b8.5 S4 Passenger Door Tinny sounding rattle

[ojmcneill]

Guys,
I know with cold weather, rattles and sounds begin rearing their ugly heads. With that said, even during the end of summer, I keep getting a rattle in my passenger door that sounds really 'tinny' metallic if that makes sense. It only starts when I get up to 70mph or above. Literally, its silent until I get to 70 then continues. I believe it's coming from the lower front portion of the door card but its so hard to pinpoint when driving.

I've cleaned and lubed my door seals and checked all my cubby holes. In addition:
I've checked the fuse panel, I have no sunroof tool and I've used felt all around it. I even taped the fuse bracket covers inside to make sure htose weren't it.
I took off the speaker cover and felted around that as well.
I took the door card off and looked around, hoping it was sometning caught in there or a lose screw, but nothing and all screws were tight.
I even pulled up the door jamb cover between the door and seat but I don't see anything out of place.

With the door card off, ,(I couldn't get the door latch cord off the handle htough), I feel like it might be something behind the metal interior door panel and the outside of the car. Is there a way to get to that.

At this point, I have no idea what else to try.
Any thoughts? Car's under warranty but at 30K miles, my dealer won't mess with it. They give the old rattles past 12k mileage excuse.

Owen

[The Fat Kid]

No idea, but I have also been getting an intermittent vibration/buzzing coming from the passenger side when doing ~70MPH. The funny thing is that the front passenger door probably hasn't been used more than 20 times in the eight months of owning the car; my wife usually rides in the back with our kid if we take the S4.

It is disappointing to have so many rattles, creaks, and vibrations coming from the dashboard area of a car with 6k miles; my 11-year-old B6 A4 was built like a tank compared to the B8.5 S4.

[ojmcneill]

Yeah, it's driving me crazy. As I said, I took the interior door card off but I couldn't get the latch line to the door handle off to fully take it off. I can't think of anything else. Maybe the seatbelt mechanism in the b pillar bc that's the only interior piece I've not taken off. I almost wonder if it's coming from the outside as windspeeds increase.

[Chuck_L]

I get it from my passenger door also and sometimes the back part of the middle console......it gets me aggravated. I have no idea what it is


2014 Audi S4 B8.5 White w/ Black & Red Interior, Unitronic Stage 2+ ECU Tune/Pulley Upgrade, Roc-Euro Intake, RS4 Grille, AWE Track Edition 102mm Exhaust w/ Resonated Downpipes, 034 Motorsport Transmission Mounts, Eurocode Alu Kreuz, Eurocode Endlinks, H&R Sway Bars, H&R OE Springs, ECSTuning Wave Float Rotors w/ Stainless Steel Brake Lines, LED Master Kit

[DBL R]

Coming from an evo x, where the "glovebox rattle" was commonly solved by placing a folded up towel in the glovebox, the Audi's minute creeks don't bother me.

[The Fat Kid]

At this point, I have no idea what else to try.
Any thoughts? Car's under warranty but at 30K miles, my dealer won't mess with it. They give the old rattles past 12k mileage excuse.

Owen

Just saw this. They should at least attempt to repair the issue since the car is under warranty, BUT many report the rattles only get worse after the dealer attempts to fix it.

Check the windshield-wiper area to see if any leaves, small sticks, etc. are stuck in there, as that can cause some odd vibrations/buzzing.

[ojmcneill]

Ah, that reminds me. Fat Kid: I did solve one rattle some time ago stemming from the rain tray. I thought I had it fixed and this rattle's sound makes me think its something different but I'm glad you reminded me. I'll double check 'my fix' on that one just in case seeing how it involved a folded up piece of cardboard under the raintray to stabilize it. Probably not the worlds most permanent fix.

[ojmcneill]

I almost feel as if it's the outside trim, maybe the chrome window strip rattling in the wind as if it's not fully secured. I can't verify that though. Anyone know how they attach?

Any additional ideas?

[anerbe]

I would get a stethoscope and try to really isolate the rattle.

I had one that would get worse starting 70+ mph, and would sound at lower speeds if there was strong head or cross winds on the drivers side.

