Rattle

[nc211]

I got a rattle right above my head, sounds like it's either above the headliner on the side, or where the seatbelt upper anchor is. Sounds like something banging around. Is it the sunroof drain tube? If so, how do you shut that d*mn thing up! Ohhhh, the cold weather ah' comin'. It brings the rattles and the creaking leather.

[larryp]

Had a similar rattle in the 91. Could not locate the source - sounded like it was in the A pillar. Even rode around with a stethoscope trying to find it. Ending up taking the dash apart and removing the a-pillar cover. Found nothing. Sound didn't appear till car got up to about 40 mph.

Finally, was changing front brake pads one day and noticed the inner wheel well had come looseon the driver's side. There was one bolt (to the rear of the tire) on the bottom that had come out. Pushed it back in and problem was solved. :D

May not be your problem, but you may want to look. The sound was traveling from the wheel well up into the a-pillar and i just knew the problem was in the sunroof, a-pillar, or dash. Boy was i wrong. Felt foolish but man was i happy to eliminate the rattle.

[90LS400Lexus]

Luckily more rattles did not resurface with the dismantling of the dash. It does sound like it could be something with the sunroof railings. You say 40MPH, does it also make the noise on smooth pavement, or only when you hit bumps?

Interior noise was one of the main reasons I sold my 90' LS400. It was actually "ticks" from the instrument panels. I have mentioned this a hundred times before I know. I know it was caused from a leather protectant I used on the dash, after I was told it was OK. Tha padding was hardened. Before that, it was "tick" free, even @ 224K miles.

As far as actual rattles go on my old Lexus LS400, I did have a rattle from the front passenger door when the window was partially rolled down. Unheard of on many Toyota automobiles. I have owned several Camry's in the past - 2 87's and a 93'. One of the 87s had some noise, but it was an abused car by the previous owner) but the other 87' had 210K and the 93' had 212K and both were as tight as new cars. NO rattles, NO ticks, NO squeaks, even over rough roads, but both of these were 1-owner, well cared for cars. My old 91' Accord was the same, with 180K - NO rattles.

After that, it (my 90' LS400) was even noiser than my 92' Acura Legend base 4dr sedan with 200K. That car was still very tight, despite the harsh suspension.

Many here know that I have a old 69' Chevrolet Caprice that I am restoring (SEE PHOTO). One thing that has suprised me more than anything is that this car is as tight and quiet as a brand new car. I have not heard not one squeak or rattle from the interior of this car. Of course the suspension is so soft and supple that the car never even feels bumps- which may be one reason the interior has stayed so tight. :D

Let us know how it goes. Good luck.

Had a similar rattle in the 91.  Ending up taking the dash apart and removing the a-pillar cover.

[nc211]

thank guys, greatly appreciate the input!

This sounds like a loose wire or tube banging around up there. It's right where the pillar post for the seat belt meets the roof. sounds like maybe a wire to the motor for the electric seat belt mover thing. oh well, screw it. at some point i've got to accept that this is a 10 year old car with 80% city miles. sh*t happens right.

[blake918]

I don't think it's a sunroof drain tube since they are on the front side of the sunroof housing; they drain under the car in between the front door and front fender (I would guess they come down the a pillar). A good 80% of all the trim in our '95s is snapped in (how all of this doesn't rattle, I'll never know!) including the area by the seat belt, so it would be real easy to snap it off and take a look for the wires that you think that might be causing the trouble. ;) $hit does happen, but interior stuff is 200x easier to repair than mechanical things on these cars! :D

That's a nice old barge you have '90!

[90LS400Lexus]

Yeah, I would bet it is something simple causing the rattles. Does the temperature change seem to make any difference? Yeah, it is a old car and you can expect these things, especially if the car has mostly been on rough city or gravel roads.

Thanks Blake- A barge it is! Big as a tank. :D I am still in the process of restoring it. I am going to have the car painted soon. I cannot believe how smooth it is. I had not even driven it until the other day, because my father drove it home, then we had to do that engine work. I also found out that the car has some rare options for a 69'. It has power locks (rare for a 69' according to some), power windows, tilt steering wheel, hideaway headlights w/washers, power steering, power front disc brakes (yes, power brakes optional on many 69' cars, as well as the discs). It also has A/C, AM-FM radio, extra courtesy lamps option, 396 engine, automatic transmission (most ALL had this), vinyl top, as well as some others.

Despite the size of this car, it is still not quite as large as my other old tank- 73' Pontiac Grand Ville. I drive it quite often. It likes the gasoline though - about 10-13 mpg. The 455 cubic inch V8 loves to drink the gasoline. <_<

That's a nice old barge you have '90!

