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Fix the 2g window rattle

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As almost all 2g owners know, when your windows are down and you shut the doors, it sounds as if they are about to fall apart. It's enough to make you cringe when you hear it. What most DSMers don't seem to realize, is just how easy it is to fix this problem! This article shows you exactly how with pictures for each step.


Items you will need:

1) 10mm shallow socket
2) socket wrench
3) vise grips or other clamping device
4) phillips head screwdriver
5) flat head screwdriver

First thing, roll your window down about 3/4's of the way like shown here in this picture:

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Next you are going to have to remove the stock door panel. The panel is held on by about 6 screws total, and a few plastic clips. Most of the screws are located underneath tiny plastic caps that are camouflaged with the door panel itself. To take these caps off, just get a very thin tipped flat-head screwdriver and then pry them off. <note not all DSM's came with these>

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(Pry all of these caps off)

Remove all of the screws underneath and then proceed on to the inner door handle, removing both the screw behind the handle itself, and the one below the cap in the cupped portion of the door.

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(Pry the cap off, and remove the screw in the cup portion of the door)

Once those are removed, slide the plastic piece behind the door handle toward the front of the car, and then remove it.

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(Remove the screw behind the handle, and then slide the plastic trim piece towards the front of the car and remove it)

Now you can remove the actual door panel itself. Just pull it with your hand, starting in one of the top corners of it, and slowly working your way around the door, until it pops right off. Now disconnect the wiring harness that connects to the door switches, by pressing in on the tab and pulling outwards.
Careful as this harness for some reason sometimes is a pain to get out, and also the dsm switch panel is very delicate and you can easily break the plastic where the screws connect to the door panel itself, causing your switches to actually fall out of the door panel, which isn't a good thing if you've experienced it. So be gentle, but remove the harness. Once you have done this then set the door panel aside where it won't get damaged.

Now that that is off, remove the 4 screws holding in the black plastic trim around your speaker. You could remove the speaker's screws, but you might as well just remove the black trim screws instead and give yourself much more room to work with.

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(Remove the screws around the black trim piece)

Pull the speaker out, and set it on top of something, so that it isnt just simply hanging there from the door. I used a good old aristocrat box to set it on top of .

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(A nice big hole)

Now that that is done, look inside the hole towards the front of the car, and there you will see a brass colored bracket connected to the window. This is the source of all your dreaded rattle. The plastic clips on this bracket slowly expand over time, allowing the window to begin rattling. Reach in through this hole with a socket wrench and 10mm shallow socket, and remove the one nut holding the bracket on. Carefully pull the bracket out, making sure not to get any grease on the actual window itself.

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(Remove this one 10mm nut and carefully slide the bracket out)

Here it is, the stupid plastic clip.
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Take a nice set of vise grips or thick pliers and just clamp it down
some so that the plastic is closer together. That is it. Task complete!

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(Clamp this plastic so it looks like this)

Now there has also been some talk about adjusting the felt pads that cushion the window up top. Your pads aren't necessarily off, but if you wish to attempt to adjust them then they are located at the top of the door. They will have allen wrench holes, as well as 10mm nuts surrounding them. Play with them if you wish, but I found mine to not need any adjustment at all.

Screw back in the speaker, plug back in the wiring harness to the door panel, install the door panel being sure to have every plastic clip correctly snap into place, reinstall the door handle piece, and re-screw in all the screws that held the door in, and you are done. Go ahead and test her out, I assure you she will be 10x better and you will be extremely satisfied with the results, as it literally takes 5 minutes if you know what you are doing before you start. Good Luck!

BONUS:
**In addition to this, while your door panels are off, you may want to do yourself a favor and pick up a can of "Great Stuff" expanding foam from Lowe's or Home Depot. This stuff costs about $5 a can, and it will make your panels in your car solid as an absolute rock. Spray a hefty amount on the back of your door panel, in all the cracks, making sure to hit all the areas that creak really bad. Do not spray too much as it will expand as it dries, but apply a good amount, covering the door all over on the back side.
I did this trick to my door panel, at the same time as doing this window rattle fix, and dear lord I have to say my doors are honestly 100x better, as even the door panel itself is solid as a rock, and there will be absolutely no rattle coming from your speakers etc. You can try this trick to all your other plastic panels in the car such as the hatch panels etc.
It works wonders, and an entire can weighs in at only 1lb so there is almost no detrimental weight added to the car, and when done you won't even know it is in there when the panels are on. This will make your car virtually rattle proof for almost no cost, and little weight added. Just be sure to wear latex gloves when applying this stuff as it WILL NOT COME OFF OF YOUR HANDS , and I found out the hard way.
Let the foam cure, and then put the panels back on. Do not apply too much foam on the area that the door handle rods will be as they will rub against it and make an irritating squeeking noise.**
 
some of this info is not correct and may end up in disabled window regulator.


95 eclipse windows slide up and down on 2 metal guides, approximately 2mm thick. rattle in the window comes from the front guide.

in this article, you are advised to "squeeze a PLASTIC clip". "brass looking things", or rusty in our case, are, actually, window brackets, sliding on the guides. they have U shaped part that encompasses the guide AND THE OPPOSITE END HOLDING THE WINDOW.
to provide smooth and no-lubricant operation, U shaped part of the bracket has delrin inserts inside, called "clips" in the article. delrin is a well known low friction and fairly durable plastic. it is, also, very brittle. please, do not squeeze the inserts/clips, or you are chancing snapping them in a half, like it happened on my car. fortunately, i only cracked it and it is still functional. but if you break it completely, that window will go loose on the guide completely.
instead of squeezing the insert/clip, i took the whole bracket to the anvil, saddled it on the narrow end, and hammered on the U-shaped part of the bracket, to bring METAL sides of it together. that brought delrin inserts together too, without damaging them.
you might, as well, squeeze METAL part of the bracket in a vise. i squeezed it to the point that delrin tips where snug against each other. even with that, plastic gives some, and allows bracket to slide back on the guide. if you over snugged the metal, you can spread it some with a flathead screwdriver.
helpful tip: when reinstalling the bracket, slide it on the window bolt 1st, letting it hang down loosely. reinstall the 10mm nut, tighten with fingers, then grasp the bracket and forth the U-shaped part of it, with delrin insert, onto the guide. the snugger it goes on, the better it'll hold. then, tightened that nut with a wrench.
we just did both windows in our 95 eclipse. i had to remove the driver side bracket twice, as i did not get it snug enough from the get go.
i wouldn't call it 5 minute job, it's very awkward to get to the nut/bracket, but about 15 min it is.
 
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