It drove me nuts, and checked all areas with the dealer. After trying a bunch of things and having the issue still there, I used the stethoscope and immediately cancelled out the doors, mirror, and b-pillar. All others sounds were muffled except for what was emanating from the resonator. Sound was coming from under the drivers side door sill, obviously impacted by exterior wind. It look to have been some of the lines that run along the drivers side that rattled together.

The dealer shifted and try to dampen some of the lines in that area and now I don't have the rattle.

This car seems to have rattles appear in random places, and it's difficult to diagnose sometimes. You need to find something that helps isolate it.

[anerbe]

to add, by placing the resonator on the interior curved plastic trim below the door, i could move it along the panel and found out I barely heard it towards the front of the car, and as I moved back, it increase in volume, where it hit it's peak a few inches before the b-pillar. As I continued to move back to the b-pillar, the sound lessened.

I used a medical stethoscope, although a mechanic's may work as well with the probe.

[Mr.Tan]

i have so many rattles in my car that i basically just gave up on them. I'm extremely unimpressed with the build quality of this car compared to older model Audi's i've experienced from my parents and friends owning. Heck, both of my wranglers didn't rattle as much as this car!


Good luck figuring it out, i know how annoying it can be.

[cchase231]

I had an issue like this, while on the highway there was a rattle that sounded like someone crumpling a potato chip bag. I could have sworn that it was coming from the passenger door, but it ended up being a heat shield. Apparently there was a damaged piece of the belly pan that was letting air flow through and making the shield rattle. Took the dealer 3 tries to figure it out and had to pay out of pocket because it was from road damage.

[mavz]

Guys,
I know with cold weather, rattles and sounds begin rearing their ugly heads. With that said, even during the end of summer, I keep getting a rattle in my passenger door that sounds really 'tinny' metallic if that makes sense. It only starts when I get up to 70mph or above. Literally, its silent until I get to 70 then continues. I believe it's coming from the lower front portion of the door card but its so hard to pinpoint when driving.

I've cleaned and lubed my door seals and checked all my cubby holes. In addition:
I've checked the fuse panel, I have no sunroof tool and I've used felt all around it. I even taped the fuse bracket covers inside to make sure htose weren't it.
I took off the speaker cover and felted around that as well.
I took the door card off and looked around, hoping it was sometning caught in there or a lose screw, but nothing and all screws were tight.
I even pulled up the door jamb cover between the door and seat but I don't see anything out of place.

With the door card off, ,(I couldn't get the door latch cord off the handle htough), I feel like it might be something behind the metal interior door panel and the outside of the car. Is there a way to get to that.

At this point, I have no idea what else to try.
Any thoughts? Car's under warranty but at 30K miles, my dealer won't mess with it. They give the old rattles past 12k mileage excuse.

Owen

Wow I was just gonna search for this issue and what do you know. It started with the passenger door but now it's both... at 70+. It sounds exactly as you described possibly even like a tiny buzz. When my friend rode shotgun at a rally a couple of months ago he seemed to hold down a part of the door by the alu trim and he said it went away... I asked the dealer, they said they can look but it would cost me.

[S4tranquility]

I had this for a bit during a road trip. I looked into it and found there is a TSB out about it. Something about the panel you can see with the door open. Mine went away or else I would've opened it up and messed around with some padded tape or Velcro tape.

[nickskeeta]

I had this for a bit during a road trip. I looked into it and found there is a TSB out about it. Something about the panel you can see with the door open. Mine went away or else I would've opened it up and messed around with some padded tape or Velcro tape.

I believe thats on the driver side, on the side of the dash board when you open the door. I have yet to try it, maybe ill do that this week!
I have a rattle in my driver side door/panel that appears on any good size bumps in the road, otherwise my car is quite

[Mr.Tan]

Wow I was just gonna search for this issue and what do you know. It started with the passenger door but now it's both... at 70+. It sounds exactly as you described possibly even like a tiny buzz. When my friend rode shotgun at a rally a couple of months ago he seemed to hold down a part of the door by the alu trim and he said it went away... I asked the dealer, they said they can look but it would cost me.

my car does it on the drivers side at any speed. When i push on the carbon trim at the inside door pull it seems to stop. Not sure wtf it could be, i just dont want to pay dealership prices and have it looked at.

