DIY: Fixing headliner rattles
01-21-2013, 04:20 AM
#1
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DIY: Fixing headliner rattles
This is a really easy job, and requires just a screwdriver and some strong double sided 3M sticky tape, or felt tape. Having panel removal tools makes it easier and can be safer to take off some of the panels but it's not required.
1. Start by removing the coat hook on the B pillar. It will just pop right off, and shouldn't require too much force.
2. Unscrew the phillips screw, that secures the top of the B-Pillar panel in place.
3. Remove the A-Pillar Panel, It should pop out as well.
4. Remove the C-Pillar panel partially. You don't need to remove the entire back towards the engine, just remove a few clips so that you can work with the headliner.
5. On each side of the headliner, with the panels removed you will see little hooks holding the stretched headliner. Carefully pop the headliner out of each of these hooks.
For the next portion of this, you'll have to climb into the back seats.
6. The rear portion of the headliner secures into place by a plastic panel with little hooks. Carefully pull on the rear end of the headliner out towards the rear window to release it. The panel looks like this under the headliner:
^ As you can see... the factory "tape" that appears to be there to keep the plastic from rattling doesn't hit all of the plastic parts sticking out. Must have been a Friday at the Porsche factory the day my car was built.
7. A little ways back from the sunroof, you will see a metal rod that clicks into place on each side, that keeps the headliner from sagging. Slide the rod back to remove through the slit on each side.
Once this is all completed, you will have access to almost the entire roof panel, from the sunroof back. From there you can diagnose where your rattles and squeaks are originating from. My car had a few areas already addressed, whether it was done at the factory, or from a previous owner... it definitely had a few areas where felt was applied. One area that I knew for sure was creating a rattle was the rear plastic panel that attaches the rear headliner to the roof panel. I could see where the plastic was rattling onto the metal, by spots where the paint was rubbed off, also by tapping on it while it was secured re-created the same sound I'd always hear over bumps. I might have gone a little overboard with the sticky tape, but I didn't want to put everything back on, to still hear rattles. Below are pictures of where I had to add double sided sticky tape to buffer the loose plastic on metal contacts. (Once again, the source of your rattles may be in a different location, you will have to do some wiggling, and tapping to see where your rattles originate from)
To put everything back together is the reverse of removing the panels. Be careful with the little clips on the panels, as they are definitely a pain if you don't have them lined up perfectly. If one gets stuck in the metal body, you can remove it with pliers, and put the clip back together. This happend to a few of them, and if you look at the clips you will easily figure out how to fix them.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. It's a very easy job, I regret not doing it sooner as my rattles were very annoying. I still have a few more in the interior, that I'll be tracking down soon.
1. Start by removing the coat hook on the B pillar. It will just pop right off, and shouldn't require too much force.
2. Unscrew the phillips screw, that secures the top of the B-Pillar panel in place.
3. Remove the A-Pillar Panel, It should pop out as well.
4. Remove the C-Pillar panel partially. You don't need to remove the entire back towards the engine, just remove a few clips so that you can work with the headliner.
5. On each side of the headliner, with the panels removed you will see little hooks holding the stretched headliner. Carefully pop the headliner out of each of these hooks.
For the next portion of this, you'll have to climb into the back seats.
6. The rear portion of the headliner secures into place by a plastic panel with little hooks. Carefully pull on the rear end of the headliner out towards the rear window to release it. The panel looks like this under the headliner:
^ As you can see... the factory "tape" that appears to be there to keep the plastic from rattling doesn't hit all of the plastic parts sticking out. Must have been a Friday at the Porsche factory the day my car was built.
7. A little ways back from the sunroof, you will see a metal rod that clicks into place on each side, that keeps the headliner from sagging. Slide the rod back to remove through the slit on each side.