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[nc211]

Yeah they sure don't make 'em like they used to anymore. Here is a picture of my dad's all original 1973 Caddy, with 13,486 original miles. I think it's got like a 7 liter engine. He put glass packs on it, and let me tell you, when you start that puppy up, it puts hair on your chest! I love driving it! There is also a picture of my car when I picked it up from the dealership. And one of my old Maxima.

My car is going into a specialist this wed. to figure out the wobble situation. I'll let you guys know what I hear. He thinks maybe bad tires. Might have thrown a belt on a couple. If I had hit a bad pot hole or something, I'm sure I hit it with the front and the rear on the same side. With the tires being rotated enough times now, there is no telling which ones they are. Also going to have the rattle looked at. It's a hit or miss rattle, but you know it when you hear. No missing it.

[90LS400Lexus]

NC211- that is an awesome Cadillac! Your dads Cadillac has the same basic body style as my 1973 Pontiac Grand Ville (SEE PHOTO), but the Cadillac has a longer wheelbase. Even the windshields on these cars are the same and will interchange, as will many other parts. If I am not mistaken, the front door windows, as well as the rear windshields are the same as well. I think the rear door glass will not work, because the Cadillac has a longer door, but it will interchange with the 71-74 Buick Electra's. I used to own one of those too - 72' Electra. I regret selling it.

Yeah, your dads Caddy has a 7.7 liter engine - which is 472 cubic inches. My first car (registered in my name) was a 72' Cadillac Sedan DeVille - which I wish I had of kept. Yeah, these cars run really well and smooth. I love driving my 73' Pontiac. It has a 455 cubic inch engine, which is a 7.5 liter, but it still gets down the road quickly and smoothly.

One thing I think is really neat about the 60s and 70s cars, is that they could be equipped with any option you wanted. Back then you did not have to order a bunch of options in order to get one option- like you have to these days. That is why so many were equipped oddly and differently. My 73' has the following options - power windows, power locks, tilt wheel, AM radio (yep, even AM was optional in 73' :D), A/C, vinyl top, bumper gaurds, bumper strips, side moldings, map lights, "Custom" interior option, lower door courtesy lamps, etc.

As an example- I have seen another Grand Ville with NO power windows, NO tilt wheel, and NO vinyl top, but it had cruise control, power trunk release, cornering lamps and auto climate control A/C- all of which my car lacked, but you see my car had several that this car lacked. This was just typical of most all 60s and 70s cars- especially General Motors cars- which varied widely in options. About everything was an option, but a LOT of options were available. Did you know that even tilt wheel was an option, rather than standard on your dads Cadillac?

It is a very nice car- looks like it is getting good care. You do not see many of these cars anymore on the road.

BTW - that Lexus is awesome as well. Hopefully you will find out what that rattle is.

Yeah they sure don't make 'em like they used to anymore. Here is a picture of my dad's all original 1973 Caddy, with 13,486 original miles. I think it's got like a 7 liter engine.

[90LS400Lexus]

Speaking of Cadillacs - here is a photo taken today of my grandpa's 55' Cadillac.

It has 88K actual miles and still had the original plastic on the seats until a couple of weeks ago. It was getting discolored. The original padded dash is also still good, believe it or not. The original carpeting was fair, but was removed and is soon going to have new carpeting installed. It has power windows, power brakes and the wonderbar radio - all of which were optional for 55'. :)

[cardona6569]

Hello:

Since I bought my 98 it had a vibrating sound coming from the back of the car, a rattle. This morning went to try to hunt it down, found out that the sound or noise was coming from the soda holder in the middle of the back seat. Put some masking tape to the from opening where you push to get it out, sound was gone. I went as fast as 80 MPH with someone in the back seat to listen where the sound was coming from, it ended. I am even happier with my LS.

Happily,

C. PR

[nc211]

I just wanted to update this thread with the answer on what the rattle is. It's the seatbelt sleeve on the upper pillar. Does that make sense? It's that little piece of swivel plastic that the seat belt uses as a guider on the upper anchor, it's loose and rattles horizontally. So, that problem is now identified and soon to be fixed as well.....man I'm on a roll these days!

[MatthewP]

i have a 97 LS and above 40 it sounds like the moonroof shade is rattling also could be the passenger front seatbelt. Opening the shade 3/4 of the way seems to help a bit but nothing conclusive. I imagine some of you are experiencing a similar thing. It drives me nuts knowing that the only thing keeping me from experiencing my silent rocket to its fullest is this rattle. Any suggestions or insight would be wonderful.