mwrcpylon

Help please!

I just purchased a 2012 Corvette GS coupe last April. The car only had 2000 miles on it. I have since put 3000 more miles on it.

Just a month after purchasing the Vette, there has been a "growling" high frequency noise coming from the targa top at around 80 miles an hour plus.

The car came with two tops and I have tried both, and the same noise occurs.

I have had the balance checked on the factory Good Year Eagle F1 at Discount Tire. The guys were nice enough to balance for free since I have purchased tires for another Vette and other vehicles there before.

I "Armored All" the rubber sealant and applied dielectric grease to all the hard points. I used regular Armorall to apply to the rubber in lieu of the recommended GM Weather Strip Lubricant since it was not easily available.

I do not have a very loud creaking sound complained about in other posts. If anything the dielectric grease has helped what little creaking sound there was, but the high frequency growl is still there at 80 plus mph. Sometimes it may not occur, but it makes this noise more often than not.

Does anyone have any ideas what is the cause, and better yet, a remedy for this problem?

Gearhead Jim

Last time I looked, the GM bulletin about noisy tops specifically mentioned aftermarket protectants like Armorall as being one cause of noisy weatherstrip. They recommend removing it with soapy water, dry thoroughly, and use the old standby- Dielectric Silicone Grease. For a while they recommended GM Superlube Paste, but discovered that stuff can dry into a creaking gummy mess and so we're back to the DSG.

I tried the GM Weatherstrip Lube one time- expensive, hard to find, and didn't work as well as DSG. The only advantage is that the WSL won't get on your hands or clothes, once it dries.

But...
We had a similar noise develop in our 2009 at about 70k miles, it turned out to be the "cowl buzz" which you can search for here. Sounded like it was coming from upper windshield area but was actually down low. Dealer fixed it for free on our next oil change, not sure if they charged our GMPP anything.

bobeast

Are you absolutely sure its the top? Noises can be funny that way. The reason I ask is that there is a common at-speed noise issue associated with the plastic cover that abuts up to the bottom of the windshield (I forget what its called...cowl maybe?). Its the piece that the wiper axles come up through.

I fixed mine by tucking a bit of double sided sticky tape between the (lets call it a cowl) and the windshield, on the passenger side.

mwrcpylon

I believe this may be the issue that it is coming from the cowl instead of the top. This only makes sense as the same noise occurs with using both tops. If is was from the targa top, then it stands to reason that the noise would change or go away using the glass top versus the solid top. I will need to experiment and temporarily use some tape to seal off the bottom part of the windshield to the plastic cowl vent and see if that works. I like the idea of double sided tape inserted there.

mwrcpylon

Gearhead Jim

I agree that it is probably coming from the cowl instead of the top. I will do some experimenting to be sure.

Thanks

Gearhead Jim

If you use the Advanced Search function, you can find several ways to verify or even eliminate the problem, by yourself. Which you may have done already...

Cheers!