I went ALL IN on C-Pillar rattle

[Min Ahn]

....The C-pillar still rattled when I was done. I was so discouraged. Stereo sounds great though.

I think I will have a passenger in the back to locate the sound tomorrow. But having done all this and yet still getting the rattle is for sure discouraging..

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[GT 550]

@Condor1970 what did all of that do for sound deadening in general? Any particular areas you feel made the most difference?

 

[Condor1970]

Well, I can't say I can tell any one place made the biggest difference, since I did it all at once. But the one thing that finally killed the rattle was using that spray foam to penetrate all the little cracks and crevices that's hard to get to.

 

[Min Ahn]

It’s been a while since I last posted.

So I took the car to the dealership last Saturday finally, and they admitted that something isn’t right but not sure what’s causing the noise. They said they would have to use a digital stethoscope to find the source of the noise.

As soon as I hear from them, I will share what the cause and solution was.

P.s. In the meantime I have this Explorer as a loaner, and I can hear all sorts of noises in every pillar and panel lol I must admit that my Mustang is dead quiet compared to this vehicle.

 

[Min Ahn]

Good news and bad news.

So the noise completely disappeared. I test drove today for the last time with the service advisor at South Bay Ford (Hawthorn, CA) and confirmed that the noise is finally gone. Yay!

However, the service advisor was not able to tell me exactly what the technicians did to get rid of the noise.

It’s kind of vague, but these are what he said were done:

• The work was done from the inside of the vehicle, not the outside or the trunk
• The noise was generated by two sheet metals rubbing against each other, especially when accelerating and decelerating
• Some sort of foam or lubricant was sprayed between the rear speaker panel area and rear quarter panel area
• He pointed this location as the affected area, but I think the actual area is a bit lower where the body line makes the steepest curve
  

I wasn’t able to find anything noticeable in the C pillar air bag area nor the speaker panel area. Something must’ve been done really deep underneath the layers of sheet metal.

I wish I knew exactly where the issue was and what kind of material they used to resolve the issue to share with you guys.

For reference, my work order number was 575057 and it was handled by service advisor named Eduardo Millan. They may be able to pull up the detail work report and explain to your local service advisor.

But I can confidently share my personal input on this facility and the staff. I can’t emphasize enough how generous, thoughtful, and most importantly, helpful my service advisor always is. Long complements short, I think no other service advisors, at least in Southern California, can compete with him. Also, South Bay Ford is the only dealership that offered me a replacement vehicle and a free meal voucher that can be used at the lounge while the car’s being serviced.

If you live nearby and your car is going through a similar issue, I would highly recommend you make an appointment with Mr. Millan at South Bay Ford.

 

[jbanh100]

Good news and bad news.

So the noise completely disappeared. I test drove today for the last time with the service advisor at South Bay Ford (Hawthorn, CA) and confirmed that the noise is finally gone. Yay!

However, the service advisor was not able to tell me exactly what the technicians did to get rid of the noise.

It’s kind of vague, but these are what he said were done:

• The work was done from the inside of the vehicle, not the outside or the trunk
• The noise was generated by two sheet metals rubbing against each other, especially when accelerating and decelerating
• Some sort of foam or lubricant was sprayed between the rear speaker panel area and rear quarter panel area
• He pointed this location as the affected area, but I think the actual area is a bit lower where the body line makes the steepest curve
  

I wasn’t able to find anything noticeable in the C pillar air bag area nor the speaker panel area. Something must’ve been done really deep underneath the layers of sheet metal.

I wish I knew exactly where the issue was and what kind of material they used to resolve the issue to share with you guys.

For reference, my work order number was 575057 and it was handled by service advisor named Eduardo Millan. They may be able to pull up the detail work report and explain to your local service advisor.

But I can confidently share my personal input on this facility and the staff. I can’t emphasize enough how generous, thoughtful, and most importantly, helpful my service advisor always is. Long complements short, I think no other service advisors, at least in Southern California, can compete with him. Also, South Bay Ford is the only dealership that offered me a replacement vehicle and a free meal voucher that can be used at the lounge while the car’s being serviced.

If you live nearby and your car is going through a similar issue, I would highly recommend you make an appointment with Mr. Millan at South Bay Ford.

