Door panels and stock stereo

crazyfast · 07-17-2009, 12:16 AM

Hey all,

Not sure if this has been discussed before, but the door panels in my '09 WRX rattle like crazy when I have the stock audio system turned up to the point where you might have to raise your voice to speak over it. Its not a huge deal, but it is certainly not something I was expecting from a brand new Subaru. Is any one else having the same problem, and if so did you find a fix for it? I wanted to put a 12" Alpine Type R in the trunk, but I'm not going to do that until I get this problem fixed.

Thanks in advance!

hellcow · 07-22-2009, 11:31 AM

I'm having the same problem right now, first time I noticed it was at about 600 mi.

crazyfast · 07-23-2009, 12:26 AM

i'm thinking i might just pull of the door panels and see if its the connecting rods for the door latch and locks. i know that can cause problems a lot of the time. we'll see though.

newtothegame · 07-23-2009, 12:29 AM

Thats kind of a problem with subarus in general. Thin, light doors, the speakers are kind of close to everything else in there, thats why not many people upgrade the speakers in the car also.

baller_v24 · 07-23-2009, 08:55 AM

I remember my bugeye had the problem and it turned out to be some plastic liner crap in there and i just pulled it out and it fixed it. I dont know if all of them have that though. My actual door panel didn't rattle though.

man show · 07-23-2009, 10:23 AM

Would a layer of sound-deadening material (Dynamat or other) between the metal and plastic fix the problem? I'm just taking a shot in the dark because I haven't yet had to take my door panels off.

booosted09 · 07-23-2009, 05:22 PM

Haven't had a problem in mine..but i did get a loaner forester when my WRX was in the shop...and let me tell you, the Forester had a way better system in it.

Vew · 07-24-2009, 01:38 PM

That liner is important for not only keeping water/moisture out, but also for keeping the seal that will affect sound quality. Don't remove it. just use patches of dynamat to seal holes and rattles.

crazyfast · 07-24-2009, 11:40 PM

i had thought about just dynomatting the entire inside of all the doors to just make sure that no more rattles come up, but that stuff gets HEAVY over that large of an area. and no one wants to tack on that much extra weight just for a rattle. i'll take everything apart when i get back from my vacation that starts tomorrow and make my decision then. and thanks for all the tips guys!

by the way, any tips on getting the door panels off?

HumP · 07-27-2009, 03:45 PM

Yes when removing the door panels try and get some plactic panel poppers instead of using a screww driver. 2-3 bucks for a set. remove screws and unsnap

crazyfast · 08-06-2009, 07:37 PM

ladies and gentle men, check your switch housings!

i pulled off both of the rear door panels and turned back on the stereo. even with the door panel off that damn plastic sheet still made a racket. so, as much as i know that those sheets are pretty important for keeping that little bit of rain that makes it through the glass seals off of the interior of the door panel, i took those sheets off of the rear doors. that alone pushed the vibration noises down a lot, but there was still a problem.

next i began to examine the door panel itself. i noticed a small white plastic box that was attached very loosely to the inside of the door panel. if i just hit the door panel with my hands i could hear it rattle. so, i decided that those needed to go too. here is what they looked like:

if any one knows what they are for the info would be greatly appreciated.

any way, i cut them out and that further reduced the noises i was hearing, but there was still a lot of noise coming from somewhere. turns out that those little silver pieces that hold the window switches were rattling like mad. so, i took them out and added a thin layer of soft self adhesive foam to the inside of the switch housings. then, BAM, no more rattling!

took all day, but i got it figured out. so, if you are having this same problem you may want to check those three spots.

hope that helps!

rexowner04 · 08-07-2009, 12:13 AM

would my stock deck in my 04 have sub hook ups?

clord05wrx · 08-07-2009, 02:59 PM

my 05 didnt i put in an alpine deck, sounds great with the stock speakers too

gdemander · 01-11-2010, 05:39 PM

Sorry to revive an older thread here, but since my issue is the same as this, it makes sense to just reply here.

Due to the rattling that everyone is aware of, I removed the white boxes from both of my front doors and lined the door itself with Dynamat. The rattle from audio is now gone, but I am getting a rattle from the door panel when I hit bumps. Has anyone else noticed this? Thanks.

wrx1398 · 01-12-2010, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gdemander

Sorry to revive an older thread here, but since my issue is the same as this, it makes sense to just reply here.

Due to the rattling that everyone is aware of, I removed the white boxes from both of my front doors and lined the door itself with Dynamat. The rattle from audio is now gone, but I am getting a rattle from the door panel when I hit bumps. Has anyone else noticed this? Thanks.

I havent noticed the doors rattling in mine but i have noticed when i hit a bump it seems the lower left and right corners of the windsheild rattle. Has anyone noticed this? Do i need to have this looked at?