Once this is all completed, you will have access to almost the entire roof panel, from the sunroof back. From there you can diagnose where your rattles and squeaks are originating from. My car had a few areas already addressed, whether it was done at the factory, or from a previous owner... it definitely had a few areas where felt was applied. One area that I knew for sure was creating a rattle was the rear plastic panel that attaches the rear headliner to the roof panel. I could see where the plastic was rattling onto the metal, by spots where the paint was rubbed off, also by tapping on it while it was secured re-created the same sound I'd always hear over bumps. I might have gone a little overboard with the sticky tape, but I didn't want to put everything back on, to still hear rattles. Below are pictures of where I had to add double sided sticky tape to buffer the loose plastic on metal contacts. (Once again, the source of your rattles may be in a different location, you will have to do some wiggling, and tapping to see where your rattles originate from)
To put everything back together is the reverse of removing the panels. Be careful with the little clips on the panels, as they are definitely a pain if you don't have them lined up perfectly. If one gets stuck in the metal body, you can remove it with pliers, and put the clip back together. This happend to a few of them, and if you look at the clips you will easily figure out how to fix them.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. It's a very easy job, I regret not doing it sooner as my rattles were very annoying. I still have a few more in the interior, that I'll be tracking down soon.
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peterp (12-02-2021)
01-21-2013, 11:58 AM
#7
Rattles have been quite annoying for me too and I'm quite surprised to see that happen in a relatively pricey car(when new).
Thanks for the write up as it will save me some headaches and some replacement parts.
Thanks for the write up as it will save me some headaches and some replacement parts.
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01-25-2019, 02:17 AM
#9
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Rear headliners.
[QUOTE=ccaarmerciill;10159708]This is a really easy job, and requires just a screwdriver and some strong double sided 3M sticky tape, or felt tape. Having panel removal tools makes it easier and can be safer to take off some of the panels but it's not required.
1. Start by removing the coat hook on the B pillar. It will just pop right off, and shouldn't require too much force.
2. Unscrew the phillips screw, that secures the top of the B-Pillar panel in place.
3. Remove the A-Pillar Panel, It should pop out as well.
4. Remove the C-Pillar panel partially. You don't need to remove the entire back towards the engine, just remove a few clips so that you can work with the headliner.
5. On each side of the headliner, with the panels removed you will see little hooks holding the stretched headliner. Carefully pop the headliner out of each of these hooks.
For the next portion of this, you'll have to climb into the back seats.
6. The rear portion of the headliner secures into place by a plastic panel with little hooks. Carefully pull on the rear end of the headliner out towards the rear window to release it. The panel looks like this under the headliner:
^ As you can see... the factory "tape" that appears to be there to keep the plastic from rattling doesn't hit all of the plastic parts sticking out. Must have been a Friday at the Porsche factory the day my car was built.
7. A little ways back from the sunroof, you will see a metal rod that clicks into place on each side, that keeps the headliner from sagging. Slide the rod back to remove through the slit on each side.
Once this is all completed, you will have access to almost the entire roof panel, from the sunroof back. From there you can diagnose where your rattles and squeaks are originating from. My car had a few areas already addressed, whether it was done at the factory, or from a previous owner... it definitely had a few areas where felt was applied. One area that I knew for sure was creating a rattle was the rear plastic panel that attaches the rear headliner to the roof panel. I could see where the plastic was rattling onto the metal, by spots where the paint was rubbed off, also by tapping on it while it was secured re-created the same sound I'd always hear over bumps. I might have gone a little overboard with the sticky tape, but I didn't want to put everything back on, to still hear rattles. Below are pictures of where I had to add double sided sticky tape to buffer the loose plastic on metal contacts. (Once again, the source of your rattles may be in a different location, you will have to do some wiggling, and tapping to see where your rattles originate from)
To put everything back together is the reverse of removing the panels. Be careful with the little clips on the panels, as they are definitely a pain if you don't have them lined up perfectly. If one gets stuck in the metal body, you can remove it with pliers, and put the clip back together. This happend to a few of them, and if you look at the clips you will easily figure out how to fix them.
Did you use the 3m tape to just cushion the one side or did you adhere the headlliner panel using both sides of the tape. Thank you.
