Fixing ALL the squeeks, clicks and rattles (including pano sunroof)

[wuta3]

Over the past year i've made it my mission to eliminate the interior squeeks and rattles in the RS3. They were ruining my enjoyment of the car so much that I was considering selling. It was/is my dream car.

As far as i'm concerned, a German fast saloon should make dull-thuds, not sharp rattles and squeeks. Audi obviously have never driven the 8V around the UK on our crappy roads. Not acceptable.

I've been around every forum, video and guide ...i've tried everything ... from Audi to BMW fixes .... and here's what i've found.

My RS3 now sounds like it should, with no rattles and squeeks. Your car may be different, but this is what worked for me.

• Windows/Doors:
  Problem: If your doors squeek, rattle or make harsh sound over potholes, the issue sounds like it might be window rattle.
  Attempted Solutions: There is play in the window mechanism, but the window is sealing correctly to the door top. I found the issue was the rubbers on the inside of the door and the contact they make with the body/metal when closed. Slight movement in the door causes the seal to snap against the metal (like clicking your thumb). At first I tried Gummi-pfledge (Liqui Moly P001132 in my case), but I found this was ineffective.
  What Worked: A better lubricant was Liqui Moly 3312 Silicon Grease. Apply this to the painted bodywork and the large outer rubber door seals. This cured my door/"window" rattles and creaks. I basically clean off the rubber and re-apply every 3 months. Anywhere rubber contacts painted metal under pressure.
  
  
• Pano Sunroof:
  Problem: The problem was a sharp sounded rattle/click/creak when going over potholes. Worse when going over a pothole on one-side of the car. Not so bad over speedbumps. It made the car sound like an old wooden ship.
  Attempted solutions: A liberal coating of the (expensive) VAG roof lube made things better ... for a few hours. Next, I caked the runners and mechanism in LM3312 as above. This did not work. Then I tried coating the seals around the glass and any contact patches between glass, plastic, metal. This did not work. Next up I applied sticky-back felt stripts to contact patches. This did not work. On the front-side of the sunroof the rattle sounds forward of the aperture in the headliner. On the rear, it is just clicky. Next I padded the wind break thing that flips up. Didn't work.
  What worked: The sunroof pane is fixed to the runners on the front and rear using Torx screws and washers (pictures below). The hole for the screw is bigger in the horizontal direction than the screw, allowing the sunroof to be adjusted when fitted. Over time, the opening and closing of the sunroof applying upwards force to the glass moves the screw in the hole relative to the fixing that joints the runner. This means the sunroof sits a few mm too high and also means less pressure applied between all the rubber seals ... which causes them to squeek and "click" when the runroof moves slightly. Adjusting these screws to bring the glass back DOWN means that the closed sunroof clamps harder in position. Readjustment is required every few months. A flawed design imho, which is also why people who have their pano roof replaced report the rattles come back after a few months (as the roof moves in the slots).
  
  
• Rear of the car:
  - The seatbelt-open resting position of the buckle knocks against the plastic either side of the rear seats. Stick some felt on the back, cut to the shape of the buckle.
  - Rear seat locking mechanism needs regular re-greasing to avoid minor rattling.
  - The rear parcel shelf / brace (Saloon) when not snug against the rear seat causes the rear seat locking mechanism's play to lead to rattles. Padding is required.
  - Anything under the boot floor in the spare wheel bay which rattles causes sound to appear inside the cabin. Ensure everything is well seated.
  
  
• Front of the car:
  - If you have a small rattle coming from any door, sounding like something rattling around in the speaker ... check your outer handle trim. and inner fixing. They have tabs on them which can break, fall down inside the card and rattle around. This did my head in for ages.

Here's the change I made to the sunroof screws. The end result is the sunroof sits lower when closed, exerting more clamping force on the seals and preventing noises / movement. Also keeping the seals lubed up.

Note: While looking at the sunroof, I noticed there's a small hole through to untreated bodywork next to an area acting as a waterway for rain. Water ingress was happening and there was some rust in there. I blasted a load of silicon lube down there, but I imagine that if untreated this could rust through.

