Top Rattle & Vibration
 

Have any other roadster owners experienced a lot of racket coming from the drivers side ONLY of the convertible top (when closed of course)?

On side streets I have a constant rattle where the top meets the windshield.

On the highway, the rattle subsides & is replaced by a vibration down the entire length of the drivers side window. Sounds like a hornet's nest.

Passenger side is completely quiet. Been to the dealer twice & they cannot find anything wrong - although they can duplicate the noise & advise that it isn't supposed to be there!

I've experience similar racket in a friends 150+K 1991 Pontiac Sunbird Vert....but I never thought my 370Z would join the chorus at barely 6,500 miles. All I have to do is put the top down to solve the problem...but in Texas 110 degree heat that just isnt' happening until September. I've contacted Nissan Customer Service & expect a call back tomorrow. Any insight anyone has would be appreciated.

Thanks - Michael

I have the same thing in mine. I am heading to the Dealer for an oil change in a couple hours and will ask them to check it out. I know there was a recall back in Dec 2010 to adjust the window. This may solve the issue. I will let you know if they find anything.

There seem to be threaded adjuster bolts that stick up, one behind the driver side, one behind the pax side, that the body colored cover rests on. You can see them if you stop the top when it is open. I imagine that the driver's side is theaded in too far. If so you can back it out so that the top rests against this and then will not rattle. Depending upon how much adjustment is needed you can test this by resting a piece of paper folded as thickly as needed on the top of the adjuster bolt when you put the top up. There is a locking nut on the bolt that should be tightened to stop the bolt from vibrating in or out.

The other way to test is just to push down quickly and let up a few times on the cover while it is in place on each side and you can replicate the noise. You'll feel the difference if one side is loose.

I need pics. I tried to find the threaded adjuster bolts to no avail.

I can do that ob the weekend. If I can earlier I will.

I've had my window adjusted..actuater replaced. Still doesn't close as tighly as passenger side. They also replaced a busted clip inside the top, felt wrapped some loose wiring & insulated other cables. The rattle is mostly gone. Still hear a little on certain road types, but it's good enough for now. Funny how all the issues with this car go away when you lower the top. I think Nissan & Magna could have done a better job coordinating their efforts. Ready for some cool weather so I can resume enjoying my car. We are frying down here in texas. This summer totally sucks. 90 degrees would feel like a cold front. Also, my top is generally more noisy when its 100 plus degrees outside...I assume because materials expand when heated...expecially plastic.

I've begun to have the same problem on mine as well. Although, I'm somewhat frustrated to be experiencing this problem with a vehicle that is 2 months old and has 1900 miles on it. I've called the local dealer in my area and I am waiting on their return call.

And yes, it's WAY to hot to really enjoy this convertible. The only time I've been able to have the top down was a few times early in the a.m. or late in the evening.

Good luck with the fix.

Any luck with pics?

I have the exact same problem + some kind of metal to metal noise while driving on a rough road which is basically all roads here in the LA area. The metal to metal noise seems to come from the back of the car most likely where the top meets the car but not sure.

I have to take it in.

I have the same problem, and the car is only 3 months old. But I had a look at the adjuster bolt Velomaxx suggested and I notice that my driver's bolt has the rubber cap missing, unlike the passenger bolt. And it is leaving a gap, the adjuster bolt is next to the hinge. So that may well be the culprit. I notice no one responded to say whether a service visit solved the problem.

Have not had any problem to date. 2800 miles on mine.

Absolutely no problems with mine!

Has anyone had any luck figuring this out, I'm now experiencing the same thing, driver side only, just a squeak while driving down the road, but it's right a ear height and annoying as hell. I've had it to the dealer, the can hear it, but don't seem to be able to fix it.

Dsmarks2002...I've been able to minimize the noise by having the dealer insulate cables & place foam between moving parts that contact each other. I've learned to live with what little noise remains. If its any consolation, I took a ride in a buddies G37 hard top vert & it is more noisy than the Z! I don't think nissan has perfected the art of integrating vert tops to their vehicles. B- at best. They should study some proven Porcshe or BMW vert top engineering specs before realising the next model. I think the real failure occured when they attempted to integrate the Magna top into the Z's chassis. Some of the cabling systems & mechanisms are not engineered very well. My latest drama occured two weeks ago when a cable that closes the little flaps that fold down on either side when lowering the top snapped mid operation. This resulted in my top cover half closing at a weird angle which caused the whole mechanism to bind - lock up & freeze. My car was MIA for two weeks while my dealer who I trust completely...waited for nissan to send the correct replacement parts. They got it right on the thiird try. Been a wild ride with this car. I still love it, but seriously thinking about graduating to Porsche or BMW next go round. Something to be said for german engineering...there cars don't rattle unless you've wrecked it or have crazy high miles. Good luck.

