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Anyone have a rattle in headliner?

27K views 75 replies 47 participants last post by  Pennut 
#1 ·
I have a rattle in my car. I think its in the headliner, but very hard to figure out. I will mention it when i bring it infor an oil change. Didnt know if anyone else noticed it as well and had it addressed.
 
#39 ·
Mine had that problem where it sounded like an adhesive kept coming undone and the headliner rattled in front of my sunroof (even worse if the sunroof was open). I took it in to the dealer and had it fixed.

To my surprise, they even took it upon themselves to fix every rattle I had. Two techs took my car for a drive, one driving and one sat in the back seat. They took it down some bumpy roads and isolated them all. My car is nice and quiet again and sounds like the day I got it inside.
 
#41 ·
I had the loose roof liner wobbling/rattling bug since day one back in nov 2011. None of the 3 dealers I went to were able or interested to fix the issue. One of them even told me that since Ford did not issued any kind of TSB regarding this, that it would not touch it, another one told me it was ''normal''...

Fast forward in june 1st 2013, 21h30. During a big storm, part of a tree fell unto my roof and my hood, ripping appart the driver side mirror and pushing the glass sunroof inward. The glass plate did not break, it was only 1/2 an inch inside the car and water was pourring in, big time. Some of the metal rails that allows the plate glass to slide were warped in the process, but the glass plate stayed in one piece. I was VERY surprised that it did not broke.

3559$ worth of repair laters, the body shop I went to have my car repaired and repainted (partially) was able to fix the roof liner in a snap. They had to ''pry'' the roof liner opening a bit to change some broken parts in the rails but never removed the roof lineri tself. All they did was applying some (real) glue and Voilà!!

It's been more than a month now and I am finally rattle free.

Gotta love those dealers sometimes...
 
#44 ·
I had a noise that sounded like it was coming from the headliner. It turns out that it was coming from the left bolster of the passenger seat. With the seat too far forward, the bolster makes contact with the plastic on the center console. Even on really smooth roads it will make an extremely annoying sound.
 
#46 ·
Hahahah this is so trashy... But one yeah ago I had this problem... I was driving and reached into my gym bag and pulled out a sock, shoved it in there and 1 year later never a rattle again.

I call it the Hanes mod
 
#48 ·
Im at about 16K and have a couple rattles. The one above my head in the headliner is the absolute most annoying [rant]! I've actually used a napkin to fix it during a couple road trips.

If anyone could figure out how to permanently fix this, I'd be most grateful [pray]
 
#55 ·
So, basically the rattling we hear is the adhesive sticking and unsticking to the plastic support around the moonroof. When the dealer fixes it, it comes unglued again. So I said to hell with the glue.

I bought some of this one-sided sticky weather strip stuff:


And pulled down on the headliner (just a little) and placed this at like 12 spots all around the opening between the black plastic and the headliner. I also put some seat foam stuff in the front area because I think I had a loose wire causing rattling up there and I thought it might help with windy road noise issues so I had to disconnect the 3M velcro stuff.




Then make sure all of your 3M mushroom velcro stuff is attached when you're done. No more rattles. Good luck, guys!

EDIT: Basically, you're lowering your headliner a few thousands so that when it moves up and down while driving it won't touch that glue anymore.
 
#57 ·
I've some rattles.

I don't want the car torn apart, in case something new and worse happens.

And, yes, I have the good warranty too. :)

If anything, build them right, not cheaply then sold at inflated prices.

But, rattle or not, the Focus is much better than the toys like the Toyota FU Cruiser... (no car should have oil and transmission fluid leaks before 80,000 miles are up. Not ever.)
 
#58 ·
Mines been doing it since day one. Been in the shop two times to fix it, only to have it come back a few months later. This next time im making them pull it completly out or i dont want the car back. Better be 3rd time the charm[rant]
 
#62 ·
Hi Crypticracer,

I'd like to loop in your regional customer service manager. Please send me a private message with your full name, best daytime phone number, VIN, mileage, and servicing dealership.

Mine is going in the 21st for a new headliner. Dealer didn't mess around, just ordered a new one.
Hi lifespeed,

I see you've been working with your CSM; if you have any questions, let me know.

Todd
 
#60 ·
Yep - I finally found my intermittent rattle after 1.5 years of ownership. If I find the center of the rear passenger's sunroof curve, and then project a straight line out from it, it's a single spot a few inches on that line.

I thought it might be the B pillar; passengers thought it was the A pillar; backseat drivers thought it was coming from the back.

Nope - I found the exact spot in mine. I can even feel the tackiness of the glue as the headliner sticks, giving me a few day's reprieve.

I will NOT have a dealer remove my headliner for one small thumb-sized area. I'll come up with my own fix.
 
#64 ·
I'm taking my car in on Monday for this "headliner rattle". I've got the sunroof and it seems to be coming from the overhead console thing. If I put pressure on it with my hand the sound mostly goes away but the glue has also come undone just behind the sunroof too.
 
#65 ·
If I put pressure on it with my hand the sound mostly goes away but the glue has also come undone just behind the sunroof too.
Yup, exact same problem I had. Took it to the dealer today and the new headliner had a major wrinkle in it. So the car stays there for a couple more days until another new headliner arrives and gets installed.
 
#66 ·
Yup, exact same spot I had my rattle with sunroof I had mine in 3 times for the headliner glue falling apart and rattling. They kept bringing in the local yokel mr. Vinyl to reglue, but it's coming apart again. Either they replace it this time or I start wedging crap in there to make it stop myself, which is rediculous on a car with 12k miles
 
#68 ·
Well I took my car in today (Yorkdale Ford). The car still rattles although much less than before. This is what is written on my invoice:

Road tested and verified the rattle from the headliner and its out of position. Access the headliner and verified the velcro mounting point were in tact. Repositioned the headliner and reinstalled it road tested and verified the repair and had the vehicle quality road tested by the shop lead hand. Road tested by shop foreman, noise gone.
The noise is still there, particularly so when the vehicle is accelerating from a stop. It sounds to me like it's coming from the right rear corner of the sunroof, or thereabouts.
 
#70 ·
Well I took my car in today (Yorkdale Ford). The car still rattles although much less than before. This is what is written on my invoice:



The noise is still there, particularly so when the vehicle is accelerating from a stop. It sounds to me like it's coming from the right rear corner of the sunroof, or thereabouts.
Hi tstraw,

I'm the Ford Canada Rep on the forum and I'd like to assist! :) Please send me a PM with your VIN, odometer reading, full name, and best daytime phone number so I can look into options.

Also, what was the diagnosis from your dealer?

Bianca
 
#71 ·
Headliner rattle

Mine was in shop numerous times as well for headliner rattle. I did repair myself. I do have the sunroof and was able to get to black plastic surround that goes around sunroof opening and used 3m double sided tape has held for past several months with no rattles. The plastic surround is glued to headliner which appears the glue is no good or just a poor design.
 
#74 ·
Got mine back after the 3rd look by the dealer. They had it for 5 days this time. The rattle is much less obvious but still there unfortunately. If I push up on the headliner on the passenger side of the sunglass holder/ambient light control panel it goes away. I figure I'll just find some adhesive that will hold the damn thing in place.
 
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