crx delsol roof creeking

[gkb18c]

i have been having issues of the plastic creeking in the car due to flex id say. but i think the problem lies in the rubber seals which look to have had better days. the roof looks like it has been pulled apart and put back together poorly. just wondering if anyone has had any similar issues before. any suggestions

[i_own_you]

its a common issue with the gen3 CRX. is your roof leaking water yet???

im sure replacing the rubber seals should do the trick.

[Snoop_gee]

Ok this is how its done...

Tools you will need: A deep well 12mm socket and a 12mm open end wrench, ten washers 1/16th - 1/8 in thickness (less than $1.00)

1. REMOVE THE PLASTICS: First, you will need to remove some plastic from your interior & put your top inside your trunk to get it out of the way. The plastic that you will remove will be the sun visor assemblies, A pillar covers, dome light assembly, & roll bar interior plastic. To remove the interior pieces you will need to pry out the little circle behind the sun visor and remove the 4 screws, to remove the A pillar plastic you will need to get your fingers behind the plastic and pull with equally force / evenly on the plastic to unsnap the clips holding it securely to the pillar, to remove the dome light you will need to pry off the clear plastic then remove the screw underneath & then pry out the rest of the assembly, and finally to remove the upper roll bar plastic you will need to pry of this plastic in a similar manner as the A pillar plastic.
2. REMOVE THE BOLTS: You will see 3 bolts in each front corner holding the front roof pin receiver in place, and 1 bolt & 1 nut holding the rear roof pin receiver in place. I suggest that you remove one of these bolts (12mm) and take it down to your local hardware store to get washers that fit (1/1th-1/8th).. Carefully remove the bolts and place the washers between the roof pin receivers and the body of the car. Then replace the bolts and tighten securely. One washer per bolt is enough. We tried 2 and it seemed to help some, but the seals were mashed a little too far and water still seemed to get in.

3. TEST FIT: After all the washers have been put into place try a test fit. You may have to lightly press down on the top to twist the handle and lock the top down. Now with your proper fit of the top & it being satisfactory tightened to the car you can now put your top back in the trunk.

3. FINISHING UP: Replace the plastic on the interior of the of the Sol and enjoy a more water tight top. Don't forget a slightly tighter chassis when your top is in place.

[VT3C]

I think he's talking about the rattling INSIDE the roof itself.. mine kinda does that.. I found some loose part inside the lining of the roof but I couldnt figure out how to get the roof lining off without breaking anything :( Also my rear wind-down window makes a rattling noise when in it's DOWN position.. squeaking rattle poo.. replacing rubber seals woudl help a lot but also VERY expensive !!

[gkb18c]

cheers guys. tiny leak through left side. like dripped a few times last week. i mean a few times. yeah its just the creeking noise. the roof itself seals fine. its just that sound that annoys you. i will start by getting the new seals. anyone suggest where to go. price. ?

all posts are very helpful. thanks again.

[SPO73D]

as vt3c said, its really expensive to replace the rubbers. i was quoted a little over $2000 from Peter Warren Honda to replace all 14 seals around the targa top of a delsol.

[DLO01]

Its a common thing with Delsols. And yes the replacement rubbers from Honda are very expensive. The rubbers need to be taken care of from the start. Unfortunately this does not always happen and the Delsol is a very old car now. I certainly miss mine though. :(

If your window is leaking above where the roof adjoins the front. There is a fix which I did on my car. This could also help with squeaking as well to some degree.

I must stress that you do this at your own risk.

Over time with constant closing of door etc, the 'positive' seal the window has on the roof rubbers when the door is closed becomes less and less. This can cause annoying leaks. To fix this to some degree, open the door and turn the windows right down. Now, using force, you need to push the small window section at the front of the door toward the car. This section acts as a 'rail' for the window to come up and by bending it in a fraction will give the window a more positive seal against the roof rubbers. It worked a treat with my old delsol. But please be careful when doing this, there is glass there, so I don't want you to break anything.

[gkb18c]

That pretty clever man. and yes i will def give it a go. the leak isnt the worry. it had like a few drops after last weeks entire rain fall. it was nothing. i just wish i knew. it just feels like the roof itself has had its days. i might take the roof apart and start sealing the plastics with a flex glue or something like that. i dunno. its gotton to the point when i brake hard and it creeks. ever so slightly. i have just installed my b18cr convo and its very hard to enjoy it with that noise above my head :(

[gkb18c]

DEANO :). That worked a treat man. cheers. i puuled it in ever so slighlty and took the car to car lovers. pulled the gurny on to the roof in the specific area, NOTHING. chears man. now im going to take the roof apart to see if the plastics inside have been tampered with.

thanks again. George

[DLO01]

Ha ha, awesome! Glad I could help.

[VT3C]

anybody have link to OEM manual or similar DIY for removal of the roof lining on the del sol roof ? i undid all these screws n clips but the thing still wouldnt pop off.. there's something in there rattling LOL.. am goin to try Deano's trick tonight also but I think the sides are sealing fine - the rattle seems to coem from the back-facing edge.

[gkb18c]

i wouldnt mind that manual aswell. mine is bad all over. from the back part to the front. depending on the night it will creek at the front aswell if i brake heavily. FmL

[dc292177917]

wt a useful thread (Y)
unfortunately the leaks in my del sol is far more complex then the situations mentioned :(
water leaks from the top corner of the passenger side A pillar, where the bolt holes are; AND
dips over the carpet somewhere under the glovebox
probably will upload some pictures for u experts to give a diagnosis after my exam

[h2cker2]

With leaks with more Del Sol I've done your trick before aswell Deano, worked a treat. Ive pulled my room off before and looked around in it, cleaned it with a bit of silicon spray to help the glass slide over the rubber aswell and its leak free : D, wish the rubber wasnt so expensive to replace though...