Thanks very much for the reply. I got looking at the issue seems to be as you describe, poor isolation between some of the wiring harness and I can tell the dealer found the issue, and tried to fix it with some tape but it didn't solve the issue. What was disappointing while the dealer found it, they couldn't fix it, and we're not willing to do much more stating that they're not authorized by Nissan to do any more. Almost as if the fix wasn't described in detail by Nissan, they could go no further. I'm with you, when the top is down, I love the car, not so much when the top is up. I guess I'll take a run at getting a Nissan regional service rep out to look at it and see what they can do. Short of that I'll fix a fix myself

I went ahead and opened a complaint with Nissan North America, for whatever good that might to. At the very least I think they owe it to 370zr owners to evaluate the problem, and put together some procedures the service departments should try in order to address the problem. Sounds like it would be a great idea for them to get with Danny at Trophy Nissan and see what he's done. I'm not expecting perfection, but these are not cheap cars, and they don't have a lot of miles on them. I agree, Nissan still has a lot to learn about developing convertibles, and that might make my next car a BMW.

dsmarks2002...what's your email? I'll scan & send you a copy of my vehicle report from Trophy. You could take to your dealer & ask them duplicate the repairs or at least check you cars issues against mine. I agree with you. I don't expect anything to be perfect, but these are not cheap cars. U can email me at mcapuano@staffelbach.com & I'll reply with the report. It's very detailed.

Problem fixed, the squeak coming from the top was caused by the window not extending all they way to the weather strip and allowing it to flex. Dealer adjusted the window and that solved the issue. My other problem, the tonneau cover coming in contact with the top when lowering still remains to fixed completely, in colder weather it still touches. It did however take a call to Nissan consumer affairs to get the fix done. They had an engineer out to look at the last issue, thought they had it fixed, but not some much.

One down, and one to go

As the person who started this thread I thought I should let everyone know that I've been back to the dealer with yet another new rattle coming from the passenger side. At this point my service advisor is as fed up with my screwball top as I am. This car has been in the shop a lot. I'm afraid to add up the total days/hours...would probably make me sick. Long story short. My new top - courtesy of Nissan will be here in about two weeks. Cost to Nissan is about 12 grand in parts alone...that's roughly 1/3 the cost of the car. I have to hand it to them. They really want me to be happy with it. Considering how much I'm paying for it, they should be. Here's hoping I don't get another lemmon & that they've made some improvements to the tops since 2010.

I still have the issue and have taken my car to the dealer where they fixed it and that fix lasted at best two months. I tried to identify the problem but I can't. What should be my next step?

If you're still under warrenty I would pursue nissan for a new top. These quality issues seem to be most prevalent with the 2010 models. I think nissan is aware of it, otherwise they wouldn't have replaced mine. I didn't have to raise hell or anything...they just did it.

Is the actual closing of the top smother. Mine always sort of "pops" as the first bow some into the windshield header, almost as if it's a little gavity assisted to close it. I don't actually have any premature wear on my top, but it sounds like this just flat out works better and I'd love to get a new one

Also had issues with the roadster:
1. top hitting the tonneau cover as it would open
2. After dropping the roadster on coilovers, i started to hear a squeaking noise only coming from the rear DRIVER side, (which originally, i thought was my damper was squeaking) but im sure its near the tonneau cover because if i tap or hit the hinges of the tonneau cover, near the trunk cover i can sorta hear the sound again. Plus i had a friend riding with me with half his body off the car listening for it.
3. I hear a different squeaking noise from both ends of the rear when i go up and down a driveway, it sounds like a chassis flex causing something squeak :confused: I am thinking the the Roadster is not coilover friendly but that didnt bother me as much as problem 1 and 2
ANYways.. I Brought it to Nissan, told them my top was hitting the cover and it was making noise. They installed me a brand new top within 2 weeks (no questions or hassle, dealer said it was $15,000 to fix =X) . Got the car back, Top is now operating smoothly, no contacts with the cover. But , the squeaking noise slowly started to come back, and is now squeaking very often. I will be bringing the car back to nissan soon... i think it has something to do with or near the Tonneau Cover hinges

What you are describing is exactly the same problem as my car but I don't have coilovers therefore I would say it has nothing to do with that. I have all three problems you describe.

