Resolving creaks (non-dashboard related)

[chilly mac]

Six months and about 6,000 miles in, and I'm noticing a few distinct creaks in the cabin. Nothing horribly loud, but I'm dead sure they weren't there only a few hundred miles ago. I'm kinda OCD about this stuff, and am determined to stay on top of any new creaks/rattles as they occur so as to have a minimally noisy interior down the road -- As others have pointed out here the cabin is otherwise (thankfully) so quiet that any creaks that do occur are much more noticeable than in many cars, and one of the reasons I purchased this car was due to cabin quietness. I've seen a few threads here pertaining to dashboard-related creaks, but thought it might be helpful (for me at least) to solicit input from this forum on creaks (and solutions, if applicable) originating from other areas of the cabin.

First up that I want to resolve is in the driver's door -- I can reproduce it by pushing my left elbow down into the armrest a bit as well as pushing directly into the door at the armrest level. Anyone have a similar issue? If so, has anyone done any work to fix this and could you provide some details?

On a somewhat related note, has anyone noticed that the arm rests are actually not padded that well? I find that I sometimes start to experience elbow discomfort as early as after even a half hour or so drive (I lean a bit to the left in my seat and *always* have my left elbow on that thing), and would be highly interested in a method to increase the cushioning in the driver's side arm rest.

Thanks in advance for any input!!

 

[ImInPA]

Get yourself a can of Silicon spray. Thoroughly coat the rubber weather seals both on the door itself and the car door frame. This is a common cause of the creak you describe. Also, using the "straw" that comes with the Silicon spray go around the seams of the door panel where the panel meets the door, and wherever there is a seam. Good luck and I hope this takes care of it for you.

 

[homeofstone]

Talc power is good on the rubber also to stop cause of noise.

 

[Rey]

"Sounds" like you have found the source of the creak. If the easy fix of lubing weatherstripping doesn't work, then my guess is that the door panel itself is improperly installed. If so, then the fix is to remove the door panel, find the source of the creak, fix creak and reinstall. This may be intimidating for you to do as this is a complex door panel. Perhaps your dealer will do this under warranty, or if this fails a good body shop can easily do this.