Dash/Chassis Creaking Sounds (Fixed by Galpin dealer tech)

[papadop88]

So finally received the car back today from Galpin after 2.5 weeks because they were waiting for parts to come in.

Sat with David for a while and chatted about what he did, his experience with mine and others like Kaz's Emira, and just some other stuff. Cool dude and fantastic service from Galpin.

I'll attach everything he performed.

• Happy to say, I can't hear the noises when I drove it home, even though David said he can still hear a small ticking noise when turning the steering wheel that's coming from the rack mounts with the chassis ears. I personally could not hear it driving home and turning every which way in the parking lot at slow speeds. Whereas before, the ticking was very pronounced to me. The wheel felt a bit lighter and smoother too which was a plus (wasn't fighting it anymore). For now, that problem is solved. Time will tell if the ticking comes back.
  • What he replaced were the lock washers, lubed certain areas and replaced the steering rack.
  • He then performed an alignment as well. Specs shown below.
• As for the power steering groans when turning the wheels at slow or stopped speeds, the noise is completely gone now. No more groaning.
  • He replaced the power steering pump
• He performed the software updates shown in the attachment and checked some other stuff...
• The taillight harnesses are still on order so Galpin will let me know when they arrive and I'll bring it back and they'll perform it then.
• As for the master volume, unfortunately, it didn't stick even with the software update. When I came home, and restarted the car, it reset to 50%. Looks like there's still no solve for it. He did say, it's probably a safety thing because master controls all the volumes and if they're at full blast, it might be an abrupt hazard. He doesn't know but was just speculating because Astons have quirks like that too. Oh well.

That's it.

 

[Luminated67]

Spoke with the dealer about the possibility that the creaking wasn’t the dash and might actually be coming from the chassis near the bulkhead, asked if they had “chassis ears” to listen for the noise and got a call this morning to collect the car and it appears that it was indeed coming from under the car. So thanks to @Kaz for the heads up on this one.

Anyway I drove home and whilst I did hear to odd creak or maybe it was a rattle, in any case I can confirm on that 40 mile drive home the creaking has stopped because before it was constant regardless of speed but now I hear about 4 single isolated rattles and that was it. Of course I will be monitoring the situation in case it returns but they at least now know where to look and sorting it again shouldn’t be a stab in the dark.

 

[Honcho]

One remaining category of creaks in my car still sounds like plastic creaking on each other. My tech, through the help of another tech in Jersey located the sound from the steering bracket and these threaded inserts, by using chassis ears.
View attachment 85727
They are to be replaced with these instead to resolve the noises (which were confirmed by the Jersey tech to work).
View attachment 85728
Those are going in on my next visit...there is a new rear light harness bulletin (this would be the 2nd one that replaced the original harness update) so when he gets those in stock he'll swap out those fittings.

The other categories of sounds are all gone as my original post explained -

Anyone find out the location of these washers?

 

[jbug187]

Look more to the left at the top of your image (Look towards the outside of the car from inside) where the composite is riveted and bonded the aluminium.

@Honcho, is the area circled in red where you added penetrating oil? I noticed that there is a foam insert between the composite and aluminum panels in the area circled in green. Maybe something similar is needed in other locations. Thanks.

 

[Honcho]

@Honcho, is the area circled in red where you added penetrating oil? I noticed that there is a foam insert between the composite and aluminum panels in the area circled in green. Maybe something similar is needed in other locations. Thanks.

Hey. That area might work but there are other parts higher up within that hole. Maybe best using a straw to get in there. Also extra work, but if you take off the pillar surround above it you will see holess in the composite around the tweeter area. I spayed in there too. ...so I am not sure exactly what part solved it but spraying a few things in those areas definitely did. This is referring to the constant ticking noise.

 

[jbug187]

Hey. That area might work but there are other parts higher up within that hole. Maybe best using a stay to get in there. Also extra work, but if you take off the pillar surround above it you will see holess in the composite around the tweeter area. I spayed in there too. ...so I am not sure exactly what part solved it but spraying a few things in those areas definitely did. This is referring to the constant ticking noise.

Thanks @Honcho. is there any trick to pulling off the pillar surround?

 

[Honcho]

Thanks @Honcho. is there any trick to pulling off the pulse surround?

I found this image on the tweeter install part of the forum. There are clips at the top and bottom that should just pop off, but the middle one is more akward. Once you have popped off the top/bottom clips, I found it best to try to slide the metal clip out of the plastic holder on the trim with something like needle pliers instead of trying to pull it off the chassis pillar. You'll have airbag tethers holding the trims too, but you should not need to remove them.

 

[Luminated67]

Thought I would report that I have had several shortish trips in the car since they fixed the creaking under the car and touch wood everything still OK. On a different subject, has there been a gearbox software update because since my car came back the gearbox is silky smooth changing up and down plus the response from clicking the paddle to the gear being selected is quicker.

This could all be in my head as it was a good forthnight since I left it with them till I collected the car but I swear it feels different.

 

[Kaz]

Thought I would report that I have had several shortish trips in the car since they fixed the creaking under the car and touch wood everything still OK. On a different subject, has there been a gearbox software update because since my car came back the gearbox is silky smooth changing up and down plus the response from clicking the paddle to the gear being selected is quicker.

This could all be in my head as it was a good forthnight since I left it with them till I collected the car but I swear it feels different.

