Rattling noise from awning a thing to check

[Hotel California]

We heard a tapping noise comming from the rightside while driving over bumps .
Seems it can be caused by the wind out awning.
It is sometimes enough to wind the awning out a bit and roll back in to solve this .

When i rolled mine fully out to let it dry afther our recent Wales trip , i discoverd there are four rubber paddings glued inside the awninghousing that are in place to support the foldable arms.
Seems one of those paddings came lose and probally the arm was rubbing and tapping against the housing making noises....
Roll out fully , look in the middle of the lenght of the housing .
You can see a scrubbed part where the arm was frictioning against.



Glued the padding back on , things to keep an eye on
As you can see there are two paddings on the bottom also where the arms in " rest"

 

[Borris]

We heard a tapping noise comming from the rightside while driving over bumps .
Seems it can be caused by the wind out awning.
It is sometimes enough to wind the awning out a bit and roll back in to solve this .

When i rolled mine fully out to let it dry afther our recent Wales trip , i discoverd there are four rubber paddings glued inside the awninghousing that are in place to support the foldable arms.
Seems one of those paddings came lose and probally the arm was rubbing and tapping against the housing making noises....
Roll out fully , look in the middle of the lenght of the housing .
You can see a scrubbed part where the arm was frictioning against.
View attachment 14964


Glued the padding back on , things to keep an eye on
As you can see there are two paddings on the bottom also where the arms in " rest"
View attachment 14965
View attachment 14966

Yes HC,
I read your post recently and afterwards found two of the black rubber bumper pads had fallen off. Now fixed and awning arms adjusted and all is silent in the awning department.
Many thanks.

 

[llackford]

We heard a tapping noise comming from the rightside while driving over bumps .
Seems it can be caused by the wind out awning.
It is sometimes enough to wind the awning out a bit and roll back in to solve this .

When i rolled mine fully out to let it dry afther our recent Wales trip , i discoverd there are four rubber paddings glued inside the awninghousing that are in place to support the foldable arms.
Seems one of those paddings came lose and probally the arm was rubbing and tapping against the housing making noises....
Roll out fully , look in the middle of the lenght of the housing .
You can see a scrubbed part where the arm was frictioning against.
View attachment 14964


Glued the padding back on , things to keep an eye on
As you can see there are two paddings on the bottom also where the arms in " rest"
View attachment 14965
View attachment 14966

This is why I love forums!!! Thank you over the past few days it's been enough to drive me to distraction!!

I will be checking this first thing in the morning, can I ask what type glue did you use to re-stick these on?


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[IanE]

Bloody brilliant HC!

 

[Hotel California]

@llackford , i just used two sided adesive tape , clean things first with thinner.

 

[llackford]

@llackford , i just used two sided adesive tape , claen things first with thinner.

Cool thank you HC


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[llackford]

Yeah!! All sorted thanks HC exactly as you said!! Funny enough it was the RH pad on mine that had moved the as per your pic!

I can hear the birds again!


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[Cali1]

checking mine once i get home...been annoying the hell out of me....thanks

 

[LowMan]

This has started happening with mine recently. It's been driving us crazy. I'll be checking as soon as I'm home, but it sounds like that's exactly the issue. Thanks for a great post x

 

[Loz]

I noticed on our replaced awning(the one without the seam) that it now has 2 plastic springs that the arms press against.

 

[Travelling Togs]

I noticed on our replaced awning(the one without the seam) that it now has 2 plastic springs that the arms press against.

Have you or would post pics of those springs Loz ?

 

[Loz]

Have you or would post pics of those springs Loz ?

Here you go..

 

[Travelling Togs]

Thank you, appreciated, when we next pull our awning out I will see which we have, springs or foam pads

 

[Borris]

Thank you, appreciated, when we next pull our awning out I will see which we have, springs or foam pads

Hi Loz,
I've just seen your photo. Are those on the latest factory fitted Thule awning? If so I'm wondering if they are available to order as parts in order to retro fit. The conventional sticky rubber pads are always coming unstuck.

The other thing that I've purchased recently for our Cali awning was a packet of ten black silicon rubber wrist bands. These are the sort of thing that people often wear to show their support for one worthy cause or another. Whilst they're usually brightly coloured and have a printed message these are plain black. Their purpose? To help prevent any rattles caused by the awning gradually loosening off. You simply stretch one over each end and the problem is solved. You can buy them on line for next to nothing.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Really interesting @Loz . When I first had my Cali I battled with a noisy awning and used various “fix’s”. Replacing the foam pads with better adhesive was one but also used some closed cell foam in the bottom of the awning channel (where the black plastic part in your photo is). These two fix’s made the most difference to my quest for a soothed right ear! I also used some other remedies on my journey including the looped side of self adhesive Velcro tape between the two awning cases.