1. Start by removing the coat hook on the B pillar. It will just pop right off, and shouldn't require too much force.
2. Unscrew the phillips screw, that secures the top of the B-Pillar panel in place.
3. Remove the A-Pillar Panel, It should pop out as well.
4. Remove the C-Pillar panel partially. You don't need to remove the entire back towards the engine, just remove a few clips so that you can work with the headliner.
5. On each side of the headliner, with the panels removed you will see little hooks holding the stretched headliner. Carefully pop the headliner out of each of these hooks.
For the next portion of this, you'll have to climb into the back seats.
6. The rear portion of the headliner secures into place by a plastic panel with little hooks. Carefully pull on the rear end of the headliner out towards the rear window to release it. The panel looks like this under the headliner:
^ As you can see... the factory "tape" that appears to be there to keep the plastic from rattling doesn't hit all of the plastic parts sticking out. Must have been a Friday at the Porsche factory the day my car was built.
7. A little ways back from the sunroof, you will see a metal rod that clicks into place on each side, that keeps the headliner from sagging. Slide the rod back to remove through the slit on each side.
Once this is all completed, you will have access to almost the entire roof panel, from the sunroof back. From there you can diagnose where your rattles and squeaks are originating from. My car had a few areas already addressed, whether it was done at the factory, or from a previous owner... it definitely had a few areas where felt was applied. One area that I knew for sure was creating a rattle was the rear plastic panel that attaches the rear headliner to the roof panel. I could see where the plastic was rattling onto the metal, by spots where the paint was rubbed off, also by tapping on it while it was secured re-created the same sound I'd always hear over bumps. I might have gone a little overboard with the sticky tape, but I didn't want to put everything back on, to still hear rattles. Below are pictures of where I had to add double sided sticky tape to buffer the loose plastic on metal contacts. (Once again, the source of your rattles may be in a different location, you will have to do some wiggling, and tapping to see where your rattles originate from)
To put everything back together is the reverse of removing the panels. Be careful with the little clips on the panels, as they are definitely a pain if you don't have them lined up perfectly. If one gets stuck in the metal body, you can remove it with pliers, and put the clip back together. This happend to a few of them, and if you look at the clips you will easily figure out how to fix them.
Did you use the 3m tape to just cushion the one side or did you adhere the headlliner panel using both sides of the tape. Thank you.
01-25-2019, 10:40 AM
#10
Hello guys,
What do you mean with rattles? kind of noise? (sorry for my english)
What I have in the headliner, and I dont know if it is correct, is that, when I open the sunroof (both, tilt or completely open) the headliner waves, like the wind passing between it and the metal roof. No noises here, but it doesnt look normal to me. None of the cars that I have had previously with sunroof have done that. Does it happen also in yours?
What do you mean with rattles? kind of noise? (sorry for my english)
What I have in the headliner, and I dont know if it is correct, is that, when I open the sunroof (both, tilt or completely open) the headliner waves, like the wind passing between it and the metal roof. No noises here, but it doesnt look normal to me. None of the cars that I have had previously with sunroof have done that. Does it happen also in yours?
01-25-2019, 10:46 AM
#11
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Hello guys,
What do you mean with rattles? kind of noise? (sorry for my english)
What I have in the headliner, and I dont know if it is correct, is that, when I open the sunroof (both, tilt or completely open) the headliner waves, like the wind passing between it and the metal roof. No noises here, but it doesnt look normal to me. None of the cars that I have had previously with sunroof have done that. Does it happen also in yours?
What do you mean with rattles? kind of noise? (sorry for my english)
What I have in the headliner, and I dont know if it is correct, is that, when I open the sunroof (both, tilt or completely open) the headliner waves, like the wind passing between it and the metal roof. No noises here, but it doesnt look normal to me. None of the cars that I have had previously with sunroof have done that. Does it happen also in yours?
03-29-2019, 05:29 PM
#12
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03-30-2019, 05:02 AM
#13
Race Car
