More Rattles

Some of the must have fixes to me were -

Adding felt tape to the bottom of the A pillars to stop the cold weather rattles
Adding a bit of "dynamat" to each front door around the speakers and adding large pieces of foam padding (from parts express) between the door panel and door sheet metal - stopped speaker bass rattles.
Also added the type r replica engine cover (has more sound deadening bult in) and the engine side covers (perhaps traps more noise more more aesthetic)

For 2019, Honda added sound deadening over the rear wheel wells and to the top of the plastic in the from wheel wells, and even special noise/resonance canceling wheels (18 inch)

Have rattles in the steering wheel, dash, above the glove box, windshield, dome light, trunk/spoiler, pillars and doors. Lack of a volume knob doesn't bother me anymore, this is as of now the only issue I have with the car. Don't think the cheap car excuse cuts it, been in plenty of entry level cars that don't have this problem.

thatlilwhiteone said:

Mine did too especially after I added in good speakers and amp. I got some peel n seal from Menards and put a layer on the inner and outter door skin I also put a few pieces on the panel itself. People say peel n seal is trash but I had it on my Jeep for years and never had problems with it. I'm removing my speakers soon, I'll take pictures if you want me to. The plastic ring around the speaker was rattling the most hitting the metal door skin.

People seem to think if you remove a panel it will automatically make it squeak. I never experienced that. If you break clips yeah it will rattle. Just be careful or replace the clips that break. It's not like the factory uses glue or sisomethi lol.

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I'm in for pics. My door rattles are mostly around the top of the door just below the window or by the arm rest. Also have plenty of rattles in the A pillars and the dash corners were the dash and the doors meet.. and then there's the dashboard itself, down by where it meets the window. On a cold day, my car is a symphony of rattles haha

Last year was the first winter I had the Si and I had no rattles at all. This year as soon as it started getting cold I have rattles from everywhere. The trim from the passenger A pillar (i stuffed some foam between the panels to get rid of the noise), rattles from somewhere under the dash (still have this one), another rattle that was coming from under the hood that was heard at around 2100rpm (I opened the hood, tried to see what it was and now the noise stopped lol).
I also had another rattle and it ended up being the battery tie-down that was loose and rattled at times.

It rattles more than my when I had my 10 year old Acura EL!

I'm taking the speakers out tomorrow to show what I did.

18MSMcoupe said:

Don't think the cheap car excuse cuts it, been in plenty of entry level cars that don't have this problem.

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. None of my past or present cheapish cars have had any rattles even many years after buying. my 2011 Mazdaspeed was about the same price as the Si... zero rattles to this day. 2010 Prius with 140K miles on it- no rattles. 2008 Tundra developed its very first rattle this year in the dash. 2003 & 2007 Sentra Spec-V's also no rattles for 4 years till I sold them and those were CHEAP.

So even tho this isn't an expensive car... Honda shoulda done a lot better with fit & finish IMHO.

PS. It's just so strange that the QC was bad because the car drives so well. This car feels far more rigid and handles better than most other cars i've driven. And when I look around the cabin; all the materials seem quite nice and the build quality LOOKS good. And yet all these damn vibrations and rattles...

Spike Spiegel said:

Coldest day of the year so far (20 degrees) and after driving about 10 minutes I started getting a tremendously loud vibration noise coming from the passenger side rear C pillar area @ idle which is around 700-800 rpm. When I pushed the gas pedal and the engine speeds up, the vibration stops which demonstrates it's a resonance issue. It was surprisingly loud... worse ive heard yet in this car.

Then when I pull away from the stop light, a new vibration starts somewhere in the dash. The dash vibration isn't nearly as loud but it's still noticeable. All of this is in addition to the mechanical thunking noise/"something feels loose and moving" I get at low speeds underneath the car when I press or release the clutch pedal.

I simply can't believe how many rattles, buzzes, thunks and vibrations I have in my cabin on a 2018 with 1600 miles. I have seen many other forum members mentioning these same types of issues... So is Honda's QC really this bad or did a few of us just get bad samples?

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Couple things to check and this will sound silly or too easy, but you'd be surprised.

