This is not coming from the latches, which are all as far as I can tell are tight and noise free
I'm getting some pretty bad squeaking coming from the hardtop. It sounds like this: https://voca.ro/1aoVqjks4j4h
It seems to be from the back of the stowed soft top gradually coming unfolded a bit and rubbing on the bottom of the inside rear of the hardtop. If I reach back there and sort of manually fold the soft top out of the way then the noise stops, but before long the soft top works its way out again and starts rubbing and squeaking
Has anyone encountered this before? If so, any advice on dealing with it?
I plan to silicon grease the rubber trim on the bottom of the hardtop in the hope that softens it up and stops the noise. Also: the soft top ear strap isn't connected, so I'll get that sorted in the hope that it tightens up the soft top when it's folded and holds it far enough away from the hardtop to stop it rubbing. Is that likely to work?
Is there anything else I could be looking to do? There are also a couple of rattles coming from in and around the hard top so I'll be hoping to deal with them while I'm at it. What are the usual suspects for that kind of thing?
Thanks in advance!
Quote from: bobbe on January 22, 2023, 17:56Is there anything else I could be looking to do?
Remove it?
I know. I Know.
I'll get me coat. Taxi!
On my 4th h/top, never had any squeaks but a couple have rattled, seems to be the front catch,s which just dont clamp tight enough. Have wedged a piece of plastic around the pin that the clamp goes around, would prefer something more professional but it works...
Thankfully rattles from the latches aren't a problem. They were a bit loose when I first fitted the hardtop but I was able to tighten them and still have some room to adjust them tighter if needs be down the line
Okay, so I managed to get it to stop squeaking by taking the hardtop off, re-folding the soft top down making sure everything was tucked away nicely, and putting the hardtop back on
But... I now have a rattle from the driver's side of the folded soft top that is noisy and irritating over bumps. It's difficult to tell if it's from the soft top itself or some other bit of the whole thing back there. It's definitely not the latch, but other than that I just cannot figure out where it's from. I can poke about a bit in and around the soft top, or in the sides of the rear storage bins, or wherever, and the noise will stop. Then five, ten, sometimes 15 minutes later it comes back. A little bit at first, then gradually getting worse. And there doesn't seem to be any pattern to why it stops or why it comes back. I can poke about at one bit of the soft top or in the storage bin and it will go away, and then I will drive around thinking I have maybe finally - finally! - solved it... and then it comes back
Needless to say this is driving me insane
Does anyone have any idea what this might be, or what I could do to stop it? I can't take the hardtop off again as there is only one of me (I had a friend staying the weekend so was able to rope him in to helping me, but there won't have anyone else around to help for a few months) so I'm hoping it's something I can fix without doing that
Have a look at this post - I had an annoying rattle for ages:
https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=72299.msg884478#msg884478
That's something I'd never have thought of, thanks! I guess if it's the cable running behind the seat I don't need to take the bins out to get at it?
You don't need to remove the bins, just remove the door which should be enough to release the top edge of the carpet so you can reach the cable.
Great, thanks! I'm going to remove a few other bits of trim to see if I can spot anything, so I'll do this too
I too have an annoying squeak or rattle noticable behind me when I go over bumps or uneven road surface. I have been unable to attempt to prod or touch any part of the soft top because I am the only driver.
I intend removing the hard top for a drive on Sunday so will see if the noise disappears. Unfortunately though it may be difficult to hear or isolate due to the extra noise from wind road and engine.
So it turns out you can take the hardtop off by yourself (and it's not very difficult: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLD1WkEpU7c). I got it off and put the soft top up and took it for a drive to see if it was still rattling. It was! So, not a hardtop problem.
So next weekend I'll start stripping trim out and see if I can get to the bottom of this (I am tempted to remove the soft top entirely at some point, but that can wait).
On the plus side, figuring out how to take the hardtop off by myself will be great for summer. So, the rattling is very frustrating but at least I've learned something useful
Warning!!! Make sure when handling the hardtop you are not wearing any jewellery (rings or watches) or clothes with buckles/buttons exposed.
I generally don't, but that seems like good advice!
Well, my experiment worked - sort of.
Removed the hard top and went out for about five hours. Not one rattle so definitely ht related. Just have to figure out where the noise is coming from now but difficult from the drivers seat. Does anyone have any suggestions please? Can the clasps be adjusted (tightened) as they seemed to grasp the car far too easily today!
Do you have any idea what location the rattle is coming from? It's not always easy to tell, but if you're in the driver's seat, is it directly behind you, behind the passenger seat, etc
There's not a lot to rattle with the hardtop itself other than the latches. It could also be the hardtop heater cable rattling around a bit (if you have one?)
Rattle is coming from behind somewhere. It is not the heater cable as I have removed that to eliminate it. Is it possible it is from the two slide in hooks connected to the body? I was thinking of forcing a small rubber wedge in there each side to see if that is it. Dont have a small rubber wedge though! Not sure if the latches can be adjusted to perhaps make a tighter fit.
Far from an expert Gerry, but the side striker catches always seemed the source of my noise (esp behind passenger side 1/4), the actual side striker can be minutely slackened off + adjusted to allow a different (maybe quieter) operation.
Quote from: bobbe on February 5, 2023, 15:43So it turns out you can take the hardtop off by yourself (and it's not very difficult: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLD1WkEpU7c).
Quote from: SuperArt on February 5, 2023, 15:57Warning!!! Make sure when handling the hardtop you are not wearing any jewellery (rings or watches) or clothes with buckles/buttons exposed.
https://youtu.be/NQh64iefeAQ (https://youtu.be/NQh64iefeAQ)
Oof. That was painful to watch. Five minutes of video and my back hurts from thinking about it. Here's another option, and it only takes 25 seconds to watch. And you can wear all your scratchy jewelry too, no worries.
Right, sorted mine!
I found a roll of self adhesive foam and cut off two small pieces about a half inch long. I fitted these to the hooks at the rear of the roof where they clip into the chrome plates mounted on the car. Went for a short bumpy drive, rattle gone. Result.
Quote from: cyclehead on February 13, 2023, 08:00https://youtu.be/NQh64iefeAQ (https://youtu.be/NQh64iefeAQ)
Oof. That was painful to watch. Five minutes of video and my back hurts from thinking about it. Here's another option, and it only takes 25 seconds to watch. And you can wear all your scratchy jewelry too, no worries.
In Merecedes R107 circles we call this method the turtle, few are brave enough to try it, I have done but not sure if I will again. Those things are HEAVY! (glass wouldn't be easy to replace either)
I'm pretty comfortable doing the MR2 myself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceVXeaxHuKQ
(https://i.ibb.co/XfQRy0Q/turtle.jpg) (https://ibb.co/XfQRy0Q)