[ojmcneill]

Mr. Tan. If you can push on the trim piece above the handle and it stops, that's the screws under the carbon trim piece. From researching rattles, several s4 owners pulled htat piece off and noticed one or both of the screws underneath the trim piece, were either only finger tight or about to fall out. Pull the trim piece off, retorq those two bolts and you should be good to go.
I was hoping my rattle was that but it wasn't . When I pulled my trim and door card, all of my screws were torqued tight.
Any other thoughts on where to check gentlemen? All thoughts are welcomed.
O

[ojmcneill]

So I took my 13 S4 in for work this morning. We'll see what they say. I told them to check an oil leak showing on the underpan, check a front end clunk over bumps at low speed (subrame bolts, endlinks, bushings?) alignment and finally, the big one: This damn humming, rattling in the lower b pillar on the passenger side. For the b-pillar, I told htem I think its the seat belt retractor. I could swear something's broken or loose in there but I can't pull up the moldings on the bottom.. I got the bpillar covers off, including the seatbelt portion, took the seatbelt off the seat and checked that, etc, but Its driving me crazy. It's quiet until I hit about 55mph and then starts up and keeps going up past 80plus mph. Horrendous humming almost 'tinnie' sounding rattle. URGH.
I'll let everyone know what we find out.

[ojmcneill]

GD! So dealer got everything but my rattle. I can't stand it anymore. Imma light a rag and shove it in my gas tank if someone doesn't figure this rattle out. I swear it's either my passenger belt tensioner or b pillar or under the car. PLEASE, someone help!

[cchase231]

Here is a bad video of what my rattle was like, if you listen carefully you can hear, most notable towards the end. It annoyed the crap out of me so I can certainly sympathize with you guys, hopefully it will point at least one of you in the right direction. Like I said , the under shield was damaged and letting air flow through it that would rattle the heat shielding. I would have put money it was in the door, turns out I would have lost that bet. Good luck.

[eurotic]

I had a rattle at seemingly all speeds from the passenger side front door. I checked the door panel screws and they had backed out significantly. I tightened them up and it has been more or less noise free.

[SForePlayin']

I've had this noise since day 1. I still have it almost two years later.

I looked into it and I remember a post about TSB 2022773/4.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...front-speakers

I mentioned this up to my SA and she said that the mechanic would need to look/listen to see if it applied.

I never had them look at it because fixing one thing will almost always lead to breaking something else, and that would be even more of a hassle.

I have my 15K service this week and I'm going to mention it.

[chrisucf99]

Here is a bad video of what my rattle was like, if you listen carefully you can hear, most notable towards the end. It annoyed the crap out of me so I can certainly sympathize with you guys, hopefully it will point at least one of you in the right direction. Like I said , the under shield was damaged and letting air flow through it that would rattle the heat shielding. I would have put money it was in the door, turns out I would have lost that bet. Good luck.

This is EXACTLY what I'm hearing. I just got an oil change yesterday and now I hear this. I have an AWE touring exhaust but didn't hear this noise until after the oil change. What did you do to fix it?

I'm going to get under the car and see if I can pinpoint where exactly it's rattling.

[AudiS4SD]

Here is a bad video of what my rattle was like, if you listen carefully you can hear, most notable towards the end. It annoyed the crap out of me so I can certainly sympathize with you guys, hopefully it will point at least one of you in the right direction. Like I said , the under shield was damaged and letting air flow through it that would rattle the heat shielding. I would have put money it was in the door, turns out I would have lost that bet. Good luck.

Hmm, I think this might be what I'm hearing as well, but from the rear passenger door (somewhere). Is there a heat shield in the rear part of the car anywhere?

[cchase231]

I had the dealership replace the portion of the belly pan that was damaged and letting air flow in. I think I remember them saying they glued the heat shield down as well. Ending being right around 250 bucks and was not warranted because they said it was from road damage.

[chrisucf99]

So I jacked the car up and got under it. My heat shield looks fine, I don't see any damage. I shook the exhaust pipes under the car to see if I could get it to make the noise (maybe its hitting the heat shield while driving), I could not replicate it. So at this point I have no clue. It has to be air hitting something because it only happens when I'm going above 50 MPH or so. Shit is pissing me off, haha I need to find the source or its going to drive me crazy.

[CMYAudi]

This rattle developed on my 2013 a4 a few weeks ago and it was driving new crazy. I was searching all over the passenger side trying to find the source. Turns out this thread helped me find it on the undercarriage. A clip had come loose and was apparently letting enough air at speeds over 70 mph to vibrate between the plastic shroud and felt underbody protector. I fixed that this morning and no more rattle, so hopefully that was it.

