Intermittent clicking/ticking sound from the the are of driver side window (top left corner) or the panels next to it

[Stan23]

Let me know if you find a solution. I've tried searching everywhere but didn't find any solution that works.

Will do! Strange thing in your video and I haven't confirmed on my car is you're not even moving. I don't think it's a plastic on plastic issue. the click is very faint and almost rhythmic, which makes me believe its a mechanical sound, some form of relay? I'm going through some other stuff with the car now, but i'll definitely try to fix it myself.

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[CTR]

Mine still does it and it's most noticeable on the driver side. It's starting to warm so I've started to notice it more.

My windows are tinted so I figured the dealership would do nothing to fix it. I assumed it was the glass/tint on the seals so I tried to lubricate them with Shin-Etsu grease but that just made a mess of the window.

It seems the windows are very tight on the 11th gen Civic which probably helps with cabin noise but maybe there's a piece of plastic that is under tension making the click as it expands/contracts? It could be the outer trim as some have suggested.

 

[K20C1CTR]

Will do! Strange thing in your video and I haven't confirmed on my car is you're not even moving. I don't think it's a plastic on plastic issue. the click is very faint and almost rhythmic, which makes me believe its a mechanical sound, some form of relay? I'm going through some other stuff with the car now, but i'll definitely try to fix it myself.

The noise is actually more random and not "rhythmic" as I do not get the same "rhythmic" noise from the video anymore. I don't believe it's anything related to mechanics or interior plastics though. It should be something related to the window seals/plastic pieces outside of the car because it's weather dependent, especially when the sun is out. After I tinted my window, this issue became worse.

 

[K20C1CTR]

Mine still does it and it's most noticeable on the driver side. It's starting to warm so I've started to notice it more.

My windows are tinted so I figured the dealership would do nothing to fix it. I assumed it was the glass/tint on the seals so I tried to lubricate them with Shin-Etsu grease but that just made a mess of the window.

It seems the windows are very tight on the 11th gen Civic which probably helps with cabin noise but maybe there's a piece of plastic that is under tension making the click as it expands/contracts? It could be the outer trim as some have suggested.

I was planning to lubricate the seals of the windows as well. So I assumed that it didn't fix the issue for you?

I looked closely on the outer plastic pieces already. There is no way to put tapes and I don't think you can ever remove them as well. What do you mean by "a piece of plastic that's under tension"? Where is that located? I'll take a look.

 

[CTR]

I was planning to lubricate the seals of the windows as well. So I assumed that it didn't fix the issue for you?

I looked closely on the outer plastic pieces already. There is no way to put tapes and I don't think you can ever remove them as well. What do you mean by "a piece of plastic that's under tension"? Where is that located? I'll take a look.

I don't recommend lubricating the seals. What ends up happening is the top of the window will get grease on it and then when you roll the window down it will get on the lower inside seal. You'll then have marks on the window every time you partially roll it down. The grease eventually was absorbed and it doesn't do it anymore but it was pretty annoying for awhile. I regretted doing it since it didn't fix the problem.

I'm referring to the black trim pieces on the outside of the windows. To me it almost sounds like the window itself is crackling. It's very strange.

 

[K20C1CTR]

I don't recommend lubricating the seals. What ends up happening is the top of the window will get grease on it and then when you roll the window down it will get on the lower inside seal. You'll then have marks on the window every time you partially roll it down. The grease eventually was absorbed and it doesn't do it anymore but it was pretty annoying for awhile. I regretted doing it since it didn't fix the problem.

I'm referring to the black trim pieces on the outside of the windows. To me it almost sounds like the window itself is crackling. It's very strange.

Got it. But did the grease actually help eliminate the noise temporarily though before it get absorbed completely? That's the part where I am curious about. Even though if there is a temporary solution, I would like to know.

For the outside black trim pieces, there is really nothing we can do about them as I already looked closely. I tried pushing all the trims in as hard as I can but that didn't work. If that's the source, then I guess this issue can't be resolved.

 

[CTR]

The grease did nothing except make a mess. Lol. The sound was still there.

I noticed that during the winter (this is my daily driver) it isn't happening at all. Now that it's starting to warm up again I've noticed it a few times.

 

[K20C1CTR]

The grease did nothing except make a mess. Lol. The sound was still there.

I noticed that during the winter (this is my daily driver) it isn't happening at all. Now that it's starting to warm up again I've noticed it a few times.

Yes. It's weather dependent. When it's cold and the car is not exposed to sun, the noise is almost non-existent.

Thanks for the information. As a daily driver for me, it's really a deal breaker unless we can find a solution, which is most likely not.

 

[CTR]

I don’t want to read through the whole thread again but can you confirm if your windows are tinted as well? That’s when I started to notice it a lot more.

 

[K20C1CTR]

I don’t want to read through the whole thread again but can you confirm if your windows are tinted as well? That’s when I started to notice it a lot more.