Amazon sucks, but here's the products search terms:

• Aneco 6 Pack 1 x 60 Inch Self Adhesive Felt Tape Self-Stick Heavy Duty Felt Strips Felt Adhesive Strip Roll Polyester Felt Tape for Furniture and Hard Surfaces (Black)
• Liqui Moly P001132 Rubber Care, 75 ml The lube stick used, I still apply it to the window seals at the top of the door.
• Liqui Moly 3312 Silicon-Grease Clear 100 g This stuff is brilliant. I coated the sunroof runners and use it on the door seals where they contact the metal.

 

[8YARWY]

Good work and thanks for sharing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ArrEssDrei]

Wow, this is beyond helpful as I have almost all of the above creeks, rattle and noises and are doing my head in and ruining an otherwise amazing and much loved car. I've managed to strip a torx screw on the sunroof. Anyone tightening these, make sure you used a decent quality set of Torx bits as my Halfords set were too loose (T20) or didn't fit at all (T25). A better set of Sealy ones fit right and the correct size is T25, so don't try a T20. I'm going to have to dremel a slot in it and get it out that way if can. The screws only come as a full set of all sunroof hardware from Audi and cost £65 (!!!) with the ASN discount and you cannot buy them separately.. If anyone needs any screws of bolts for their sunroof hit me up as I found some in a discount bin for £4 each and bought 2 full sets.

Will be following the rest of your guide! Can I ask where the felt strips would go exactly?

Only other squeak I have is the drivers seat, and heck if I can find where it's coming from having has the back off several times and lubed or padded every contact point I could find. Any ideas there?

 

[wuta3]

Will be following the rest of your guide! Can I ask where the felt strips would go exactly?

Only other squeak I have is the drivers seat, and heck if I can find where it's coming from having has the back off several times and lubed or padded every contact point I could find. Any ideas there?

I can't speak for the driver's seat, is the sound coming from the bottom rear? (of the seat) Buy a stethoscope off Amazon or use a 1ft section of garden hose and use that to isolate the location. Sound travels very oddly in cars, and the sound might not be coming from where you think.

So, the felt probably isn't super effective. I think finding the right lubricant and placement was essential. The important bit is where rubber meets painted metal on the door shuts.

 

[ArrEssDrei]

Thanks again for your post. Concerning 3312 clear silicone grease... I think I have something similar - silicone dielectric grease (permatex, and also superlube) and wonder if it is the same thing? Is this a very thick clear grease? Am I to understand you lubed the painted door shuts as well as. the rubbers? I'm imagining quite a smeary mess? Needs must, but just wondering if it is how I picture what you are saying. And same thing on the sunroof where the rubber contacts the body?

I have the sound of what seems to be a window clicking/rattleing sound over bumps from the rear drivers side door, and have lubed the channels the window rides in with silicone spray (Halfords) but will try the P00113 , but wonder if the runner internally is hitting the inside of the door as you have described. Is this just a case of slathering the runner in grease (with door card off)?

As to the seat, I cannot pinpoint it for the life of me. I need to pull the seat and grease everything under it for a start I think. I've done everything I can reach in the back.

 

[wuta3]

Thanks again for your post. Concerning 3312 clear silicone grease... I think I have something similar - silicone dielectric grease (permatex, and also superlube) and wonder if it is the same thing? Is this a very thick clear grease? Am I to understand you lubed the painted door shuts as well as. the rubbers? I'm imagining quite a smeary mess? Needs must, but just wondering if it is how I picture what you are saying. And same thing on the sunroof where the rubber contacts the body?

I have the sound of what seems to be a window clicking/rattleing sound over bumps from the rear drivers side door, and have lubed the channels the window rides in with silicone spray (Halfords) but will try the P00113 , but wonder if the runner internally is hitting the inside of the door as you have described. Is this just a case of slathering the runner in grease (with door card off)?

