Roof Rattle fixed...simple.
05-13-2013, 10:21 AM
#25
Heel & Toe
Member Since: May 2011
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have a 2012 GS and both roofs snap crackle and pop. In fact, the painted roof is worse than the clear top. I have thus far lubed all the pins and cleaned the weather stripping. Then I used the very expensive GM weather strip fluid on all of the clean weather strip. This mostly helped the clear roof, but did not completely stop the noises. I will try the O-rings on the front pins next. I know what size to get. But I read in this post that a few may have put o-rings on the rear pins. What size works? Any help here would be most appreciated.
05-13-2013, 01:41 PM
#27
Burning Brakes
05-13-2013, 02:09 PM
#30
). Hope my fix finally eliminated my #1 'comfort' complaint with this car.By the way, I have an additional issue in the form of the driver's window indexing too far up at the rear, and hitting the top internal rail over bumps (or more specifically, one of the screws holding the rail). I sanded down the worst offending screw, but still touches sometimes. I'm living with that since it's not that annoying, and don't want to open up the door panel just for that. Make sure that's not what you're hearing, since it also comes from the top folks. I'm an expert in top noises now, but it's easy to differentiate the 2. Finally, still expect top noises when hittting bumps and such, but that's different than the incessant creaking I had before. No way around those noises, but again, they don't bother me that much since they're not all the time. Good luck.
Last edited by JCtx; 05-13-2013 at 02:19 PM.
05-13-2013, 02:34 PM
#31
Race Director
Member Since: Mar 2007
Location: Missouri City Texas
Posts: 11,331
Likes: 0
Received 14 Likes
on
14 Posts
I did the o-ring trick last summer and it resolved 90% of the roof popping. I still get a little once in a while so I'm going to try and lube it up a bit and see if that helps.
05-13-2013, 02:50 PM
#32
Forgot to say folks need to tackle this issue in a PROGRESSIVE way. My car was an extreme example, but it can be fixed.
The progressive sequence should be this:
1. Use dielectric grease everywhere. This will for sure eliminate any squeaking. If front pins have enough of a gap, this should cure all your top noises. Remember to also grease the latches (including the 'roller'), and where the 'roller' slides on the car parts. And obviously pins and posts liberally. Repeat as necessary, but this should last several thousand miles, or you need to try one of the fixes below.
At this point, I'd shrink-wrap the middle latch 'hook', since it's easy enough. And adjust it if needed, to create enough pressure.
2. If noise persists, use the O-ring fix now.
3. If noise persists, remove O-rings and use shrink-tubing in pins.
4. If shrink-tubing 'bunches up' when installing, then you'll have to sand that area down a little, like I had to do, to create the needed gap.
5. If you still get rear noise, you'd have to shrink-tube the posts as well, but sand them down a little before, so they don't push the top forward and prevent front pins from engaging. This is a tricky step, since you'll need to be the absolute minimum. I accomplished this by lubing the crap out of the front posts, then pushing the top rearward as hard as I could before engaging the front pins, so the shrink-tubing is not damaged while doing this (I had to replace the shrink-tubing twice before I suceeded). You need to check with a flashlight under the sun visors, to make sure the shrink-tubing is still where it was. If you only see the tip of the pins, then it was pushed up. I had to use safety-wire to prevent that from happening. And keep in mind every time you remove the top, when it's that tight, you'd damage the shrink tubing when removing the top. If you want to remove the top often, you'd have to sand down the pins/posts a little more to allow more room. Good luck folks.
The progressive sequence should be this:
1. Use dielectric grease everywhere. This will for sure eliminate any squeaking. If front pins have enough of a gap, this should cure all your top noises. Remember to also grease the latches (including the 'roller'), and where the 'roller' slides on the car parts. And obviously pins and posts liberally. Repeat as necessary, but this should last several thousand miles, or you need to try one of the fixes below.
At this point, I'd shrink-wrap the middle latch 'hook', since it's easy enough. And adjust it if needed, to create enough pressure.
2. If noise persists, use the O-ring fix now.
3. If noise persists, remove O-rings and use shrink-tubing in pins.
4. If shrink-tubing 'bunches up' when installing, then you'll have to sand that area down a little, like I had to do, to create the needed gap.
5. If you still get rear noise, you'd have to shrink-tube the posts as well, but sand them down a little before, so they don't push the top forward and prevent front pins from engaging. This is a tricky step, since you'll need to be the absolute minimum. I accomplished this by lubing the crap out of the front posts, then pushing the top rearward as hard as I could before engaging the front pins, so the shrink-tubing is not damaged while doing this (I had to replace the shrink-tubing twice before I suceeded). You need to check with a flashlight under the sun visors, to make sure the shrink-tubing is still where it was. If you only see the tip of the pins, then it was pushed up. I had to use safety-wire to prevent that from happening. And keep in mind every time you remove the top, when it's that tight, you'd damage the shrink tubing when removing the top. If you want to remove the top often, you'd have to sand down the pins/posts a little more to allow more room. Good luck folks.
