A-Pillar Clicking Noise

[Whitest Russian]

Has anyone experienced an A-pillar clicking noise. Attached is 2 videos I've recorded of it happening. It's only on my driver's side and when I took it to the dealership the first time they replaced the speaker but that wasn't it (it still clicks even if the audio is turned off). It also makes the noise if I squeeze the A-pillar near the speaker.

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[moses19]

My 2015 makes a similar noise. Goes away if I put pressure on the dash piece right over the speedo and tach. Might try to stick a piece of felt in between the pillar and dash where they meet I think that may fix it.

 

[Flyhalf]

2 punches usually fix it for me. I'm serious.

 

[Whitest Russian]

My 2015 makes a similar noise. Goes away if I put pressure on the dash piece right over the speedo and tach. Might try to stick a piece of felt in between the pillar and dash where they meet I think that may fix it.

It comes from the A-pillar. Whenever it gets too much I rip it out of place and it goes away.

 

[StangTime]

Does it go away if you hold the tweeter grilles? Those things are so loose they can rattle.
BTW my ears are bad or your video doesn't pickup the rattle.

 

[Cobra Jet]

So the grilled to the tweeters are known to rattle. They’re actually deflate from the main A-pillar plastic. Some have pulled them off and put a little caulk or other material between them to cease the rattle.

The other thing it could be is the airbag tether on the back side of the A-pillar plastics. Pull the plastic and make sure tether is attached. Also some folks have lines the back side of the plastic with felt tape to silence any plastic to metal contact when the part is installed.

 

[Whitest Russian]

Does it go away if you hold the tweeter grilles? Those things are so loose they can rattle.
BTW my ears are bad or your video doesn't pickup the rattle.

I'll give it a try next time I'm on the highway. I do have to turn my computer sound up a bit to hear it over the car maybe try that? To me it sounds like a mechanical clicking/clacking.

So the grilled to the tweeters are known to rattle. They’re actually deflate from the main A-pillar plastic. Some have pulled them off and put a little caulk or other material between them to cease the rattle.

The other thing it could be is the airbag tether on the back side of the A-pillar plastics. Pull the plastic and make sure tether is attached. Also some folks have lines the back side of the plastic with felt tape to silence any plastic to metal contact when the part is installed.

I'll give these a try once my arm feels better. What do you mean by the airbag tether? The strap(s) that holds it to the metal of the A-pillar?

 

[Cobra Jet]

I'll give it a try next time I'm on the highway. I do have to turn my computer sound up a bit to hear it over the car maybe try that? To me it sounds like a mechanical clicking/clacking.


I'll give these a try once my arm feels better. What do you mean by the airbag tether? The strap(s) that holds it to the metal of the A-pillar?

The airbag tether is a long piece of black plastic with a “T” on each end of it. Resembles the size and consistency of a “zip tie”. One end gets inserted into the A-pillar metal, the other into the A-pillar plastic. The idea behind it is once the airbag blows, it does not shoot the A-Pillar plastic across the cabin.

If the tether isn’t situated properly, due to road imperfections or other NVH, it rubs against or rattles within the cavity between the A-pillar itself and the A-pillar plastic cover.

 

[Whitest Russian]

The airbag tether is a long piece of black plastic with a “T” on each end of it. Resembles the size and consistency of a “zip tie”. One end gets inserted into the A-pillar metal, the other into the A-pillar plastic. The idea behind it is once the airbag blows, it does not shoot the A-Pillar plastic across the cabin.

If the tether isn’t situated properly, due to road imperfections or other NVH, it rubs against or rattles within the cavity between the A-pillar itself and the A-pillar plastic cover.

Oh that thing, I was wondering what it was for. I removed it to see if that was the cause and I'm still getting the noise. It was a real pain to undo the backside clips without destroying it just in case it was important.

It's not the cause btw.

 

[Elp_jc]

Yeah, those A-pillar trim pieces are a royal PITA to remove at the front, and very likely to get damaged/broken. The grille could be silenced with a jeweler's screwdriver and Tesa tape; no need to remove the piece. The tether would be a different story, but make absolutely sure the noise is coming from there. I thought my rearview mirror or radar mount was making noise, and it's the damn dash speaker grille against the trim piece with the gauges. Will have to remove it again one of these days, and put Tesa tape all along the edges (upper and lower).

Still have the stupid door rattles to fix too, and the right C-pillar one. Geez.

 

[Whitest Russian]

Yeah, those A-pillar trim pieces are a royal PITA to remove at the front, and very likely to get damaged/broken. The grille could be silenced with a jeweler's screwdriver and Tesa tape; no need to remove the piece. The tether would be a different story, but make absolutely sure the noise is coming from there. I thought my rearview mirror or radar mount was making noise, and it's the damn dash speaker grille against the trim piece with the gauges. Will have to remove it again one of these days, and put Tesa tape all along the edges (upper and lower).

Still have the stupid door rattles to fix too, and the right C-pillar one. Geez.

I know it's not the tether. The tether is sitting in my center console and the clacking noise is still coming from the A-pillar. I am confused by what you mean when you say that I can use tesa tape on the speaker grille without removing the A-pillar trim.

 

[StangTime]

The tweeter grilles can be popped out without removing the pillar. I just used my fingers, but you may need a plastic trim remover to pop them off.

 

[gmupatriot]

I'll give it a try next time I'm on the highway. I do have to turn my computer sound up a bit to hear it over the car maybe try that? To me it sounds like a mechanical clicking/clacking.


I'll give these a try once my arm feels better. What do you mean by the airbag tether? The strap(s) that holds it to the metal of the A-pillar?

OP, I had a similar clicking sound form A-pillar and it turned out to be the connector plug for the tweeter. I used a little electrical tape to wrap around the plug as it was lose and wont fit snug. Hopefully this will get you close to eliminating the noise. Good luck.

 

[Emilbadal]

Please let us know if you were able to get rid of it. I have a very similar sound, but mine seems to come from the header and sunvisor area. but I'm not sure at all because the glass can reflect the sound and make the noise seem to come from somewhere else.

 

[Elp_jc]

It's more likely to be your dash, like in my case (sounds like it's the rearview mirror, but it's the center speaker grille against the gauge/vent trim piece, it seems. You can tell by sticking your head forward in there, and it'll be immediately obvious if the noise comes from below or above. Good luck.

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