"Rattling" noise in door when radio turned up

[bourffn]

I've had my 2014 MKZ for about 2 months now, and it has the THX audio system.  My only complaint is that something in the front driver's side door rattles when I turn the volume up too high.  And I'm not talking all THAT loud - I've never turned it up past halfway.  But especially when the bass hits in a song that features a heavy bass, it honestly sounds like the speaker is blown.   So I took it back to the dealer, and they replaced that speaker (under warranty).  It still makes the noise.  They told me this morning that it's something in the door panel that causes the noise, and there's nothing that can be done about it.  Does anyone else have that problem, and have you found any solutions? 

 

Thanks in advance for any help.   

[R2D2]

Total crap if your Lincoln dealer told you that. I have a 2014 MKZh also and no noise or rattling sound from the door no matter how loud I turn it up. I hate when someone says "There is nothing more I can do", they just didn't try hard enough. The sound system is great and maybe there is some loose item in the door but.......... I said enough

[JoeBrown]

I don't have a Hybrid or the THX system. But I've run the volume fairly high sometimes with no rattles from anything. In fact my MKZ is the most quiet vehicle I've ever owned.

 

Your car is still under warranty and you have a problem. Like R2D2 said I would not accept that the dealer is giving up. You need to contact Lincoln Care. They will get to the bottom of this.

[bourffn]

Thanks for the help!  I did contact Lincoln Care, and they've got me an appointment to bring it back in.  Hopefully the added pressure will get them to actually figure out the problem. 

[Matteo Casciato]

I have a 2013 Lincoln MKZ, and mine makes the same rattling noise in the driver door when the THX system is turned up. It only does it on certain songs when the base hits a very low frequency. I still haven't brought it in to be looked at but to me it sounds like it comes from the locking mechanism in the door. I will post an update when i bring mine in as it is still under warranty.

[Tarheel6521]

I had this issue with my 2014 MKZ w/THX.

 

The problem was the LED in the door lock indicator. It was loose in the housing and at certain volumes and low frequencies, it would rattle. At first, the dealer recommended adjusting the equalizer, fade and balance to alleviate the problem. No joy. After some pushing, the dealer finally replaced the LED with the housing under warranty. Voila, problem solved.

[jmpotter]

I have the same rattle in the passenger door and also had the dealer check for blown speakers but of course nothing was found.

[ITFlyer]

This is the sad state of automotive service today. Nobody repairs anything, it's just "pull and replace", diagnostic skills are completely lost in favor of public corporate diagnostic trees.

 

Noise in the door. Replace component at random. Noise remains. Throw hands up and give up, because it's not covered in the diagnostic manual.

[John Sanders]

Glad to know that I'm not alone with this issue.

 

I have a 2015 MKz w/ THX, I brought my car in nearly a year ago when I heard the noise in my driver side door and it was resolved.  Shortly after, I began to notice that it was also happening on the passenger side.  I've brought the car in twice since and requested that 'whatever it is that was done on the drivers side speaker, please do on the passengers side'.

 

Aside from this issue., I absolutely love my MKz.  I receive tons of compliments on it, and it is one of the best driving cars that I have ever owned.  This one issue.,. not the issue itself, but the lack of satisfactory service is really turning me off.

[pjrocco]

Same exact issue I'm having with my 2017 3.0T AWD. Music with heavy bass makes the front passenger door panel vibrate and buzz. Bass setting is set to 2 or second from the lowest setting. 

 

I'm also getting a rattle about my head while driving or when the music is up. It's coming from the headliner. Wouldn't think anything would be up there. 

 

Going to bring it to back to the dealer in the next week or two. I only have 500 miles on it. The rattles started around 300. 

[Robert Iggy Cerami]

The rattling above you head could be your sunglass/glasses storage compartment... I have an emergency pair of reading glasses in mine (sucks getting to a restaurant and forgetting your readers) I wrapped them in a paper towel and solved my problem..

[pjrocco]

Thanks for the reply, Robert. I wish it was as easy as that, but it is coming from my left side in the headliner. Right around the handle located in the headliner, next to the window.

 

I notice it always does it in the morning when it's a little cooler out. Once it warms up during the day or evening, it goes away or is very faint. Going to make it difficult to diagnose, I fear.