[dc292177917]

i just found the water is dipping from the heater fan
that circular thing under passenger side's glove box
any bro got any clue? T__T

[gkb18c]

i purchased a used roof and going to pull the crreky one apart to see what the issue is. keep you guys informed when i get around to it. atm cbf :)

[dc292177917]

it's so lucky that i hv time to kill all the water leaks and drained the blockage under the back window :)
the roof leak was healed by deano's method perfectly
the "fish tank" behind my butt i did it following by a step by step guide from crxaustralia (give yr own search)
but the leak under the passenger side glove box is still there
i googled and got one result but has no clue on how to do it
just looking if some bro could show me how to take the wipers off and drain the damn thing

ref: http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2148596

cheers

[DLO01]

The wipers are just bolted on with a nut. It may have a cap over them which pivots up. Give it a go. Then they say to take the black cover off to clean out underneath it.

[dc292177917]

definitely will give it a go tmr!!
but after taking off the plastic cover wt should i do?
would the water drain sth obvious?
gotta fix it up quick b4 another big rain
there's some molds developed on the carpet and sound deaden is soaked like a sponge...
i guess the "water hippo" wouldn't last long
cheers

[DLO01]

Take the plastic cover off and try to find where the water would drain. Obviously the lowest point. Going by the thread you provided on Honda-tech, I take it this may be blocked and the water is backing up and coming through the fresh air vent.

Open it up and inspect, clean out all the crap you can see. I don't know, never done it personally.

[dc292177917]

did a good hour of work, broke a few "plastic nuts" and left some holes on the cover
NOTHING was blocked.....
i m now pretty sure it's caused by a faulty design
cause the fresh air vent opens up vertically and nothing covers it up
if the rain is heavy enuf u know wt will happen yea? lol
the only thing could do is turn the knob to in-car air circulation b4 u park the car outside
some mechanism will block the vent :)

[VT3C]

wt a useful thread (Y)
unfortunately the leaks in my del sol is far more complex then the situations mentioned :(
water leaks from the top corner of the passenger side A pillar, where the bolt holes are; AND
dips over the carpet somewhere under the glovebox
probably will upload some pictures for u experts to give a diagnosis after my exam

mine is EXACTLY the same after a huge weekend of rain :(

Removed the roof, cleaned al lthe rubbers and underneath the seals where I could get to it..

Did the bend-A-Pillar Windows inwards (helped reduce the rattle)..

but need to sort out where all this water is geting in.. fresh air vent WAS closed when it all came in I am fairly certain :(

will try n remove the wipers and cover and see if there is this mystical drain that gets clogged :)

[JasonGilholme]

To the OP: Its chassis flex. Del sols are riddled with it. With no strut bars the car will flex at either corner which doesn't make the center/roof section of the car twist as much. When you have front or front+rear strut bars the car starts to twist more in the middle and the roof slides/creaks etc.

My front + rear is pretty stiff with coilovers, thick struts and thick sways so the center section twists like a bitch. it makes creaking sounds even with the roof off. Only thing i could suggest is lubricating the rubbers with a rubber safe grease or silicone. New rubbers will set you back 2k for a full set.

[dc292177917]

mine is EXACTLY the same after a huge weekend of rain :(

Removed the roof, cleaned al lthe rubbers and underneath the seals where I could get to it..

Did the bend-A-Pillar Windows inwards (helped reduce the rattle)..

but need to sort out where all this water is geting in.. fresh air vent WAS closed when it all came in I am fairly certain :(

will try n remove the wipers and cover and see if there is this mystical drain that gets clogged :)

mate, try not to remove the cover unless u are sure that the drain is blocked
becoz removing the cover means u hv to break those fking aged plastic nuts/plugs (which i broke them all and now leaving some holes)
the best way to see if the drain is blocked i reckon is pour some water directly at where the cover and windshield joins
if water doesn't come out under the chassis at a reasonable rate then pbly u need to brake those plugs.

[ljy1990]

hey guys i have a similar problem, the only thing is that i dont think i have the creaking sound coming from the roof! >_<
whenever i turn "slowly" say after a traffic light or roundabout, also when i hit bumps, bad roads or "wavey" roads, my del sol starts to sound like a creaking wooden ship -_-
any ideas what may be triggering it? could it be a ball joint that needs greasing? it sounds as if its coming from somewhere on the left side of the car ranging between the middle to the front?

[VT3C]

mate, try not to remove the cover unless u are sure that the drain is blocked
becoz removing the cover means u hv to break those fking aged plastic nuts/plugs (which i broke them all and now leaving some holes)
the best way to see if the drain is blocked i reckon is pour some water directly at where the cover and windshield joins
if water doesn't come out under the chassis at a reasonable rate then pbly u need to brake those plugs.

yeah I know what u mean - i am pretty good at NOT breaking those plugs..

but the previous owner must have removed the trim before as there's a couple of these plugs missing allready :( now I know why !!

[dc292177917]

yeah I know what u mean - i am pretty good at NOT breaking those plugs..

but the previous owner must have removed the trim before as there's a couple of these plugs missing allready :( now I know why !!

see how will u do then, once u touched one and u will know why u have to break them lol