I took it to Nissan and they changed some parts not the whole roof, there was no more sqeaking noise for a few months now, it is as bad as when I first took it to them.

The first time I took it to Nissan he had lubed up some parts and the noise went away. He did that in the meantime he was getting the parts. I think the solution is just lubbing up those parts every two months or so. The problem is I don't know which ones.

I also have the squeak coming from the driver side of the cover...car has been at the dealer since yesterday. They say they've isolated & fixed the squeak. Getting a new clutch pedal as well. Mine started operating with a popping sound...so they're replacing it. I bought a brand new ford almost a month to the day after bringing home my Z. I've been back to the dealer ZERO times & had ZERO problems. I's solid as a rock. This may be my last Nissan. How sad?

Well it's really only the roadster because my brother has the coupe and none of these issues exist.

Also, the Mustang convertible seems to have top noise issues. It hits all lower end car manufacturers as they just keep trying to cut costs...

I posted about this rattle behind the driver's side a couple years back. Still have it and I guess I'll try for a new top..

Holy cripes! After reading this thread I notice the standoff screw on the hinge assembly on the driver's side did NOT have a plastic cap, but the passenger side had one...switched the cap from the passenger side to the driver's side and the rattle was gone from the driver's side but now I had one on the passenger side!

Put a bit of duct tape over top of that screw on the passenger side (zipped tied it in place)...and now no rattle.

Wow.

Where do I get these screw caps?

Here's a pic of the bolt we're talking about:
http://i39.tinypic.com/15ek1ep.jpg

Here is the opposite bolt without that black cap but covered with duct tape :)

http://i42.tinypic.com/s5zo1l.jpg

Your dealer but it may be quicker to go to a hardware store.

I haven't been to the stealership since I bought the car 2 years ago!
Guess I'll check the hardware store :)

Doing the same with tape and it takes the rattle away but there is still some metal to metal contact somewhere and I can identify where. All I know is that it's from the same general area of the car. It's like a metal to metal squeek which happens a lot on the bumpy highways and roads of California.

Any ideas guys?

Wow, I hope this solves my top rattling issue. I just picked the car up two days ago and the top is already rattling like crazy. Mine sounds like it is more inbetween the top to the left of me vs in the boot section as described in this thread.

Unfortunately I have to wait until Friday to try and fix it as I just got the windows tinted and can't put them down :(.

Had my entire convertible top replaced last year (hydraulic failure), and have had this rattle ever since. Took my car in to the dealer 3 times for this problem, and they were never able to fix it. Even got a couple of attempted (that is normal) comments, which I quickly shot down. The squeaking and rattling were driving me nuts. Guess I should have realized that the reason the tonneau cover had to be re-aligned was because the caps on the adjustment screws had been lost when the new top was installed. Anyways, long story short, I came across this thread, and took the picture posted by Mize to the dealer and showed them that both of mine were missing. They had the parts for me in one day. Popped them on, and not a squeak or rattle since. The top actually closes quietly now (no big bang when it sets down). Will have them re-align the tonneau cover (now it is too high in back) next week, but enjoying the peace and quiet. For anyone what wants to just order the part and fix this themselves, I managed to keep the baggies the parts came in. This is a part shared by the 350Z, 370Z, & GTR, so I think it will be available for a while.

Nissan Part #84410-AL520

They are about $2 each on the internet, so it is a nice cheap fix.

Thanks to the people who figured this one out.

Doug

The only rattle I have now is right by my driver side left ear. Seems to be coming from the top pillar. I had the top replaced and the actuator replaced as well. If i lower the window a smidge - it stops.

Wondering if i put a small amount of felt on the pillar so when the window rolls up it hits the felt if that would help?

I still love my car. Seriously.

I've been trying to get rid of little squeaks/rattles above and forward of my left ear for a while - have added ties, foam insulation strips, electrical tape here and there. Last weekend I took some silicone spray, opened the top so the forward section was straight up, and sprayed the joints and hinges. I also sprayed a rag and rubbed it along the top of the windshield and front of the top where it contacts the top of the windshield. I also hit the points where the roof sections come together when the top is closed just above the side window. Big difference! Seems like a lot of the squeaks were plastic on plastic or rubber on plastic. The silicone makes a difference. Probably have to do it every few months or so, but it's working for now. Cheap, easy, quick fix.
Silicone spray is an old dealer trick I stumbled when I had another car in the shop for a rattle. They will spray the snot out of the area with silicone and that will often "fix" a rattle long enough to get you out of their hair and on your way. I saw the service rep spraying something in my car and asked him what he was doing - he 'fessed up.