Hello Jim,
Good to hear from you again. I ran in this manner for a few days last
summer (well, I didn't have a stethoscope or sound meter). Not much
luck.
On roads straight and smooth enough for me to inspect the door for
rattle sources, there isn't much rattle. On roads with curves and
irregular surfaces, my attention to the road and keeping in my lane
makes it hard to pay much attention to the lock/latch end of the door.
Window position may have a minor effect on the rattle, but it is
present with the window up, down or in between.
One thing I didn't mention - If I put strong pressure on the door panel
with my left elbow, up toward the top and the handle area, I can stop
the rattle while I'm driving. Obviously, there are a lot of things that
pressure can be affecting. One this is certain, it is not the door
panel that is rattling, because it was just as bad without the panel. I
had some luck with elbow pressure on the door without the interior
panel in place, but you have to be very careful or you'll come out
looking like a tar baby. (Those of you too young or too northern with
just have to imagine what a tar baby is.)
Regarding the speaker, I left the sound off while testing last summer.
I have not unplugged speakers to diagnose the speaker buzz problem on
the passenger side. That will be the first test, but I am confident it
is from the large speaker. I don't think that little tweeter up on top
would produce a sound in the range of the buzz.
What I need is one of those car shakers like the NASCAR boys use these
days. That way, I could climb in and look for the problem while the car
is being shaken (not stirred). Of course, I'd probably puke before I
found the problem. I've even made myself queazy at the Gap and other
great Miata roads. I was a terrible sailor.
El Brown-O-
On Thursday, June 5, 2008, at 12:32 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Are you able to simply keep the inner door panel off for a while so
you can more easily see and hear what is
actually going on in there? That way you can drive around with your
sound meter and stethoscope in hand.
Is the sound affected by the position of the window - up, down,
midway, etc? Or by the door lock - locked or unlocked? Have
you unplugged the speaker to eliminate that possibility?
Jim in Tucson
In a message dated 6/4/2008 8:21:42 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I've been suffering with a persistent rattle in the driver's door of my
'01.
I fought it last summer and had some success that turned out to be
temporary.
Having just finished a vacation trip to Amish Country in Ohio, where
the country roads take you through some beautiful country side, but are
as bad as I've seen in a long while. The rattle about drove me crazy.
Steps I've taken:
I was originally convinced that the source of the rattle was the lock
activating rod that connects the key to the latch mechanism. It seemed
to have a lot of free play that induced a rattle, so I connected some
rubber bands as bungees to that rod and anchored the other end to
stationary points in the door. That made some promising improvements,
but not lasting.
I tried to put some silicone on the ends of the rod where it attaches,
but that was even less successful.
I tried inserting a thin sheet of polystyrene insulation (packing
insulation from a computer) inside the door panel to hide the noise.
That made very little difference.
Like the most of this list, I am loathe to throw cash at a problem that
I feel that I should be able to solve on my own, so it has not been to
our very good local Mazda shop for this problem, nor to my very good
body man. I hope I don't have to resort to such coarse measures.
If anyone's had success fighting such a problem, I could use some good
advice or compassionate counseling.
Thanks,
El Brown-O-
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