[Themponyboys]

I took delivery of a 2017 MKZ and have observed some of the same issues with what appears to be rattles or popping noises from the headliner area and around the rear doors. I worked in the high end audio automotive business years back and was paid good money to alleviate rattles.

 

From what I see it's actually the trim on the outside of the doors along with the rubber seals where the doors meet the body. You made mention that it usually occurs on cooler days when the plastics/rubber is not as flexible.

 

Go to your local auto parts store and purchase silicone lubricant preferably grease and place a small amount on the rubber seals everywhere you can on the doors, trim, etc..

This will help with the contact between plastics, and rubber along with rubber touching metals. If you look closely you will find that the car has this type of lubricant on many of

the rubber gaskets from the factory.

[dwonder]

My 2017 has a rattle on the passenger side door when I play songs with certain kicks or deep bass lines. When I push on the arm rest part of the door it stops and sounds a good as the driver side door which is perfect. I noticed it probably a month after I got it which would have been the end of September. I'll likely get it looked at when I go in for my first oil change in April after a trip to Florida. I will likely get any front end rock chips fixed too since it will be a long drive.

 

Just an FYI, the song I was playing when I first noticed it was "the Other Side" by French For Rabbits. If you don't want the rattle you might want to avoid this song as it may have sparked the rattle, lol.

[2013MKZ]

Had the same issue... I went the drastic route and pulled all 4 door skins. mine was the plastic led light above the arm rest and the faux wood around the tweeter on each door. I took it apart and silicon'd everything and then put it all back together. No more rattles even when I crank up the bass!

[Myron D. Brown]

My 2017 has a rattle on the passenger side door when I play songs with certain kicks or deep bass lines. When I push on the arm rest part of the door it stops and sounds a good as the driver side door which is perfect. I noticed it probably a month after I got it which would have been the end of September. I'll likely get it looked at when I go in for my first oil change in April after a trip to Florida. I will likely get any front end rock chips fixed too since it will be a long drive.

 

Just an FYI, the song I was playing when I first noticed it was "the Other Side" by French For Rabbits. If you don't want the rattle you might want to avoid this song as it may have sparked the rattle, lol.

 

I had the same problem in my 2017 MKZ. I have the 20-speaker Revel Ultima Audio system. I was having this annoying rattling that occurred on certain songs, but not others. They replaced a speaker, under warranty, but the rattling continued. Usually it would rattle with certain deep bass lines. But I noticed that I also heard the same "rattle" even when no music was playing, or when I slammed the door. Yesterday while going to get lunch, I discovered (like you), that if I push down on the armrest, the rattling stops completely!! For me, it's on the driver's side. More specifically, it's the controls for the windows and mirrors. This is probably why I'd even get the rattle when closing the door, or when driving with no music playing. I'm going to call my Lincoln dealer in a few minutes and tell them what I've discovered. I'm sure they can find a way to make sure all those controls are seated more stably in the armrest. I've only noticed the rattle little, if at all, on the passenger side, but I'm going to ask them to check them ALL out. Because last time, they had to keep the car a week trying to diagnose/recreate/solve the problem. It was pretty annoying. Especially considering I'm a musician for a living...and the Revel Ultima Audio system was part of a $4,400 upgrade package. I expected better. But I'm confident this can be taken care of. The service technicians have shown that they're dedicated to making the customer satisfied.

[dwonder]

I had the same problem in my 2017 MKZ. I have the 20-speaker Revel Ultima Audio system. I was having this annoying rattling that occurred on certain songs, but not others. They replaced a speaker, under warranty, but the rattling continued. Usually it would rattle with certain deep bass lines. But I noticed that I also heard the same "rattle" even when no music was playing, or when I slammed the door. Yesterday while going to get lunch, I discovered (like you), that if I push down on the armrest, the rattling stops completely!! For me, it's on the driver's side. More specifically, it's the controls for the windows and mirrors. This is probably why I'd even get the rattle when closing the door, or when driving with no music playing. I'm going to call my Lincoln dealer in a few minutes and tell them what I've discovered. I'm sure they can find a way to make sure all those controls are seated more stably in the armrest. I've only noticed the rattle little, if at all, on the passenger side, but I'm going to ask them to check them ALL out. Because last time, they had to keep the car a week trying to diagnose/recreate/solve the problem. It was pretty annoying. Especially considering I'm a musician for a living...and the Revel Ultima Audio system was part of a $4,400 upgrade package. I expected better. But I'm confident this can be taken care of. The service technicians have shown that they're dedicated to making the customer satisfied.

