Ticking noise from back end of roof - solved
05-02-15, 01:49 PM
#1
Driver School Candidate
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Ticking noise from back end of roof - solved
A couple of months ago my GS 450h started to develop an annoying ticking noise coming from the roof area - I knew for sure it was not the sunroof itself but something more towards the back of the roof. It wasn't tremendously loud and hardly heard when the sunshade was closed.
However... as the 450h is near silent at times and this tick sound was there at ANY speed except an absolute standstill, I knew I had to deal with it one day. The car is out of warranty already so it had to be me taking the roof headliner off and not anyone else, so I postponed and postponed and postponed as I was terrified to deal with this delicate cardboard. Well, yesterday I simply couldn't bear the noise anymore and decided to solve the issue.
Bottom line first - it is now SOLVED!
The culprit was a thin and shabby plastic cover, a sleeve covering the electric wire connected to a small box mounted below the shark-fin antenna (and my car doesn't even have this antenna...) - every tiny movement made it tick, it probably was not even rubbing anything.
To be honest, this plastic sleeve was so flimsy, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it and said to myself "seriously, Lexus?!?" 1 minute later, with a 10 cm of felt covering it and secured with two plastic cuffs it was dead-quiet and my sanity gained back...
Now - headliner tales.
Before starting to deal with it I deep-dived into the web to figure out where exactly all fasteners, bolts, clips and claws are and I have to say the whole process is pretty frightening but when done with patience and caution, than it's not impossible. I managed to do the whole operation - from start to finish - in about 4 working hours and zero damage. I wasn't sure if the headliner had to removed from the car - in that case I'd have to take off both front seats, something I did not look forward to do, but eventually there was no need for it nor to remove the back seat cushion as specifically for my problem it was enough to just disconnect & lower the entire headliner from the roof. Fitting it back to place was super easy, all clips survived and went back into place without even a tiny problem.
Unfortunately there are no pictures - I was too nervous to do the work and didn't want to interrupt myself, but in case anyone have What, Where, How questions - please let me know.
However... as the 450h is near silent at times and this tick sound was there at ANY speed except an absolute standstill, I knew I had to deal with it one day. The car is out of warranty already so it had to be me taking the roof headliner off and not anyone else, so I postponed and postponed and postponed as I was terrified to deal with this delicate cardboard. Well, yesterday I simply couldn't bear the noise anymore and decided to solve the issue.
Bottom line first - it is now SOLVED!
The culprit was a thin and shabby plastic cover, a sleeve covering the electric wire connected to a small box mounted below the shark-fin antenna (and my car doesn't even have this antenna...) - every tiny movement made it tick, it probably was not even rubbing anything.
To be honest, this plastic sleeve was so flimsy, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it and said to myself "seriously, Lexus?!?" 1 minute later, with a 10 cm of felt covering it and secured with two plastic cuffs it was dead-quiet and my sanity gained back...
Now - headliner tales.
Before starting to deal with it I deep-dived into the web to figure out where exactly all fasteners, bolts, clips and claws are and I have to say the whole process is pretty frightening but when done with patience and caution, than it's not impossible. I managed to do the whole operation - from start to finish - in about 4 working hours and zero damage. I wasn't sure if the headliner had to removed from the car - in that case I'd have to take off both front seats, something I did not look forward to do, but eventually there was no need for it nor to remove the back seat cushion as specifically for my problem it was enough to just disconnect & lower the entire headliner from the roof. Fitting it back to place was super easy, all clips survived and went back into place without even a tiny problem.
Unfortunately there are no pictures - I was too nervous to do the work and didn't want to interrupt myself, but in case anyone have What, Where, How questions - please let me know.
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