Rattle from Inside Steering Wheel (solved)

[stingerbeagle]

A quick google didn't reveal any other posted solutions for this so hopefully it's not a duplicate.

I started hearing a pretty constant rattling noise from inside the steering wheel. Actually I couldn't really tell where the noise was coming from, and the steering wheel was a guess. It was pretty loud and I couldn't drown it out with the stereo. About a week ago I tried the following and it's been quiet since (fingers crossed it holds!):

(1) Go to the DIY/Wiki for how to replace the steering wheel. The first couple steps show you how to remove the airbag+horn module (super easy, don't forget to disconnect the battery for safety). Don't remove the steering wheel itself.

(2) Apply felt tape to the steering wheel (not the airbag module), particularly at the top of the shiny black plastic trim (where the GT logo is). This is what the bottom of the airbag module rests on. I also applied some felt tape to the sides. Basically I tried to eliminate any possibility of the plastic housing of the airbag+horn module from rattling against the steering wheel.

(3) Push the airbag/horn module back in.

That's it!

 

[CeramicGT001]

Just found your post, I have had this noise in the steering wheel/airbag assembly when turning and just driving in general for months (very annoying). I have taken the airbag cover off multiple times and applied tape to where the (blue arrow) is on the metal part of the steering wheel (originally only had tape on the bottom left one, applying to all 4 seemed to fix the noise - see below post) thinking it was the springs of the airbag/horn making the noise, which worked for a couple months but then recently the noise came back.
Also tried taping the thin metal piece along the back (green arrow) but that wasn’t it. Going to try your method of taping around the lower trim piece (red arrow)

 

[stingerbeagle]

Good luck with it. Hope it holds up!

I was actually thinking of going back into mine soon with some more material. I heard some ticking from inside a couple days ago after a couple weeks of silence. It was much more faint this time so I'm hoping I just need to increase the number of layers of tape. I'm going to hit those spring contact spots like you this time though! That's a good idea.

 

[CeramicGT001]

I tried your method of taping the above the glossy part with the GT logo but it still creaked when I would tap the horn assembly (which mimics what happens when driving over bumps). Next up I ripped all that tape off and then applied felt tape around all 4 spring contact points. (Blue arrow)

I believe the tape either creates a buffer space between whatever is making contact between the airbag assembly and steering wheel or it’s the springs for the horn that are making the noise.

My car was completely quiet this morning and even ran into another stinger gt owner who shared my enthusiasm for spirited driving anyway the interior was probably the quietest it’s been since I bought the car.

I’m 5/5 on eliminating rattles/creaks
The doors ticking (weatherstripping grease)
The sunroof ticking(tape on the plastic rail) Sunroof Rattle Fix
The leather armrest creaked (replaced with alcantara armrest)
The trunk rattled over big bumps (added rubber padding)
The steering wheel (see post)

 

[stingerbeagle]

I’m 5/5 on eliminating rattles/creaks
The doors ticking (weatherstripping grease)
The sunroof ticking(tape on the plastic rail) Sunroof Rattle Fix
The leather armrest creaked (replaced with alcantara armrest)
The trunk rattled over big bumps (added rubber padding)
The steering wheel (see post)

I think we suffer from the same affliction of rattle-sensitivity. I have done 4 of those! I do have the armrest creak but am too scared to try replacing it myself. I hope to try it sometime.

The only additional fixes I have on top of your list is for a ticking noise in the headliner that we solved in another thread, as well as applying low-friction tape to where the door seals meet the frame.

 

[CeramicGT001]

Very much so and I’m not willing to take the car into the the dealer for these fixes because I’m sure they would find a way to mess something else up.
Thread hack...The armrest replacement has two options. I did this option where you “hack” out the old one Armrest.... So fancy!
Or I found this video recently that shows all the steps needed to remove the center console that I couldn’t figure out when I did install last summer.

 

[MadPunchMan]

Hi there, just found your post. Currently I have the same problem that you were suffering before. My stinger is MY20, still has the same problem.

There are some clicks or creak noise from the steering wheel when I drove it out of parking. After driving for a while the noise was gone. But it will appear next time when you drive it.

The noise like a piece of metal scratched something. From my guess the sound is coming from the spring when it contacts the panel. I will put some felt tape to solve it. Hopefully it works. Anyway, this post is much helpful, thanks.

 

[cwatt79]

@CeramicGT001 and @stingerbeagle

I wish I could pay you too to eliminate my rattles. I love this car but the rattles are getting annoying! I fixed the hatch rattle long ago. I've been having the rattling in the steering wheel (I thought it was in the instrument cluster, but after reading this post I'm excited to try this fix). Very recently my Stinger started the ubiquitous sunroof rattle; I have a few things I will try from this forum soon. My door seals creak when I first drive it, but this doesn't bother me because backing out of my inclined driveway onto the street flexes the chassis enough to get all the creaking out in one instant, and it's quiet from there. My headliner also ticks after being parked in the hot sun. I've attempted some fixes from the forums, but to no avail. This is probably the most annoying one.

I've never had a new car without an annoying rattle or two, but this one is becoming the worst I've experienced. I hate it, because it's my favorite car overall that I've ever had, but the rattles/crackling/ticking really hinder my enjoyment of it...

That said, thanks to this forum, I currently have a list of fixes to try to eliminate the alleged steering wheel (horn spring) rattle, sunroof rattle, and headliner ticking. Here's hoping.

 

[CeramicGT001]

@cwatt79

Sorry to hear you’re dealing with the same sh*t I was and still do once in awhile. Mostly all of those fixes were from other forum members and using ideas from what they had done to fix mine which I am grateful for.

