maxiiiboy

Hi guys, I am getting an occasional rattle from my passenger side. Here are the symptoms:

• It happens when the car hits certain road irregularities.
• It does not happen when I hit an ordinary speed bump.
• It's coming from the passenger/right corner, sometimes feels like from the door, other times like from the front pillar area.
• The sound is plastic/metal; annoying.
• Unlike the passenger side, the driver side is perfectly quiet.

What I have done so far:

• Just to eliminate the obvious suspect, I took out the glove box, and added foam and felt padding in several places. However, the glove box was not, and is not, the problem. The rattle does not come from there - the numerous experiments I have done tell me that.
• Took out the plastic protector that covers the passenger side door sill; added padding between the plastic protector and the metal door sill.
• Took off the plastic/cloth panel on the passenger door. Added a bit more padding here&there, but the panel is solid. I don't think the panel itself is a problem. However, I did not get inside the metal compartment where the window glass and the lifting/lowering mechanism are. Could it be where the rattle is coming from, and if so, how do I get inside?
• Made a minor adjustment to the door latch, so that the door closes tighter.
• I also suspect the front pillar, and the area where the pillar meets the dashboard and the lower passenger panel next to the glove box. Any ideas or suggestions how to go about this? (I do not want to remove the entire dashboard ..... afraid to open a can of worms)

Any experience with similar problems and/or suggestions?

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

You get inside the door to where the window is by taking off the door panel, the "plastic/cloth panel" as you called it. That's it. It doesn't open up any more. Make sure that the ends of the window channel are bolted down tight and that the window regulator is bolted on tight.

Look under the hood for something hitting the firewall on the passenger side and look underneath the car for something hitting the floorboard.

Removing the dash sounds drastic, although it isn't that bad of a job. With the glove box out, you can see pretty much everything that is in the corner.

maxiiiboy

OK, you may be onto something.
After I removed the door panel, I tightened all the exposed bolts/nuts, but I did not remove the plastic covering the "outer" door, with window glass, regularor, etc. There are more bolts/nuts under this plastic. Should I remove it?

Also, what exactly do you mean by "ends of window channel"?

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

When I say window channel, I am talking about what the U shaped piece of metal that the edge of the window glass rides in. Since the window glass goes down inside the door, the channel also goes down into the door. The ends bolt on to something to keep them from not moving. It has been a while since I looked in a door at this and I can't recall what the ends of the channel bolt to. But looking at the service manual (picture below), I think the bolt heads are underneath the plastic sheet.

desktop

Have you looked inside the storage compartment on the door? Sometimes people stick things in there and forget about them. You may have already done this so ignore this if you have.

maxiiiboy

Dennis, thanks for the suggestion.
I am going to take it apart one more time; I just hope I can get to those screws securing the window channel.

Desktop: Yes, I have taken everything out of the storage compartment, stuffed it with foam to eliminate any possible vibrations, etc. No, the problem is somewhere inside the inner door or inside the pillar.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

Now that you mention pillar, does your audio system have a tweeter? Those are in the pillar.

maxiiiboy

Yes, my car has a little speaker (tweeter) in the pillar. The car has the optional Bose system.

Donkeypunch

sunglasses holder.