Tales of a MIC Top rattle...finally fixed

[HPNQ420]

2023 BD 4 Door, MIC top:

For the last two years I have been chasing a rattle coming from the passenger side, center section, forward latch area. Here is what I did to track this down:

1. Added vacuum port covers to the various pins. No change.
2. Carefully aligned all adjustable latch plates on the roll cage. Lubricated all seals. Eliminated the rattle except between about 35° and 55°F. (No, I am not kidding.)
3. Removed all the interior plastic trim on the roll cage. Inspection found that not of the nuts securing the metal flanges to which the MIC top seals had ever been tightened. I snugged them all, and expected the problem was solved. It fixed a different rattle .
4. Replaced the latch: Desperate, even though I could not find any problem with the existing latch, I ordered a replacement from Ruxer. No change.
5. The fix: At this point the only possibility was that the honeycomb structure around the latch had delaminated from the inner and outer layers and was rattling inside when it was not too warm or cold. I tapped with a small mallet listening for any sounds of delamination but couldn't find any. Then I drilled a series of small holes around the latch area approximately 1" apart. I injected West System epoxy into these holes. Most filled quickly. Then a series of three holes started cross-communicating...resin injected in one started flowing out the other two. This was an FBI clue the problem was identified. After they set up, I filled the small remaining depressions with a mixture of microbubbles and resin, then colored them in with carbonized grey touch-up paint. One month later no rattles in the problem temperature range!

While I was tracking down the rattle...

I noticed there were gaps between the center panel weatherstrip and the sealing surface. At the rear the weatherstripping was compressed, but the gap grew about 4mm on the drivers side and 8mm on the passenger sider as you moved forward. As a first step I removed the washers between the bumpers and the forward latches to allow the panel to sit lower in the front. This took care of the drivers side but the passenger side had a gap remaining. With no way left to adjust, I took a BF adjustable wrench and bent the latch plate downward on the passenger side. Finally, good gasket compression along the whole sealing surface but...

the front panel to center panel latches were now loose. I cut and glued plastic card stock (I used expired credit cards.) to the latches. For glue, I used the two-step Loctite plastic bonding system. Worked great A few swipes of a Sharpie around the edges of the plastic stock and the shims were unnoticeable. Good gasket compression. Wind noise was drastically reduced.

As a finishing touch...

I installed the @Turn Offroad headliner kit. This fit great, should be impervious to rain if my top is sitting in the back yard, looks cool, and it noticeably reduced noise from the top. Recommended,

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[Bill K]

Glad your sleuthing paid off. Very thorough!

 

[Tang71]

Very interesting thread. I just posted a similar issue but haven’t gone through the lengths you have to get a successful result. Could I ask you to take a look at My Squeaking Roof thread and determine if it’s similar to your previous rattle? I don’t know how far I could go down the rabbit hole on this one…. Thank you.

 

[HPNQ420]

Very interesting thread. I just posted a similar issue but haven’t gone through the lengths you have to get a successful result. Could I ask you to take a look at My Squeaking Roof thread and determine if it’s similar to your previous rattle? I don’t know how far I could go down the rabbit hole on this one…. Thank you.

You might have the same issue. Before you start, I would align all the top panels as well as possible. The latch strikes are attached to the rollbar by three very large torx-plus fasteners. On one side (driver's, I think) the pins locate the roof laterally. On the other side they float in a slot. Center the top on the side that the pins locate, then follow by adjusting the other by ensuring the pin sits in the center of the slot. Somewhere on this site someone has posted the procedure. One part is incorrect -- there is no height adjustment. Small adjustment can be made in height by removing or adding to the washers under the rubber bumpers on the latch. Anything bigger involves using a large adjustable wrench to tweak the latch strike up or down. If everything looks pretty good you can skip this step. Mine was WAY off.

You will also want to pull the interior trim off the roll cage and check to see all nuts that fasten the sheet metal to which the top seals are tight. Loose nuts here could definitely cause your rattle/squeak. Do not overtighten as the bolts are rivnuts made out of extremely soft metal. I overtorqued some. You will see the flush head pulling down through this sheet metal if overtorqued. On the couple I overtorqued I just pulled them all the way through and replaced with stainless fasteners and stop nuts. I should have just done them all as Ford's solution was for production and not the greatest structural integrity.

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