Squeaky doors/buzzing speaker grills

[CurtP]

Well, after two trips to the dealership, my buzzing speaker grill problem was fixed, but the buzzing door card issue persisted. So, frustrated with the service I was getting at the dealership, I took matters into my own hands. I'm happy to report that everything is fixed, and I'm going to tell everyone who's not afraid to take their doors apart how to fix it.

Just so everyone knows, the speaker grills are replacable. The dealership drilled the pins out of the original grill, then removed it. The new grill is held on by push-on clips instead of the melted pins which means that if they start rattling, the clips can be pushed down further onto the pins to tighten them up. What this means (at least for me), is that when I replace the speakers with a set of aftermarket speakers, I should be able to remove the original grills and use the ones that come with the new speakers and mount the speakers directly to the door card instead of making adapters to mount the speakers directly to the door.


Anyway, on to the door card! The dealership fix was to try to put thin rubber washers on the push-pins that hold the door card on, and tighten the crap out of the screws which not only made matters worse, but resulted in a stripped screw hole as well. When I took the door panels off, it immediately became apparent what the problems were -- the rubber seal that meets the elliptical portion of the door card and the plastic pins. The fix is simple enough -- silicone grease (aka, dielectric grease). I applied a thin coat to both the gasket itself and to the back of the door panel where it meets the seal. I also smeared some around each of the holes where the pins push in, and some on the pins themselves. When I put the door cards back on, I only snugged down the screws, I didn't see the need to over do them.

I must warn against using anything other than silicone grease (i.e., petroleum jelly, grease, etc). It will attack the rubber seal and possibly the plastic because of the petroleum base. Silicone grease is safe for the surfaces. The standard dielectric grease may be a bit too thin though, so a thicker silicone grease is desired. I found a aerosol can of the stuff at Pep Boys, and it's *very* thick. The brand name is CRC, and the can reads "Technician Grade Dielectric Grease Compound and it's a 3.3oz can. I found it in the engine cleaning/oil additive section. The bar-code is 78254 05105, although I don't know if that's going to help anyone or not.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. But it should be self-evident where to apply the silicone when you get the door apart. I drove it around today, and both doors are completely squeak free! I can finally enjoy driving the car again!

[6f7]

Thanks Curt. Great info.

My buzzing seems to be the ellipse vibrating against the door panel. There is a slight gap where the plastic ellipse meets the door panel. If I press on the ellipse the buzzing goes away.

Any thoughts how to fix that since you've had the door apart? Is there a way to tighten the ellipse to the door panel to eliminate the gap? Any thoughts?

[CurtP]

Quote:

Originally posted by 6f7
Thanks Curt. Great info.

My buzzing seems to be the ellipse vibrating against the door panel. There is a slight gap where the plastic ellipse meets the door panel. If I press on the ellipse the buzzing goes away.

Any thoughts how to fix that since you've had the door apart? Is there a way to tighten the ellipse to the door panel to eliminate the gap? Any thoughts?

That's exactly how mine was, and I thought it was the elliptical plastic insert that was buzzing too. When I would press on the insert, the buzzing would stop. I think mine even has a slight gap too. When I pulled it apart, I was anticipating figuring out a way to bond the the insert back to the door card, but after it was apart, I couldn't find any problems with the door card itself. That's when I started looking at the rubber seal on the door that mates against the back of the door card. Before you do any other fixes to the door card, try my fix first and see if it doesn't resolve it for you. Seems just about every Cooper I've been in has this same squeak!


Obe - if you're going to put some sound deadener, try B-Quiet instead of Dynomat. Same stuff, but *MUCH* cheaper. I've heard quite a few people rave about their "Brown Bread" product. I was thinking about doing this myself, but it gets quite heavy if you use very much. I've been thinking about the spray-on stuff too.

[CurtP]

I used to get one of the car audio mags which did a comparison between the Dynomat and the B-Quiet. They were identical, with the exception of the "Dynomat" imprint, and achieved the same results with the cheaper stuff. They also used ice dam from a local home improvement store, which took 2 or 3 layers to achieve the same as one layer of Dynomat or B-Quiet.

If I decide to add some sound deadening to the MCS or the Formula, I'm going to try the B-Quiet stuff myself. Dynomat is just way too expensive IMO, and even if the B-Quiet doesn't quite do as good of a job, that's fine by me! Check around some of the car audio forums and see what they're using.