Yea, I only got the 14 Speaker Revel upgrade, another $3000 just seemed like too much for me. That plus the 14 is perfect for me. I didn't notice a rattle when opening and closing the passenger door but then again I wasn't listening for it. I'll check that next time I take a drive. I did noticed a slight rattle on the driver side nowhere near close to how the passenger side is. I think it's similar to ur situation, just backwards, lol. Hmm, so they replaced the speaker and it didn't help? That's good to know. I'll suggest they open the door cover while playing that song perhaps to see if it's still rattling. That should tell a lot I would hope. There might be loose parts somewhere inside it.

[2013MKZ]

The rattle in the handle above your head may be the handle touching the plastic bolt cover below it. I popped off the plastic covers on mine and the rattling went away. I am sure you could use felt tabs as well to keep them from touching. As for the door skins I have attached some pics to show where I put the silicon. The arrows show where I put silicon on both sides of the plastic light and the circles are where I put silicon on the back side of the skin.

 

 

[Tipper]

I have a 2017 MKZ drivers package, Ultima Revel,  had rattling in both my front doors when low frequencies where played.  I've brought it in three times and they tightened some screws and a loose clip on the driver side.   The he doors still vibrate when bass frequencies around 60 and 70hz.  There's a fairly cheap app you can buy for your phone that will play different HZ's of bass so you can trouble shoot the vibrations faster instead of waiting for that "certain" part of the song that causes the vibration.  Some of mine's coming from the passenger side and even happens when I drive on a bumpy road without music.  :(  Going to bring it in to the dealership once again...entertaining the idea of adding noise dampening sheets too 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Noico-deadening-automotive-Insulation-dampening/dp/B00URUIKAK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1512868250&sr=8-2&keywords=cld+tiles

[MKZMark]

My drivers side front door buzzes with certain bass frequencies. Fortunately it only happens with one song on one album, so I haven't done anything about it.

[Blackbr]

When I leased my car I tested the sound of the base stereo vs. the Revel 14 on two dealer stock cars, using Radiohead’s newest CD.

 

“Burn the Witch” isn’t a bass heavy track but rattled the driver door exactly as described in this thread on the Revel system, so I didn’t go with that vehicle.

 

Clearly there isn’t enough bracing within the doors to prevent the excess vibration, something we can only hope to be fixed when we get the new Zephyr.

[schteve]

My 2017 has a rattle on the passenger side door when I play songs with certain kicks or deep bass lines. When I push on the arm rest part of the door it stops and sounds a good as the driver side door which is perfect. I noticed it probably a month after I got it which would have been the end of September. I'll likely get it looked at when I go in for my first oil change in April after a trip to Florida. I will likely get any front end rock chips fixed too since it will be a long drive.

 

Just an FYI, the song I was playing when I first noticed it was "the Other Side" by French For Rabbits. If you don't want the rattle you might want to avoid this song as it may have sparked the rattle, lol.

 

my '17 has the EXACT same thing on the exact same door and the exact same "fix" (pushing on door handle)

[FunktasticLucky]

I take delivery hopefully the end of this month.  I'll be on the look out to see if my 2018 does the same thing.  But unlike you guys I'll be taking that shit back to the dealer and showing them.  They will fix it.  They'll add sound deadening everywhere if they have to because they will be coming and getting my car so much they will end up driving it more than me LOL.  Rattles should not happen in a 60k dollar car.  Period.

[CCalvi]

Hello everyone!

 

I just leased 2018 Hybrid with the standard Revel sound system and I am having the same issue (Had the same issue)

 

I hate wasting my time going to the dealership to be given the run around so I decided to fix it myself. For a 46k dollar car the delaer should do it but I was able to address the issue with a simple hair tie and it is not noticeable at all. It needs to be fitted right under the door lock behind the door panel. Presto! no rattle even when the bass is at its highest with the Revel Sound System Preview. (Has a lot of bass)

 

I will probably buy felt tape and add it to the same section for a "cleaner" look. 

 

[MKZMark]

Hi, not sure what you did here or what a hair tie is. Can you explain a bit more?