Glad it got resolved for you buddy. I would love my car 10x more if it didn't rattle over small bumps and slightly bumpy roads. haha

 

[Condor1970]

^^^Spray foam.

Seriously. I'm convinced its some kind of sheet metal or plastic base mounts in the C-pillar that rattle. Easiest way to fix it, is just spray a ton of that foam behind everything, and just fill the whole thing with foam that deadens sound and holds it all together without moving around.

 

[Deleted member 35775]

well... i'm experiencing "a rattle" from the driver-side C-Pillar. it sounds like a screw is loose. i removed the rear deck lid and shook the sh*t out of it to see if something was there and it wasn't. i checked and secured loose rear speaker wire and even drove the car without the rear deck lid and the rattle was still there. if I lightly tap the driver side C-Pillar with my knuckle near the top (closest to the roof) I can hear the rattle. my passenger door is squeaking as well when i apply slight pressure to the arm rest. no problem with the driver door. i'm taking the car to the dealership to hopefully fix the issue; i'll also send a link to this thread for reference.

 

[Elp_jc]

Sounds like Ford cheaped out on tack welds in that area. If it's that, spray foam is NOT going to quiet it. And neither any 'lubricant' for too long. I had that issue on a previous car, and the solution was to shove a thin piece of rubber between the 2 offending panels, and never a noise again. But yes, you have to locate them first, which can be challenging. If foam solved it, then it was something else. So you can start with that, I guess.

My car only has 300 miles so far, and the first rattle showed up driving back home (100 miles), and it seems to be coming from high inside the dash, behind the center gauges, more or less. Will have to remove that trim piece to investigate, but will wait to see if I can buy the GT350 gauges before doing that, so I do it just once.

 

[Deleted member 35775]

Sounds like Ford cheaped out on tack welds in that area. If it's that, spray foam is NOT going to quiet it. And neither any 'lubricant' for too long. I had that issue on a previous car, and the solution was to shove a thin piece of rubber between the 2 offending panels, and never a noise again. But yes, you have to locate them first, which can be challenging. If foam solved it, then it was something else. So you can start with that, I guess.

i decided to check this out (before engaging the dealer), and removed the c-pillar cover and noticed the back metal fastner was bent and not inserted into its slot. funny that you mention rubber; i shaved several 1 inch circle slices 1/8 thick, and placed them in spots that were contacting other plastic/metal parts. it was a tight fit, but so far, noise from that area has not returned.

My car only has 300 miles so far, and the first rattle showed up driving back home (100 miles), and it seems to be coming from high inside the dash, behind the center gauges, more or less. Will have to remove that trim piece to investigate, but will wait to see if I can buy the GT350 gauges before doing that, so I do it just once.

ha! i have the same noise as well! do you have the analog or digital dash (I have the latter). it's really noticeable in 3rd gear at 4-5K RPM. my car is almost 2 yrs old and just started making the noise. i'll have a deailer friend quiet my doors next month.

 

[Elp_jc]

Yeah, have the digital dash as well. Man, at least your car took 2 years to make it. Ha ha. We'll see how mine fares with interior noises... which I HATE. But I don't trust dealers with that (techs are not really trained for that), so I end up tackling those myself. Please let me know if you find out the culprit of the dash one. Thanks.

 

[Thegipper]

This is the shelf/panel area I was referring to:

How do you remove this? Thanks.

 

[GT 550]

Search is a wonderful thing:

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/rear-speaker-deck-removal-and-amp-install.14228/

#9

 

[gmupatriot]

How do you remove this? Thanks.

I do not know. Never went this far to fix the rattle. Hopefully someone can chime in with a solution.

 

[Elp_jc]

I put Tesa tape on the rear seat latches circled in red on a picture above, and it wasn't the issue on my car. The good news is the C-pillar rattle is not constant on my car now, but it probably will be in the future. Having said that, I don't see that 'lip' of the rear shelf causing a rattle (especially with the rear seats latched), but it'd be very simple to stuff something to isolate it from the sheet metal. The only way to tell where it might be coming from is to be behind while somebody else drives the car... which will not happen with my car. Ha ha.

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