 

[Loz]

Hi Loz,
I've just seen your photo. Are those on the latest factory fitted Thule awning? If so I'm wondering if they are available to order as parts in order to retro fit. The conventional sticky rubber pads are always coming unstuck.

The other thing that I've purchased recently for our Cali awning was a packet of ten black silicon rubber wrist bands. These are the sort of thing that people often wear to show their support for one worthy cause or another. Whilst they're usually brightly coloured and have a printed message these are plain black. Their purpose? To help prevent any rattles caused by the awning gradually loosening off. You simply stretch one over each end and the problem is solved. You can buy them on line for next to nothing.

Yes they are, but as they are technically a Thule part there is no part numbers.

 

[Borris]

Having posted many times about this rattle issue I am starting to think that maybe it is a design feature. I have had our Cali for nearly three years now and that rattle has been there since day one. To be frank I have all but given up trying to fix it.

In my case the noise concerned seems to emanate from high up on the B pillar next to my right ear. Having taken advise from members of this forum I have carried out the following:
AWNING
1. Adjustment of the awning arms.
2. Sound deadening the awning mechanism with copious felt buffer pads.
3. Large rubber bands round each end of the awning cassette to stop it opening up and thus rattling.
4. Replacing the unreliable sticky rubber buffer pads inside the awning cassette with better ones.

All of this work had no effect on said rattle however it did eliminate the awning as the cause.

SLIDING DOOR
5. On at least three occassions I have referred the rattle to the dealer for rectification. The first two occasions resulted in some minor fettling and adjustment followed by a test run. Both times the service manager declared the issue resolved. Result - rattle still present! On the last occasion I insisted that the sliding door location plates on the B post along with the corresponding other halves on the door itself were changed and adjusted. The service manager again declared the issue resolved. Result - rattle still present!

I am now thinking that the culprit could be the nylon wheel that runs in the front upper sliding door guide track. If the door is half open and you shake the sliding door rapidly from N/S to O/S there is some slack and a similar noise can be heard. However as the nylon wheel is a set diameter and the guide track a set factory pressing I don't see how it can be resolved. I assume any slack could be adjusted out by altering the aforementioned door location plates however I have lost all faith in VW to do this. Any ideas?

Sorry about the bold lettering but I can't seem to be able to revert to normal type.

 

[LowMan]

Having posted many times about this rattle issue I am starting to think that maybe it is a design feature. I have had our Cali for nearly three years now and that rattle has been there since day one. To be frank I have all but given up trying to fix it.

In my case the noise concerned seems to emanate from high up on the B pillar next to my right ear. Having taken advise from members of this forum I have carried out the following:
AWNING
1. Adjustment of the awning arms.
2. Sound deadening the awning mechanism with copious felt buffer pads.
3. Large rubber bands round each end of the awning cassette to stop it opening up and thus rattling.
4. Replacing the unreliable sticky rubber buffer pads inside the awning cassette with better ones.

All of this work had no effect on said rattle however it did eliminate the awning as the cause.

SLIDING DOOR
5. On at least three occassions I have referred the rattle to the dealer for rectification. The first two occasions resulted in some minor fettling and adjustment followed by a test run. Both times the service manager declared the issue resolved. Result - rattle still present! On the last occasion I insisted that the sliding door location plates on the B post along with the corresponding other halves on the door itself were changed and adjusted. The service manager again declared the issue resolved. Result - rattle still present!

I am now thinking that the culprit could be the nylon wheel that runs in the front upper sliding door guide track. If the door is half open and you shake the sliding door rapidly from N/S to O/S there is some slack and a similar noise can be heard. However as the nylon wheel is a set diameter and the guide track a set factory pressing I don't see how it can be resolved. I assume any slack could be adjusted out by altering the aforementioned door location plates however I have lost all faith in VW to do this. Any ideas?

Sorry about the bold lettering but I can't seem to be able to revert to normal type.

Thanks for this update Borris.

I've been following this thread as we can't appear to locate the issue with ours either. We're convinced it's the Awning, but have also tried all of the ideas you've suggested above. The only thing we've noted that reduces it is if we wind out the awning completely, then wind it back in, but paying particular attention to how the arms fold up as they go back into the cassette. Primarily ensuring they're both aligned correctly. We've noted if we do this, the cassette does appear to shut more tightly, and the noise is then reduced. But it's still there.

