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Rattling from door area stereo when playing music?

32K views 69 replies 39 participants last post by  waloupis 
#1 ·
Hello guys,

As of late my Focus is having an annoying rattle coming from the passenger side lower door stereo. It almost sounds as if something has come loose. It comes and goes depending on the bass. I have the base SEL 6-speaker system in my Focus. Anyone else experiencing this problem? The driver side rear door has the same problem. Very annoying.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
GoGators, I had the same problem, but on the rear driver-side passenger door panel. It's definitely annoying and I had the folks at the dealer where I bought it check it out. They definitely caught the rattling, and said they were going to change out the speaker (although I think the culprit is simply a loose speaker, I guess it doesn't hurt to change it).
 
#5 ·
I have the same rattle in the driver-side rear door whenever there's a little bit of bass. Glad to know your dealer checked it out, I'll have to mention it when I go in. Although it could be the speaker, I thought it was coming from the cupholder/storage area that is in the door for the rear passengers?
 
#6 ·
I did try out holding the trim piece when the strong bass did come on, it helped a little but not completely. Also made sure there was nothing left in the storage compartment that was rattling too. Definitely mention it to them. Only issue is that they're estimating a week for the part to come in, so I'll have to come back to the dealer again.
 
#12 ·
An update on the rattling that I had a few weeks ago - Dealer installed new speaker in my left rear passenger door (base 6-speaker stereo). When driving out of the dealer I played a bass-heavy song from Usher's My Way album off my Ipod. Down the street, I upped the volume (to a respectable but not outrageous level of 7), and the rattling came on stronger than ever from that door.

We went back to the dealer and he gave the ear a closer look, and first blamed it on my bass being too high (well, I then told him that every single Ford car our family has owned before had bass at max and there never was a rattle in those cars). I shouldn't have to pay a premium for a car that can't handle its own stereo settings (all the Fords our family had in the past have had max bass, even those with the base stock stereo). We both looked at the panel and the whole panel was visibly vibrating when the strongest bass parts of the song came on, as if no support had been placed in the center part of the panel, as the dealer said they had tightened the panel well. So they said they would give me a call back after calling the engineers on the issue at Ford HQ.

The dealer called us back, and said that engineering recommended placing some insulation in the door to insulate the vibration from the door panel. So we'll be taking the car back again to have this quality issue fixed.

If you think it was the music that made the bass rattle, I played the title track straight off Billy Joel's An Innocent Man album, and even that less punchy bass triggered similar rattling.
 
#14 ·
Have they fixed the issue yet? I also get a rattle in my front passenger side door panel right were the speaker is. I was thinking about attempting to remove the door panel myself and diagnose the problem, but if it's something to do with replacing the sound insulation then I'll have to take my car back to the dealership as well.
Thanks!
 
#13 ·
Yesterday (owned 3 days now) I was hearing a buzzing noise coming from
the dash, or somewhere.
I turned up the music and it went away.

Today I did not hear any noises. Just the sweet engine humming.
 
#15 ·
I get the same rattling from my passenger door!!! I thought it was just me...and it even rattles if i turn off the speakers and go over a speedbump or something. I'll definitely call my dealer about this...i just hope they dont blame my new rims and low profile tires for the rattling!!
 
#18 ·
I have had no problems like this at all. I have owned many new ford cars. 85 Thunderbird - 89 Thunderbird- 86 Escort- 87 Mustang. I never had any real issues with any of these cars. I purchased a volkswagon GTI in 2007 and it was always in the dealer. It was major stuff not rattles! Power window motor took 2 months to get from Germany then the compressor went out for the A/C . That took a month to get . It was a car that I loved but it had rattles and major issues.So I came back to ford. I wound rather deal with minor things then the hell I went through with the volkswagon. Just saying guys these cars are made by people and they are not perfect.[loveff]
 
#23 ·
I have this problem too. My passenger door is not a fan of Pitbull or LMFAO.
 
#27 ·
I have 6 speaker system in my car, and you cannot turn bass up past 3 bars from center. It gets muddy (actually it's muddy at center bar) and boomy and rattles.

Rarely listen to the system past 8 volume. I have the rattle in the right door as well, even at lower volume.

The rear speakers are worthless, so have fader to front only, and system optimized for driver. Optimized for all passengers just increases the boomy, muddy bass, and introduces some phase issues that add reverberation to the mix.

Pretty much a worthless 6 speaker system. At least the front has tweeter separates.

Shake, rattle, and roll.
 
#28 ·
I have the same rattle in my front driver-side door. Gonna take it in to the dealer soon, glad you guys were able to get it fixed easily.

Does anyone have problems with rattles that come from trim pieces that are glued? Sometimes my center console with the volume knob gets rattly and I have to press on it for the glue popping sounds to go away (feels very cheap). Are there any actual solutions for the cheap glue rattles or is it just something we have to live with?
 
#29 ·
I took mine in for rattles and they fixed it. Then I got my headliner replaced and the other doors started rattling... [:(]
 
#30 ·
Rattles in all of my doors with the sony 10-speaker. I took it in twice and got two new speakers, but it doesn't fix the problem. Just grab hold of the door handle and press in or pull out and it stops, but whatever. I give up on this for now, but I'm almost certain its because the door panels are made of separate plastic pieces that are snapped together and small gaps in the pieces can cause rattling. The best fix I had so far was to pull the plastic handle piece out and stuff something in there to keep pressure on the door.
 
#31 ·
The best fix I had so far was to pull the plastic handle piece out and stuff something in there to keep pressure on the door.
I kind of want to take my door panels off and shove felt in there or something (maybe wrap any rattling wires in it?) But it's a new car and I don't think I should HAVE to do that...
 
#36 ·
I added a 4 channel power amp and new Kicker speakers in the rear doors, it made a world of difference to the sound quality of the factory head unit and now sounds like a decent quality system which was lacking decent amplification. I found the standard system very bright in the treble and boomy in the bass but that is cleaned up now with the better Amp installed. The front speakers I left alone as they are of a quiet decent quality unlike the rear paper cone speakers.
I have turned the bass down to -3 or 4 on the head unit which fixed the boomy bass.
 
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