(1) Seat Belts: Make sure the plastic head on the front passenger seat belt (the male end that clips into the socket) isn't sitting up against the pillar on the passenger door and rattling. Same thing with the 2 in the back. In my 2016 Chev Silverado, the front passenger seat belt (when no one was in the seat) would droop over toward the pillar on the door and just every so slightly cause a rattle vibration while driving, especially at low speeds. The rattle was prominent and very annoying. Took me a week to find out what it was. Got into the habit of just connecting the seat belt into the socket to avoid this. I guess you could also make a sleeve or something with a piece of fabric to cover it and prevent the contact when no one is in the seat and it is hanging there on the side near the door pillar.

(2) Engine mounts: I think there are 3 engine mounts in our 2016-2019 Civic Si, it's always possible one of yours is loose - or - just plain defective. If the seat belt thing isn't the cause, maybe ask your Honda Dealer to consider replacing them (this is a low cost, 1 hour ) way that might solve the problem, I'd try that before taking the panels apart.

Mine actually got better with the cold likely tightened up some clearances. Hey, it’s a great car but no doubt that Honda didn’t do much testing when they boosted the engine and stereo output. There are times when I’m accelerating and choose to let off the gas just so the harmonics change and the rattling stops. My A and B pillars are the worst. I’d take it in to have the Honda dealer spray some sound deadening foam but I just don’t want to give them my car. I see some zit faced high school kid beating the shit out of my car looking for the issue. Only a few more green light burn outs and I should have them all identified.

I have an EX-L sedan not an Si but I feel your pain on the rattles. My car is a year and a half old and with this cold weather there's been quite a few rattles and vibrations this year that weren't there this time last year. I know we basically drive an economy car but it's still annoying. Thankfully I drive most of the time with the stereo loud so I drown the rattles out.

Buy a 27WON rear motor mount, that way you have a reason for a rattle ha. Definitely a good mod tho.....

Spike Spiegel said:

. None of my past or present cheapish cars have had any rattles even many years after buying. my 2011 Mazdaspeed was about the same price as the Si... zero rattles to this day. 2010 Prius with 140K miles on it- no rattles. 2008 Tundra developed its very first rattle this year in the dash. 2003 & 2007 Sentra Spec-V's also no rattles for 4 years till I sold them and those were CHEAP.

So even tho this isn't an expensive car... Honda shoulda done a lot better with fit & finish IMHO.

PS. It's just so strange that the QC was bad because the car drives so well. This car feels far more rigid and handles better than most other cars i've driven. And when I look around the cabin; all the materials seem quite nice and the build quality LOOKS good. And yet all these damn vibrations and rattles...

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I have found that one's purchase price is not a good indicator of QC. The BMWs and VWs that I have owned were rattle traps. The funny thing is, the rattles usually started just when the warranty ran out.

rive said:

Part of me wants to add damping material between all the panels and the wires and such running behind them. The other part of me knows that pulling every interior panel is just asking for a whole new set of sounds or problems. I still like the car enough to ignore the noise. Eventually that will tip toward madness.

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I recently ordered sorbothane pads from amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042U8P9C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

After some research sorbothane is a great damping material to insert in between panels. People used it to fix the sub woofer rattle.
My Si is brand new only 300 miles on it. Recently I heard a rattling noise near the heated seat buttons area, when driving 60 mph on a bumpy free way. The moment i tap my fingers on the panel the rattle stops. I plan to insert the sorbothane pads there, behind the bottom part of the central console.

When my order arrives i'll have more updates.

I've also noticed a rattle on mine. Front passenger side. I've narrowed it down to the glove box or either the corner of the dash/door panel. It's intermittent so of course, when I've been at the dealer - it's silent.

RickTheWelder said:

I've also noticed a rattle on mine. Front passenger side. I've narrowed it down to the glove box or either the corner of the dash/door panel. It's intermittent so of course, when I've been at the dealer - it's silent.

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Check the A-Pillar:
https://www.civicx.com/threads/the-a-pillar-rattle.20017/

This thread documents a lot of rattles and a bunch of people had the A-Pillar rattle too:
https://www.civicx.com/threads/my-2017-hatchback-dash-rattle-thread.9082/

integra15 said:

I feel your pain but you can't expect Lexus quietness at Civic prices

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I work for lexus and even they have vibration and rattle complaints....some warranted, others ridiculous. Your traveling through 3d space in multiple pieces of metal and plastic smashed together with explosions going on many times a second few feet away from your face rolling on rubber bands across shit roads......I think car companies do a pretty good job all things considered.....especially at honda's price point.