Thanks everyone!

Edit, here's my video which sounds like the others here: https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ajnh2Sgccc0_g8pl_e8ukcuMlBqYng

[cspcrx]

I get a rattle and it is the plastic portion under the arm rest. If I pinch it makes a click or pop and goes away. Have to do it a few times a week.

[jorte014]

Here is a bad video of what my rattle was like, if you listen carefully you can hear, most notable towards the end. It annoyed the crap out of me so I can certainly sympathize with you guys, hopefully it will point at least one of you in the right direction. Like I said , the under shield was damaged and letting air flow through it that would rattle the heat shielding. I would have put money it was in the door, turns out I would have lost that bet. Good luck.

Sorry for reviving old thread but wow! This is my exact sound on the driver's door down to the decibel. What was the exact fix please or what to look for?

[jorte014]

So in inspecting the body panels in question in this thread these have a hole and substantial cracks in my car:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...ft/8k0825201e/
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...ht/8k0825202a/

I covered the holes with electrical tape to block the wind as an experiment to see if the noise goes away. In the drive to work this morning, I was noise free so I will observe for a week or so and if the noise is completely gone I'll order replacements.

[jorte014]

So after 2 months of dealing with this issue I finally got a fix from USP Motorsports. My car is whisper quiet now. It turns out in my particular case, my gas tank had sagged a tiny bit and it moved the heat shield on both sides along with it. This small amount of travel caused the heat shield to rub on the rear control arms at highway speeds. The noise would then travel and it would appear to emanate from the driver's door/B pillar area. The shop glued some insulating foam in the area near the gas tank and the noise is gone. In general if the sound is similar to the video posted in this thread it is DEFINITELY heat shield related. Good luck to anyone that has this god awful noise.

[ojmcneill]

Also always check the speaker covers on your dash. You'd be amazed how much noise they can make and how difficult it is to pinpoint.

[ArgCarp83]

Here is a bad video of what my rattle was like, if you listen carefully you can hear, most notable towards the end. It annoyed the crap out of me so I can certainly sympathize with you guys, hopefully it will point at least one of you in the right direction. Like I said , the under shield was damaged and letting air flow through it that would rattle the heat shielding. I would have put money it was in the door, turns out I would have lost that bet. Good luck.

Sorry to bring this back up but this exactly what I am experiencing. I have an appointment with dealership next week to check on some things, what do I tell them to check?

Sent from Audizine mobile app

[ArgCarp83]

Here is my video...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i1sdqirau1...74610.mp4?dl=0

Sent from Audizine mobile app

[jorte014]

The best thing to tell them to check is the clearances of the heat shield between the control arms. The sound is caused by metal on metal contact with the heat shield. It can be difficult to pinpoint where exactly it's coming from even though from the cabin it may sound like it's coming from the front side etc. Another thing to have them check is to see if there is any evidence of rubbing on the control arms themselves (scuffs, marks, etc). That can also help to pinpoint what is rubbing. Also it goes without saying that don't let them take your car without a tech actually hearing the noise. I had to go back to the shop that fixed mine around 4 times because every time they "fixed" something even though it wasn't the sound I was hearing.

[ArgCarp83]

The best thing to tell them to check is the clearances of the heat shield between the control arms. The sound is caused by metal on metal contact with the heat shield. It can be difficult to pinpoint where exactly it's coming from even though from the cabin it may sound like it's coming from the front side etc. Another thing to have them check is to see if there is any evidence of rubbing on the control arms themselves (scuffs, marks, etc). That can also help to pinpoint what is rubbing. Also it goes without saying that don't let them take your car without a tech actually hearing the noise. I had to go back to the shop that fixed mine around 4 times because every time they "fixed" something even though it wasn't the sound I was hearing.

Thanks will do


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[Fallen33]

Thank god someone bumped this thread. I've been experiencing this for the last few months and it's driving me f'ing nuts. Just gotta get it fixed now.

[BillyS4]

Mine Rattles more then my wifes 2007 Civic. Thats pretty Sad. Dealership says its because the cars are made stiff. Poor excuse if you ask me. It drives me nuts