There was an initial transmission update that smoothed out shifts in auto, and sped up manual shift actuation but that's if you haven't had software updates in a while and only compared to the original launch cars is it better. We're still waiting for the latest one that gets everything up to par compared to other DCT's

 

[jbug187]

I was able to pull the pillar cover off by using a trim tool to depress the metal anchor clip from the windshield side (first picture). I struggled with it for a few minutes before finding this angle. Unfortunately, after a drive around town with the pillar totally uncovered (second picture) I don't hear the creaking sounds coming from this area. Please let me know if there are any other DIY suggestions before I reach out to my dealer about the dash creaking sounds.

 

[Luminated67]

I was able to pull the pillar cover off by using a trim tool to depress the metal anchor clip from the windshield side (first picture). I struggled with it for a few minutes before finding this angle. Unfortunately, after a drive around town with the pillar totally uncovered (second picture) I don't hear the creaking sounds coming from this area. Please let me know if there are any other DIY suggestions before I reach out to my dealer about the dash creaking sounds.

View attachment 87701
View attachment 87702

I was convinced mine was coming from the left hand side of the dash and even got a meter length of garden hose to test this out (one end to the ear and the other moved about the interior) to local the noise, recommend trying this BtW. In my case no matter where I positioned the end of the hose I couldn’t find where it was coming from and it was Kaz who reckoned it was underneath the car.

In the end he was right but this took the dealer to sort and even then they thought it was dash too, only when I suggested “chassis ears” did they do this and find it was at the bulkhead under the car. My suggestion to you is do the garden hose and if you can’t find where it’s coming from then it could well be the same as mine.

 

[crestima]

I was able to pull the pillar cover off by using a trim tool to depress the metal anchor clip from the windshield side (first picture). I struggled with it for a few minutes before finding this angle. Unfortunately, after a drive around town with the pillar totally uncovered (second picture) I don't hear the creaking sounds coming from this area. Please let me know if there are any other DIY suggestions before I reach out to my dealer about the dash creaking sounds.

View attachment 87701
View attachment 87702

In case you haven't done it already, check the 3 bolts that hold down the front lid to ensure that they are tight. I recall reading a post by another member here who thought the noise was coming from the dash but ultimately he discovered it was transmitted in to the cabin from the front hood just because those bolts became loose. Worth a check.

 

[jbug187]

In case you haven't done it already, check the 3 bolts that hold down the front lid to ensure that they are tight. I recall reading a post by another member here who thought the noise was coming from the dash but ultimately he discovered it was transmitted in to the cabin from the front hood just because those bolts became loose. Worth a check.

Potential clue found: a few days ago I took a long drive in the rain and didn't hear any creaking. When it's not raining the creaking is consistent and constant. This seems to suggest it must be coming from something on the exterior of the car that is exposed to, and potentially lubricated by, the rain?

Today it was nice and dry so I took out the three bolts that hold down the hood. They were nice and tight before I removed them. Unfortunately, the creaking was still there during a slow drive around the block with the bolts out. Does anyone have any recommendations about what / where I might add lubricant to get the creaking to stop?

 

[OliverB]

Potential clue found: a few days ago I took a long drive in the rain and didn't hear any creaking. When it's not raining the creaking is consistent and constant. This seems to suggest it must be coming from something on the exterior of the car that is exposed to, and potentially lubricated by, the rain?

Today it was nice and dry so I took out the three bolts that hold down the hood. They were nice and tight before I removed them. Unfortunately, the creaking was still there during a slow drive around the block with the bolts out. Does anyone have any recommendations about what / where I might add lubricant to get the creaking to stop?

View attachment 87900

View attachment 87899

Swaybar bushings.

 

[Honcho]

Swaybar bushings.

A good way to test if it's the bushings is to push on the brakes at a slow speed so the front of the car dives. If it makes the sound, there's a good chance it's the bushings.

 

[NicolasB]

Steering rack mounts have been an issue for some.

 

[Luminated67]

@jbug187 I was convinced the creaking I heard was coming from the top of the dash near the windscreen and it ended up coming from the chassis so your noise might not be what you think it is or even coming from that spot.

 

[rjm98107]

@jbug187 I was convinced the creaking I heard was coming from the top of the dash near the windscreen and it ended up coming from the chassis so your noise might not be what you think it is or even coming from that spot.

I can second this sentiment. I, too, am having a serious creaking, that is becoming constant, which also sounds like coming from top dash right behind the steering wheel. Dealer looked at it (though it wasn't as bad when they looked at it, it's worse now), sent them videos, they also are strongly suspecting a similar chassis noise situation that @Luminated67 is suggesting.

To be honest, I didn't believe them :/ so I stripped the dash, pulled trim, pulled things like infotainment screen and instrument cluster etc... there's nothing back there in the dash that's doing this. Dash is solid. So they're likely correct.

Big problem is, dealer is telling me that Lotus may not approve warranty work for this! They're trying to get approval from Lotus to do LITERALLY ANYTHING about this. I bought the car brand new from them less than 6 months ago, yet they're suggesting they might tell me to go pound sand, because they're also saying they've tried things like the "Galpin fix" on other cars and it didn't last

So... I will be watching the evolution of this thread with interest. I'm wondering how many other people are experiencing this and being denied warranty claims for such things. I'm gearing up for a fight. Sucks, because I actually mostly love the car and don't really WANT anything else right now...

 

[Luminated67]

As I was informed by others, things like creaks and rattles that are bad are covered under warranty. You need to push them on this and get them to push Lotus on this front but when the dealer put the chassis ears on mine the issue was very quickly found and sorted. This should be very easy for the dealer to do.

Also you being in the USA you have way more rights than we do this side of the pond.