Annoying Door Card Rattle

[willydoit]

Hi all,

I have recently noticed an annoying rattle which I initially assumed were my keys dangling from ignition when driving on a less than smooth surface. After lots of mesing about I have tracked the issue down to the door card or more accurately the door handle element just underneath the front edge area where the window switches are. Pressure applied just below the front of the switch cluster stops it. I initially assumed that this would be held onto the card by clips or something similar, havent had chance to try to remove. Or tighten this yet, has anyone else experienced a rattle in this area and if so how was it resolved? Does this part actually come apart from the door card? Dont want to try to force it and risk making rattle even worse.

Thanks in advance

[Neil E]

No it shouldn't rattle at all, It should be an easy fix. The door card will probably need to be removed to find the cause. It's likely to be a missing/clip, screw or plastic popper. I haven't taken my door cards off yet as I'm still using stock speakers but the procedures to do it can easily be found. There's even a novice You Tube video.

[willydoit]

No it shouldn't rattle at all, It should be an easy fix. The door card will probably need to be removed to find the cause. It's likely to be a missing/clip, screw or plastic popper. I haven't taken my door cards off yet as I'm still using stock speakers but the procedures to do it can easily be found. There's even a novice You Tube video.

No it shouldn't rattle at all, It should be an easy fix. The door card will probably need to be removed to find the cause. It's likely to be a missing/clip, screw or plastic popper. I haven't taken my door cards off yet as I'm still using stock speakers but the procedures to do it can easily be found. There's even a novice You Tube video.

Thanks for that, have watched the video but it doesnt show how tHe arm rest element fastens to the door card, hopefully it just screws up from the back of the card, if so it probably just wants tightening. If anyone has a definitive answer to how it is secured it would be helpful. I will remove the switch panel over the weekend to see if I can see anything...as mentioned a small amount of pressure resolves it but there doesnt seem to be any axcessive gap or movement between the armrest and the door card so hopefully minimal adjustment is needed.

[Neil E]

Sorry, it's easy for me to say as I've removed lots of door cards in the past to change speakers or sound deaden, etc..

The guy in the video doesn't take the card off but it can easily be removed as one piece after removing all of the screws and securing clips. It's quite easy to do it when you know all of the locations of the concealed fixings. If it's like the older Soarer, the lock and door opener will have cables attached. They can be uncoupled or left in place. The card can be supported on a cardboard box or something similar while you investigate items that might be causing the rattle. Perhaps something is loose or one of the cables needs a little more foam wrapped around it.

This may help.

[willydoit]

Hi all,

Thanks for the useful input, I have had a chance to look at this and it turns out it isnt an issue with the door card, not directly anyway. The problem seems to be caused by the door card trim touching the side of the dash as any slight pressure on the door card in this area produces the sound which is difficult to explain but is similar to two items that have stuck together being pulled apart. When we purchased the car i did notice that there was a small felt disk stuck to the side of the dash where it contacts the door trim and couldnt for the life of me work out what it was for. Now i know, it was obviously being used to create a small gap between the two surfaces to stop this noise. I need to experiment with different cleaning products to see if I can stop it happening although I would have assumed that the previous owner would have tried that before resorting to the small felt pad idea so dont hold out much hope.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? If so how did you resolve it? For whatever reason it isnt an issue on the passenger side.

Thanks in advance