As to the seat, I cannot pinpoint it for the life of me. I need to pull the seat and grease everything under it for a start I think. I've done everything I can reach in the back.

The window clicking sound is the seals, here's the ones that made a big difference to me ... that said ... if it is rubber give it a coat of lube. They're not really touch points day to day so it isn't an issue:

Where these seals contact the metal in places like:

Also do the inside edge of:

And where it meets the metal on the other side.

This cured all my "window" rattles, which it turns out are not window or mechanical. I know it sounds like it, but it's just rubber moving, like clicking your fingers ... it makes a sharp snap sound.

 

[wuta3]

With regards setting the sunroof alignment ... this is tough:

After adjustment (the picture above is the front driver's side and front corner, picture below is the rear. Both edges want to be lower than the surrounding roof, trim ect. The sunroof edges should be the lowest point on the roof surface):

The seal you can see in the above image is what "clicks" over bumps. When the sunroof is set lower, that increases pressure on the rubber and lessens the clicks.

My knocks are about 70-90% reduced by setting the level of the sunroof lower using the front and rear T25 adjustment holes.
Removing the rest is down to dampening the sound with lubrication.

The aim here isn't to remove all sound ... it's a ****** great big chunk of wiggly glass. The aim is to remove 70+ of the times it happens, and the remaining 30% to dampen outside human hearing volume and keep the sounds out of "human voice" frequency where we are sensitive.

Where I applied silicon was the runners where if you open the sunroof 100%, stand through it and look down at the roof. The parts the plastic arm in the above picture moves along. This didn't really help tho ... but at least I helped keep it smooth and prevent water ingress to the roof!

 

[ArrEssDrei]

Brilliant, thank you.
Just to confirm the areas you lubed are now always greasy to the touch ? I'll try it, just not sure if the OCD detailer in me can live with it!

 

[wuta3]

Brilliant, thank you.
Just to confirm the areas you lubed are now always greasy to the touch ? I'll try it, just not sure if the OCD detailer in me can live with it!

Honestly once it's on i've never touched it. I'd hate it if I got greasy hands at any point, and i'm super uptight about that kind of thing. It has never been an issue. None of it is that visible either tbh. On the metal parts you really just need a "sheen" of it, not thick or smeary. Just a few atoms thick to reduce friction.

 

[ArrEssDrei]

Well it's all lubed up, other than taking the door card off for the lower part of the window runner. I used permatex silicone dielectric grease on the door rubbers and silicone spray on the glass runners, and right enough it's much quieter all round and no more clunks. I've not done the runners inside the door, but will see if it stays quiet. Also used some dielectric grease on the seat latch for the rear seat (Sportback) and I think that solved another noise I was hearing. I'm much obliged for the info, but also for the motivation to tackle it. I'm pulling the seat this evening to grease everything underneath, and with luck that'll solve my greatest annoyance since day 1 of ownership.

I'm waiting on a thin rotary tool to get the sunroof screw out that I managed to strip, and hopefully tightening it back down again will solve the last my woes. Great thread @wuta3 thanks very much for the infos.

 

[wuta3]

Well it's all lubed up, other than taking the door card off for the lower part of the window runner. I used permatex silicone dielectric grease on the door rubbers and silicone spray on the glass runners, and right enough it's much quieter all round and no more clunks. I've not done the runners inside the door, but will see if it stays quiet. Also used some dielectric grease on the seat latch for the rear seat (Sportback) and I think that solved another noise I was hearing. I'm much obliged for the info, but also for the motivation to tackle it. I'm pulling the seat this evening to grease everything underneath, and with luck that'll solve my greatest annoyance since day 1 of ownership.

I'm waiting on a thin rotary tool to get the sunroof screw out that I managed to strip, and hopefully tightening it back down again will solve the last my woes. Great thread @wuta3 thanks very much for the infos.

Hey no problem, I just want the car to sound like it should. The sunroof was certainly not tested as well as it should've been. I still get clicking over really bad potholes, but the frequency of them is lower and it isn't annoying. I'm going to keep trying to refine the NVH of the sunroof, as that's the main culprit on my saloon. I can do better and get it 100% quiet as if the pano wasn't fitted.

