Former USMC

Greetings,

I know many of you have read or even posted information about the squeak coming from the rear of the passenger side (small window area). My 2016 also had a squeak...which was driving me crazy. It typically occurred when driving over small bumps, holes in the road, etc.

My fix was relatively simple. Instead of removing all of the passenger rear panels and overhead panel (halo panel), I simply tightened the torque bolt holding the cargo net ring in place. See pic below. NOW, the pic shows the driver's side, but it was the passenger's side that needed tightening...it was very loose...barely finger tight. In the pic, the ring (and torque bolt) is the right of the hand and left of the speaker. Simply remove the little plastic cap and tighten the torque bolt (I think that's what they are called). (On the passenger's side).

No more squeak...simply tightening the bolt did the trick.

Semper Fi

UPDATE
First let me apologize for the above post...my quick fix did NOT last. Therefore, I removed the two panels (the first is where the fingers are touching and the second one is just above it...it surrounds the rear window. I found the same problem others have found a missing piece of felt and a cracked plastic rib. I will attach a pic showing the missing felt and cracked rib.

kenownr

Thanks, I'll give that a try over the weekend. I get the squeak off and on in that same area. When it's doing it's thing it always seems to be in traffic where all you can do is try to keep from being pi**ed off as it's really annoying. thanks again -- tom

Myfourth1

Thanks. I'll try that today on my 17 GS and let you know. Mine is driving me crazy.

Maxpowers

I hope this solves for my intermittent squeak. I'm going to try it tonight.

drs

Thanks for the heads-up. I have what I think is the same issue you describe. An intermittent squeak from the same area (but on the Driver's side for me). Most of the time it's quite, but when it's squeaking it's infuriating.

bbrown450

Ditto....going too try the same thing ...took it to the dealer and sure ...make an *** out of me ..thanks brother

Myfourth1

I checked the bolt and it was slightly loose. I tightened it as much as possible. I'll test drive it tomorrow to see if it works. Thanks.

Myfourth1

I think it worked. Went for a 60 mile drive today and tried just about every road condition and it doesn't seem to be squeaking or rattling. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks again for the tip.

rico750sxi

That will be awesome if it's a cure. After a frustrating track day yesterday mine squeaked the whole way home which didn't help my mood. Was actually considering pulling hatch area apart. I'll try this first, thanks for sharing.

dffej511

Great info. I am going to give it a try. Thx!

Former USMC

Here's the problem and hopefully after applying some new felt, the squeak will be eliminated. You can clearly see the missing felt (should be three...only two are present in the pic) and cracked/scratched rib in the pic.

I hope this tip helps (although I cannot take credit for it) and ends the problem.

Semper Fi

Varekai

I don't have a squeak coming from that area, I have more of a clunk. Happens sometimes going up my driveway at just the right angle.

dffej511

How difficult was it to remove these panels?

smbsocal

I was able to remove the panels fairly easily. Some of the panels take a little force to get off. I made one pass and resolved the passenger side squeak for didn't pay too much attention to the drivers side and now it is making noise so I plan on removing the panels again and double checking everything to get the Vette as creak and rattle free as possible.

Former USMC

Dffej511,

Not too difficult...having some of those plastic panel removal tools from Harbor Freight made the job a little easier. I started with the bottom panel first and the end closest to the rear of the car. The end simply pulled away and the rest popped out easily.

The panel surrounding the small rear window was a little more difficult. You will have to pull out the halo panel (panel between removal top and rear window) about half way to remove the window panel completely.

The window panel is where the problem lies (in my case). There was a small crack in the rib and the felt padding was missing. I attached a pic in an earlier reply to this thread.

For felt, I used velcro (use the soft side with an adhesive backing). You can pick this up at Home Depot or Do It Right.

Good luck,

Semper Fi

Former USMC

Greetings,

I have an update to my original post...although the first attempt at just tightening the bolt did not work, nor did removing the panel around the rear window and applying some felt. The fix lasted a few weeks and the squeak returned. Okay, one last attempt before I sell the Corvette (just kidding).

Please see four pics below. In the first pic, I added some yellow arrows where I placed the adhesive backed felt. The second pic shows the original blue semi-clear tape that lost its ability to secure the clips. I added some Gorilla tape to the three slots that hold the window panel in place (use a knife to make a small slit - clips will fit very snugly and securely).

And finally (see pic number three), I noticed the seatbelt retractor (or reel) also made a noise when pushed outward. I placed some blue felt behind the reel. The yellow arrow shows where you can push that black tube to see if your reel makes noise.

Hopefully, this will be my last post on this annoying squeak.

Semper Fi

Thunder22

subscribed for when I get the time to do this.

Thanks for the info, greatly appreciated.

LT4CMG

The first 2 pics are to help you guys with the order in which the panels come out. I did the write up on someone else’s thread earlier this year when I switched to red seatbelts. Loaded pics of all the areas I used Dynamat on. (It’s in the c7 tech section)

Anyway, helped a lot, but I was still getting a minor squeak (I drive it on weekends, so when I am driving the vette, I’m not listening to music, I’m enjoying the LT1 rumble). This of course means I hear every noise and squeak inside). So back to why I posted the third pic. Frustrated that I was still getting a minor squeak, I took what some refer to as “itch tape” (it’s a thin, cloth-like material with a strong adhesive on one side, got it from a buddy who works on cars a few years back) and applied it to every clip I have circled in the pic. I did this because when I’d hear the squeak, I’d ask my wife to put pressure on that headliner piece (marked as #1 to remove) and the squeak would stop.

It’s been two months. I have added 1” wider wheels with factory run flats stretched over them, have dropped the suspension 7/8” of an inch on the factory bolts, drive it in “Track” mode for the harshest ride, and not a peep inside.

Like I said, check out my Dynamat write up if you’d like, but the thin cloth itch tape on all nine headliner clips did the trick. Now I can enjoy my LT1 and Corsa Xpipe having a conversation without the annoying squeaks interrupting and ruining my day.

Nelno

A word of warning to anyone trying to remove these panels: you're likely to break some clips. The worst offenders are the yellow clips with a tab on them. The yellow plastic did not break for me, but the metal clips on them did -- 4 of them.

It appears that these yellow clips aren't mean to be removed by popping them out, rather the panel should slide off of them in one direction. I did not realize this with the first panel over the wheel well. The larger clips will all pop out with a little pressure exerted from a trim tool, but the metal on the yellow clips breaks easily with similar amounts of pressure.

The absolute worst part of this is that the clips can break off IN the body frame and if you don't carefully extract them you may have clips rolling around in the frame of your car forever more.

Note that there are some red clips that are very similar -- except the small tab is in a different place.

Yellow clips are GM part # 11547027
Red clips are GM part # 11547026

By far the best price on the red clips can be had at clipsandfasteners.com, about $9 for 10 pieces.
I could only find yellow clips are only available from GM parts dealers at $3+ each. If you just need the metal piece I suspect you can buy some red clips and transfer the metal to the yellow clips.

Sixgun95

Just had sound proofing installed by Dan at Exotic Vette, not one clip stuck or broke. Maybe its technique!