Let my stinger sit for a couple weeks recently and drove it and immediately heard the steering wheel clicking noise again which I hadn’t heard in months but it went away shortly after. (I still have felt tape inside between the airbag and metal backing of the wheel)

My doors frames (well greased), sunroof (occasionally “pops” on hot sunny days) and trunk (like a vault) no longer bother me since my last post. It is frustrating though, you just have to take it one step at a time.

If it makes you feel any better, another member traded his Stinger in because of some issues which included rattles and bought a new beemer and now that car has rattles too lol.

 

[cwatt79]

@CeramicGT001

Yeah, it seems lately that no new car is impervious to rattles. I can deal with one or two occasional rattles, but when it's 3-4 persistent (almost constant) rattles, it's just too much. Thank goodness for the people determined enough to find and fix the issues themselves and kind enough to share their learning on the forums.

I'm not headstrong enough to try to solve all these problems myself (nor do I trust my local dealer enough to even try), but I can d**n sure read forums and follow some instructions! Although once, two new cars ago, I was the one who found and fixed a rattle, and shared my solution to the forum which many others successfully replicated, so I see that as paying my dues to the car forum gods and justifying my leeching now.

Excited to get home from work today and try some of these fixes.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Very recently my Stinger started the ubiquitous sunroof rattle; I have a few things I will try from this forum soon. … My headliner also ticks after being parked in the hot sun. I've attempted some fixes from the forums, but to no avail. This is probably the most annoying one.

The fix that I read about on here that impressed me the most was simply pushing up firmly on the headliner near the sunroof. A "Velcro" sounding scrunch indicated that something up there got seated firmly, and the noise(s) ceased instantly.

Door Frame Ticking / Squeaking Elimination

 

[stingerbeagle]

@cwatt79 I'm definitely with you regarding how bad the Stinger is w.r.t. rattles. Just keep working at it and trying things. I've become a bit more adventurous lately and have decided that I'm just going to try fixing things myself. I would have never dug inside my steering wheel before.

It's a known scam at dealerships that you're just going to get a "cannot reproduce" unless you really want to raise a commotion. They won't even check for anything. Kia pays them a flat-rate 0.25 hours for diagnosing to a "cannot reproduce". Can't blame the service center, as it's ultimately a stance that Kia HQ takes that results in this. If they take extra time to actually find the cause, Kia HQ won't pay them for it. FWIW, I don't think most other brands are any better. I just watched a video of someone that just bought a Lexus LS 500 who took his car into the dealership for a rattle, and he got a "cannot reproduce" even though it was easily reproducible, so even $80k luxury cars are treated the same.

Regarding the ticking from the headliner, if you haven't already done so, remove some of the white foam spacers. That was definitely causing ticking noises for several of us, including myself. It was a very satisfying fix!

 

[cwatt79]

@cwatt79Regarding the ticking from the headliner, if you haven't already done so, remove some of the white foam spacers. That was definitely causing ticking noises for several of us, including myself. It was a very satisfying fix!

I removed the one I could see by pulling down the door seal gasket on the driver door. I plan to remove the sunroof wind screen and remove what I can see from there. Any other's I need to remove?

 

[stingerbeagle]

I removed the one I could see by pulling down the door seal gasket on the driver door. I plan to remove the sunroof wind screen and remove what I can see from there. Any other's I need to remove?

No, not that I'm aware of. I've only done the one at the door.

 

[MadPunchMan]

I tried to apply felt tape under the airbag as you guys mentioned before, after several weeks the click noise came back. Even now I covered everywhere underside of the airbag, still have the noise. Today I brought my car to my local dealer service center, they claimed the airbag's screw loose, so they help me to tight the airbag again. So far I did not hear any clicking noise. Hopefully, it will not come back again.

 

[bearstinger]

So far, fingers crossed, mine is rattle free.

 

[SafetyPilotCal]

Bumping this thread. I have had a rattling noise in the column for most of the time I've owned the car (since 12/2019).

When I took the car in for the fire recall, I told them about the noise and asked them to look into it. To their credit, the dealership DID identify a rattle in the column and they attributed it to a bad clockspring. They replaced the clockspring under warranty, and I'm pretty sure on the drive home I did not hear it. The very next time I drove it, the noise was there again, so maybe it was just placebo the first time.

A few days ago, I removed the wheel and applied felt tape anywhere that looked like plastic was touching plastic, which are multiple places on the bottom and top column trim. While doing this, I noticed that the clock spring itself seems to be loose where it snaps into whatever it snaps into. You can easily move the whole clockspring/SWPS module back and forth. Whenever I feel like pulling the wheel again, I will attempt to pull the clockspring out and see if there's anything I can do to rectify it. This rattling is driving me absolutely batshit insane and it's making me seriously hate the car.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Is this the sound? Link is to a google drive video of my wheel. It's definitely getting worse as time goes on. Sounds like a creak mixed with something metallic rolling around. Of course, when I took it to the dealer the sound mysteriously disappeared.

I'm getting my brakes down tomorrow at a local shop I trust and asked them to take a look if they have time.

PXL_20220822_215353520.TS.mp4

drive.google.com

 

[hugo]

Is this the sound? Link is to a google drive video of my wheel. It's definitely getting worse as time goes on. Sounds like a creak mixed with something metallic rolling around. Of course, when I took it to the dealer the sound mysteriously disappeared.

I'm getting my brakes down tomorrow at a local shop I trust and asked them to take a look if they have time.

Bump to this threat/last reply. Is that kind of noise the one everyone is reffering too?

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Bump to this threat/last reply. Is that kind of noise the one everyone is reffering too?

It would be great to get confirmation from other's who've experienced this. Seen a few threads about "creaking" "ticking" etc. Everyone uses different terminology to describe the sound so it's tough to pin down.