With the door seal lube, it can take a few days to settle I found. None of my doors make any noise at all now, and i've only applied it once (Liqui Moly 3312). The trick is giving everything time and taking the sounds one by one. Anything you do that changes a sound rather than fixing it means being a step closer to debugging.

I think the main issue with the car is the lack of sound proofing. At the end of the day, it's an A3 chassis car, so it isn't going to be Rolls Royce quiet. The final straw for me was driving my brother's newer Skoda Superb (mid-level spec) and that was quiet and all sounds were dull and "quality" sounding. Something certainly went wrong with the A3 platform's interior.

Once the interior is sorted, i'm going to start looking at the road noise, wind noise and inner window seals to see if any quick wins can be had.

The only sound I want to hear is german quality and that 5-pot burbling.

Good luck!

 

[Abel Diaz]

Great information!!
Could you share if you got to improve your work about panoramic sunroof?

 

[wuta3]

Yes I got it perfect.

If you pop the sunroof open in the "up" position you can see a rubber seal across the rear side of the roof. The sunroof sits on top of it in the closed position. It is hard to access but that caused the majority of my rattles.

It caused little clicky rattles when going over bumps. It is directly under the screws referenced in the adjustment post above.

Easy to miss and hard to get fingers to unlike the side and front rubber seals in the sunroof cassette.

Spray some silicone spray lube on it every 6 months.

 

[wuta3]

So the most problematic seal to keep lubed is the rear seal (in red, the section at the rear of the car) that the glass sits on when closed. You can access this by "popping up" the roof in the "cracked open" position rather than sliding it back. If you slide the sunroof open it isn't accessible at all.

This seal is why the screw adjustment works, because it adjusts the glass pressure on that seal.
If the seal is dry however, whatever you do to adjust the screws or glass alignment will only change, but not fix, the clicks and rattles and squeeks.

When Audi service the pano roof (if they follow the instructions) they also miss this back seal.
It gets full of pollen, gets dirty, dry and probably contributed to 50% of the sunroof clicks and rattles.

A good test for this seal being noisy is to close the sunroof and from inside just push the rear end of the glass up and down. That should replicate the sound. Also if your clicks and ticks are coming from the rear of the car. For me, they sounded like the boot or rear seats, but it was the sunroof back edge of the seal.

Spray silicone lube across the length of this seal. It is visible when you pop the sunroof up.

 

[Abel Diaz]

Excelent explanation dear Friend! i will try to get the glass off from the sunroof and clean y lube the seal you mentioned very well. Because without getting it off i think will be more difficult to lube it.

do you recommed some special silicone spray? maybe gummi pflege stif?

Also, i see that Audi sell that seal (8x0877439) , do you think if we would change this seal, will it be a more permant solution?

Moreover, the six screw as i read need to be adjusted at middle no so high not so low right?

Thanks in advance

Abel

 

[wuta3]

Excelent explanation dear Friend! i will try to get the glass off from the sunroof and clean y lube the seal you mentioned very well. Because without getting it off i think will be more difficult to lube it.

do you recommed some special silicone spray? maybe gummi pflege stif?

Also, i see that Audi sell that seal (8x0877439) , do you think if we would change this seal, will it be a more permant solution?

Moreover, the six screw as i read need to be adjusted at middle no so high not so low right?

Thanks in advance

Abel

I don't think replacing the seal will help, it might work for a while but it'll come back and it is unnecessary.

Gummi Pflege stick is good, better for window seals. It is not very viscose though. I opted for a thick silicone lube for the sunroof mechanism and a thinner spray on WD40 brand silicone spray for the rubber.

With the spray lube you shouldn't need to remove the glass. Stand up through the roof for the front and side seal areas, then spray in from the rear in popped position for the back seal edge. I also used a long handled paintbrush to get in there.

Good luck

 

[Abel Diaz]

Thank you, i will follow all the instructions