Yes. My window is tinted. Just like what you've experienced, I've noticed the noise more after the window is tinted, which led me to think the seals were making the noise through the contact with the window. But since you've tried to lubricate the seals already, then that assumption of mine was simply not true.

 

[CTR]

I’ve considered asking my tint shop for suggestions.

Maybe another type of lubricant would help the tint slide on the seals easier? It kind of sounds like the tint is sticking and pulling on the rubber as the window or tint expands in the heat.

I’m surprised we’re the only ones having this issue. It doesn’t bug me enough to get rid of the car. Just a minor annoyance right now.

 

[K20C1CTR]

I’ve considered asking my tint shop for suggestions.

Maybe another type of lubricant would help the tint slide on the seals easier? It kind of sounds like the tint is sticking and pulling on the rubber as the window or tint expands in the heat.

I’m surprised we’re the only ones having this issue. It doesn’t bug me enough to get rid of the car. Just a minor annoyance right now.

I am surprised too that we are the only ones having this issue. I noticed almost every single noise mentioned on the forum on this car since my hearing is very sensitive to the noise. None of that is really a dealer breaker since it's not next to my ear. Considering the price and the stiff chassis of the car, I can totally tolerate that. But this noise is next to my ear which makes it very unbearable during the daily commute. None of my previous-owned cars (JDM) in the past do this even with window tints.

I'll contact my tint shop for suggestion as well to give it a last try. Let me know what you find out if you decide to contact them. I really appreciated on all the information you've shared and help you've provided so far. Thanks.

 

[Stan23]

It's getting warmer out, and as usual, I heard the faint 'tick'. This time, I pulled into a gas station, and I can continue to hear the tick even with the car stopped and turned off. The noise is 100% coming from the exterior shiny molding on the b pillar (part number 72470-T24-T01) If you push the trim side to side, you can get it to a state where it starts to tick. The passenger side does not show this issue. If you look at the part itself, it's actually just held on by double side tape and lays against plastic on the top and bottom window trim. Most likely what is causing the tick is the adhesive (which makes sense because the issue shows up when it is hotter out) and how the trim is seated on the door. My guess is if it sits a certain way, the adhesive lets the trim move ever so slightly which causes that annoying tick sound.

When I was investigating this, I took my trim tool out to see if I can lessen the interference to prove my theory, but I accidentally broke a piece of the trim off! I ordered the replacement trim piece ($40) and will replace it and hopefully I can get it to seat better like the passenger side to where there would be no noise.

Update to follow!

 

[K20C1CTR]

It's getting warmer out, and as usual, I heard the faint 'tick'. This time, I pulled into a gas station, and I can continue to hear the tick even with the car stopped and turned off. The noise is 100% coming from the exterior shiny molding on the b pillar (part number 72470-T24-T01) If you push the trim side to side, you can get it to a state where it starts to tick. The passenger side does not show this issue. If you look at the part itself, it's actually just held on by double side tape and lays against plastic on the top and bottom window trim. Most likely what is causing the tick is the adhesive (which makes sense because the issue shows up when it is hotter out) and how the trim is seated on the door. My guess is if it sits a certain way, the adhesive lets the trim move ever so slightly which causes that annoying tick sound.

When I was investigating this, I took my trim tool out to see if I can lessen the interference to prove my theory, but I accidentally broke a piece of the trim off! I ordered the replacement trim piece ($40) and will replace it and hopefully I can get it to seat better like the passenger side to where there would be no noise.

Update to follow!

Thanks for the reply. I was out of the country so I didn't get a chance to check the forum until now. Initially I thought that was the source of the noise too. But I couldn't reproduce the same ticking sound by pressing on the trim piece. I always lean towards the seals of the windows/doors and plan to put some tapes on the places where allowed to see if that eliminates the noise. But anyway, let me know how it goes with putting the new trim piece back on. Thanks.

 

[Stan23]

Thanks for the reply. I was out of the country so I didn't get a chance to check the forum until now. Initially I thought that was the source of the noise too. But I couldn't reproduce the same ticking sound by pressing on the trim piece. I always lean towards the seals of the windows/doors and plan to put some tapes on the places where allowed to see if that eliminates the noise. But anyway, let me know how it goes with putting the new trim piece back on. Thanks.

I had the dealer put on the new b pillar trim and it solved my tick issue. I attempted to do it myself, but was scared of damaging some of the other window trim parts. I'm way to embarrassed to say how much I paid the dealer to do it, but the book time was 1.5 hours or something like that. I am usually anti-dealer, but this dealer has been really good to me and my FL5. When I brought it in for the check engine light first few weeks of ownership they looked at the car immediately with no appointment and parked my car with cones surrounding it so no one would touch it. They totally respected the car and it seems most of the folks that worked there were actual car enthusiasts.

anyways back to the trim. The part is cheap to replace, and if you're handy with stuff like this, it may be worthwhile to replace it. I couldn't always reproduce it just by pressing the b pillar trim, but it definitely came from that piece.

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