Thread on sound insulation?

This is also sound related, so does anybody have "trembling" window control knobs? Those 4 little buttons on the driver's door that control the windows movement make a horrible rattling noise at low music frequencies. Being right next to me, it's killing me, and the sound is quite strong.
Any ideas on silencing them?
I had a look at the unit but seems to be a whole unit, not accessible.:(
 
dan: absolutely. CAD know what they're doing, have a formidable reputation and MaxMat is "da shiznit"; it's what I already have, but in an excellent deal. Now, if only it would turn up today.....

trex: the window control knobs are screwed into the armrest which is plastic-soldered into the doorcard. You could try some butyl on the back of the doorcard and see if that helps; I'm not sure if you can get to the screws without removing the armrest.

Bret
 
Well I just ordered a roll of MaxMat then, let's see how we get on!
Incidentally I found this voucher code for that Car Audio Direct supplier which gives free delivery - useful as it was a £10 delivery charge.

7e6e57
 
Got my MaxMat delivered today big heavy box poor post lady! Free delivery too! Any tips for where best to start or should I just pile in?!
 
think it through. You have 40 mats or so.

I'd suggest getting your knife for cutting it and roller / screwdriver for pressing it down sorted before you start. Then work out what you know how to remove and how many clips you'll break in the process. How long do you have? Can you take everything out and leave it out overnight? Or only for a couple of hours at a time?

There's a big list of priority areas over on the German site, I'll have to look it up.

However:
- 3 mats per front door and 2 per rear is not overdoing it. That's 10. Another one per aluminium inner skin and doorcard. (thin strips!)
2 for the tailgate (in strips) and one for the interior trim, another one per side in the boot, one over the floor of the boot.
At least two for each of the rear footwells (carpet out therefore front seats out job!) and another one for each of the front secret compartment lids.
No OSS? 4 for the roof. Strips, of course. Which leaves another 12 or so. Some for the next time you take the dashboard out; you can quite easily put 1-2 behind each wheelarch liner... with 215s I'd suggest that will make a bigger difference than when there's only 185s making noise.

Make sense? It will take time to do unless you can take the entire car apart....

Bret
 
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Blimey Im not sure how to take half that stuff out! I thought I would start on doors and wheel arches and see how long that took me. I only get a few spare hours at a time and the car is used daily so cant gut the interior and do it in one go. This will take a few months I think! Looks like I might end up with some spare mat...
 
the nice part about doing it in pieces is you really hear the difference. Slowly but surely, it gets quieter...
do one wheelarch per day, maybe droplinks at the same time. that kind of thing.
BTW; The kids love helping, because there's peely stuff, it's incredibly sticky but the only injuries are from the sharp edge on the cut aluminium covering. Don't try using rubber or leather gloves: "poo" and "blanket". Fingers are fine. Push it into place. Treat it like wallpaper - put into place, remove to trim, test, fit. squash. Little hands are really good at this, especially if you give them a roller :D

Doors: torx 20, 25, 30, Philips 2
Headlining: Torx 20, 25, flatblade for covers.
Boot: Tx20
Glovebox: tx20
Wheelarchliners: get some clips, the ones with 300 at the end, 10-12. Small pozi driver, Tx20.

Seats I can't tell you, I need to do that myself, though I suspect TX40, 30 and maybe 20.

You really, really don't need many tools to take an A2 apart, at least not the inside :D

If it stops raining (chance would be a fine thing), then my bumper is coming off tomorrow; both wheels, bumper and wheelarch liners. Liners for more Butyl (mine turned up today, too, along with some spectrum which is going on the outside of the floor and behind the arch liners) and the new washer bottle, bumper for the headlampwashers and two-tone aircompressed horn, and i'll do the droplinks at the same time if I can. Do it as and when, let it happen. You know you've done enough when a knock on the door is no longer a "clong". And material over? maybe. Not much. Your wife will want some for her car... ;)

Bret
 
It is our only car :) when you say do the drop links are you meaning literally sticking this stuff to the links themselves? Is there a way to insulate better the cabin from the engine noise without taking out the dash which I am not in a hurry to do!
 
Dan, do the front door first, you can replace your door check rod while at it!

I'll be interested in doing the doors as they look very do-able. Then wheel arches as I think a lot of tyre noise comes from there. May be the floors below the front seats can do with a little damping too.

I think engine noise has to be dealt with a dash removal which is full afternoon! Ah, the rare occasion to boast about the civilised petrol-ness in my car ;-)
 
no, I don't mean sticking it to anything other than painted surfaces. My droplinks are clonking nicely and are up for replacement again.

The point was, though, that you can and should take time to do it.

If you only have a couple of hours at a time, then do small sections and replace the trim afterwards.

Each door doesn't take very long - just remember to put the window motor back first (they're the three tx25 screws) and to pull the door opener wire back through the inner skin before screwing it into place. All cables have their own grommets.
2 hours for a door is plenty, maybe more for the first one. Take a mug for the screws.

As Humps said, do other jobs at the same time.

Bret
 
not got around to that.

What I did get around to was taking the wheelarch liners at the rear off and cleaning the floorpan on the outside, followed by some second skin spectrum.

Goes on nicely, gets *everywhere*; so far five coats on the 'pan, three on one arch, two on another (the rear arches were already butyl'd) and I'm a third of the way down the bucket.

Will do the other coat on the other arch soon and then go for a quick drive :)

Bret
 
How long did it take you to remove the wheel arch liners, fit the butyl and re-fit the liners? I still haven't made a start on this yet, not had any free time...
 
if I was doing butyl alone, probably around 90 minutes per side. Wheel loosened, jacked, wheel off, screws, clips, argue... shape, cut, roll, argue, screws, clips, wheel back.

The rear left is 7 screws and 3 clips, the right 9 screws and 3 clips. Short TX20 necessary.
The fronts are a pain, but I'll do those and the bumper at the same time because I'm fitting the new horn...

It really does make a difference, too, but not as much as I'd like. I can't really tell, though, at the moment, as the boot area is open and is making a terrible racket.

Bret
 
Could anyone help on how to remove wheel arches (front & rear) ? :confused: Not sure where to start....

Thanks :eek:
 
take the wheel off.
rear is easier. There are clips holding it in; push the center of the clips through, around 5-7mm. It will click.
Use a thin screwdriver / wide-blade knife to ease the surrounding up and then pull the clip out. Remove all of them and then pull the liner out. It's quite tight, it would be good to clean at least the worst of the junk off before you pull them out, or you'll scatter it all over yourself and the garage floor.

The front has several screws; at least one is from underneath the car and you'll have to remove the mudflaps if you have them. You'll also need a 10mm spanner. It's all logically put together, but it will take time to do them.

Bret
 
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ohyes, for those who are interested; the loudest noise at 80km/h is tyre roar; on good asphalt, the car is silly quiet. At 120, the loudest noise becomes wind from the OSS / rear door frames. I will work on this.

The engine is very quiet now, I can hear the intake again.

I will take some measurements at some point, probably after butyling inside of the rear wheelarches again.

Bret
 
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