We're pretty convinced the issue isn't the door though.

 

[B J G]

I found that with the awning closed if I gave the bottom edge a light bump by hand it rattled on the casing.
I've cured this by fitting 1mm thick self adhesive felt pads, cut in half, to the casing lower edge with the awning opened for access.. 6 in total with the ones at either end in just far enough in not to contact the thick part of the end plastic caps. 79p cost from local Ironmongers.
Full test next week during French trip.

I had tried 'U' section rubber channel pieces on the outer which quietened the rattle on a 900 mile run to Aberdeen and back earlier this month. 1 piece fell off as the awning outer edge, this has a rolled metal lip that
prevented the U section seating properly.

 

[Borris]

Thanks for this update Borris.

I've been following this thread as we can't appear to locate the issue with ours either. We're convinced it's the Awning, but have also tried all of the ideas you've suggested above. The only thing we've noted that reduces it is if we wind out the awning completely, then wind it back in, but paying particular attention to how the arms fold up as they go back into the cassette. Primarily ensuring they're both aligned correctly. We've noted if we do this, the cassette does appear to shut more tightly, and the noise is then reduced. But it's still there.

We're pretty convinced the issue isn't the door though.

Thanks LowMan,
It may well be the awning in your case. The one surefire way of proving that would be to remove the awning and drive with it off for a while. It's not a big job to remove it but best to have help when removing and refitting. Having said that it's not something I have done.......yet.

In our case I am convinced that it is either the sliding door or something within the B post itself. However I have devoted so much time to eliminating this issue with nil result that I am starting to lose hope of ever solving it.

 

[Borris]

I found that with the awning closed if I gave the bottom edge a light bump by hand it rattled on the casing.
I've cured this by fitting 1mm thick self adhesive felt pads, cut in half, to the casing lower edge with the awning opened for access.. 6 in total with the ones at either end in just far enough in not to contact the thick part of the end plastic caps. 79p cost from local Ironmongers.
Full test next week during French trip.

I had tried 'U' section rubber channel pieces on the outer which quietened the rattle on a 900 mile run to Aberdeen and back earlier this month. 1 piece fell off as the awning outer edge, this has a rolled metal lip that
prevented the U section seating properly.

View attachment 43272

Thanks BJG,
I have tried something similar with ours although I will give your idea a go as well. What I've also done is to fit these rubber bands to each end. They cut down any movement to the minimum.


They are merely wrist bands that are used at various events, often with a message or sponsor printed on them. You can get them from Ebay in all sorts of colours and they don't cost much at all.

 

[LowMan]

Thanks LowMan,
It may well be the awning in your case. The one surefire way of proving that would be to remove the awning and drive with it off for a while. It's not a big job to remove it but best to have help when removing and refitting. Having said that it's not something I have done.......yet.

In our case I am convinced that it is either the sliding door or something within the B post itself. However I have devoted so much time to eliminating this issue with nil result that I am starting to lose hope of ever solving it.

Thanks Borris. I think I may try the removal idea and test it. Pretty sure it is, but it's the obvious way to be certain.

 

[willwander]

Is it louder with the window open or closed?

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks LowMan,
It may well be the awning in your case. The one surefire way of proving that would be to remove the awning and drive with it off for a while. It's not a big job to remove it but best to have help when removing and refitting. Having said that it's not something I have done.......yet.

In our case I am convinced that it is either the sliding door or something within the B post itself. However I have devoted so much time to eliminating this issue with nil result that I am starting to lose hope of ever solving it.

You could try a large dollop of thick grease, or spray grease on the Nylon wheel you refer to. If the noise is not significantly lessened then the grease can easily be removed.
Alternatively a felt or foam pad , sticky backed, positioned such that it presses against the wheel when the door is in the closed position.
Another thought. Open the roof and look at the top of the B pillar where the bed/shutter rests. Try a thin cloth there in the first instance. Any change?

 

[Borris]

You could try a large dollop of thick grease, or spray grease on the Nylon wheel you refer to. If the noise is not significantly lessened then the grease can easily be removed.
Alternatively a felt or foam pad , sticky backed, positioned such that it presses against the wheel when the door is in the closed position.
Another thought. Open the roof and look at the top of the B pillar where the bed/shutter rests. Try a thin cloth there in the first instance. Any change?

Thanks WG,
Excellent ideas. I'll give them a try.