this be significant. Anyway, i would appreciate your thoughts and comments.

Cheers,

AMAR

[BrownBear]

Hi Amar,

You don't say if you have a coupe or a Targa..

If a Targa, maybe this will help

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Reference/tsb/95-015.htm

Also if you search on NSXprime, there's a few threads on this, which may lead you in the right direction...

eg:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36820&highlight=creaking

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4330&highlight=creaking

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33868&highlight=creaking

or even

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Troubleshooting/noise.htm


I put OT threads up as well, since diagnoising the source of noises in cars is a living hell (I used to have a cortina in which I played that game on a weekly basis).
HTH
Joe

[710]

Amar,

I had an annoying squeak there too. I put some white grease behind the headliner where it touches the body (pillar) just underneath the top end of the plastic windscreen pillar strip. It wasn’t the plastic strip that was squeaking by the way. The grease stopped it.

I have/had some other squeaks too but the next one was driving me crazy and it turned out to be much more complicated.
I tried greasing every edge of every panel but that wasn’t the problem.
After removing every interior panel (in the back corner behind the passenger seat-back and the door and the bulkhead), the squeak was still there.
We got tired of driving around with someone backwards in the passenger seat, it’s very uncomfortable.
Then we found that by jumping on the door sill (door open, car parked) we could recreate the squeak. It was good exercise, too.
It came from the place where the two aluminium panels are spot welded together, above the engine compartment, (on the pillar between the engine cover glass and the door glass)
I pulled off the rubber sealing strip. With a block of hardwood and also a flat steel punch, I hammered at the seam. It’s soft so it moves easily.
To my amazement, the squeak stopped! I couldn’t believe it at first because the noise appeared to be coming from deeper inside the frame. These squeaks are very deceptive.

So, I don’t want to depress you, but maybe your squeak is also the welded seam (but with you it will be under/next to your windscreen).
If you take off your head liner and plastic strip, and the squeak is still there, then it could be the seam. Since your windscreen is glued in on the outside, it should be possible to give a few soft thumps to the seam (exposed on the inside). Just soft positive thumps with a punch with a rag on the end.
Will you break the windscreen? I don’t think so (unless you slip). You won't be hitting it that hard.
Oh, and I also squirted WD40 in between the seam, before I hit it, but it solved nothing.
I’m going to try to do that to mine again because I have the same type of squeak as you but it’s not driving me as crazy as the last one.
So maybe I’ll try it this summer.

There are a lot of other squeaks too. I fear of the same “seam” type. There are some threads on NSXPrime too. In the official NSX manual it recommends hitting the damn things with a hammer, block of wood etc.. Some cars seem not to have any squeaks, some do. Mine is one of the squeaky ones. It is filled with squeaks and creaks.
But after my success with the last one, I will track down my squeaks one by one and exterminate them!

Just for info, can you tell me what year your car is and how many miles it has. My car has low mileage (30,000 miles) and a it’s a 1991 manufactured in 1990. Could it be that the car will improve (less squeaks) with more miles? Most of the high mileage ones in the states don’t squeak. Why not? Or is it that the early year cars squeaked more?

Also I plan to order a bag of those plastic clips/buttons that hold down the interior panels etc. They are sometimes hard to remove and once removed, I doubt they will hold tight again. Half break anyway.
peter

[710]

Amar,
By the way, I had some squeaks/creaks where the dash meets the defrost vents behind that defroster cover bolster. Is that what you have? It's hard to pinpoint those noises.

I tried to get something behind there like wax or grease.
In frustration, the only way I could get some oil or grease in between the windscreen and the defroster cover was to bend the tube of WD40 around and squirt WD40 in there. I hated to do it but it worked. The creak stopped and I can’t smell WD40 or see it either.

I don’t know what the long term effects on the leather will be, but the long term effect on my nerves is good because the creak has stopped.

There also seems to be a creak inside/under the door panel too. If someone knows what this could be, please let me know. I haven’t taken the door panels off yet to put the window thingys in. My windows struggle to go up by the way… Next project.
Peter

[NSXGB]

....Peter, I think I have worked out your understeer problem....when your car gets warm, all the white grease and WD40 behind your dash melts, comes through your bulkhead, and onto your tyres....maybe!

[AR]

How common is this problem ? Will it be noticeable with say the radio or AC on. I am hoping to get an NSX when I finish paying up my 4.2 Amazon next January, so I am used to noise :)

[amar_fiaz]

Thanks for your advice, especially Peter. As i'm not too confident about giving my NSX a bash with a hammer!! i'll print off the suggestions and get my mechanic to have a go instead!! I'll keep you all updated of progress.

Apart from the creaks and squeeks described, i'd say my NSX is pretty solid for a 14 year old car, some vibration from the dash (which was also a bit of a problem in my old Saab 900 Turbo) but thats about it.

By the way, as requested here is some info about my NSX:
Year: 1991
Colour: Silver/Black
Miles: 60,000
Purchased: 2002

[710]

to NSXGB:
hahaha :D

To AR:
take the car that you want to buy for a test drive. If it creaks and the seller says it's only the leather, it might well be the leather (especially if it's where the windscreen defrost vents are) but he won’t know any more than you.
Don’t worry about it, though, it’s still going to be a nice car. We are all making a big deal about every little thing because the car is sooooo nice, any small imperfection becomes an obsession. Just hit it with a hammer, like the manual says, and everything will be okay.
But I am now almost sure that the “cracking” sound near the top of my windscreen is the aluminium seam. I was listening to it on my way home today and it is the exact “pop” or “sticky” sound as the last one that I got rid of. It's not the "ribit ribit" sound (oh gawd, are we actually serious?!!?) that the headliner against the chassis was making (previous post).
I don’t think these cars develop “creaks”. If anything, I’d say the more use they have seen, the less it’s going to creak. That purely speculation on my part, though.
I think most of the cars are creak free, actually. I have driven in totally creak free NSXes.
Mine will be the same soon.

To Amar:
But, waaaaaait…..I’d prefer not to trust my car to a hammer wielding mechanic, although, like with the surgeon, I suppose it’s better not to know what they are doing…
Finding my creak took more than a few hours. So make sure the dealer has read the relevant part of the manual, so he can zero in on the problem quicker (money).
peter

[710]

AR:
in answer to your question, i can't hear any creaks when i'm driving on the motorway, because of road noise (Belgian roads -fast but rough). Also, when the radio is on, can't hear creaks either.
Airco: well the heater fan noise in these cars is louder than it should be, so it drowns out any creaking noises. I haven't tried the airco yet, I suppose I should (I've only had the car since December last). Does cold air carry noise better? (smart ass)
(me, not you)
also, a funny thing about my remaining creaks. Now that i know how to fix them (the hammer is waiting..8) ), they don't seem to bother me anymore.
Peter

[AR]

Thanks for the info. I have had a fair share of squeakers, and have resorted to ignore some of them. The worst was an older 4.2 Amazon that was written off last year. It managed to get water in between the floor and the footwell. It was a squasher. Fine on the road but once you stoped it squashed like the seafront :lol: I'll empty it but it will refill overnite.