Hi, I have a 95' Del Sol Si and it is a really fun car to drive and everything works perfect on the car...except for one thing....when I start out fast in 1st gear...a clunking noise comes from behind the drivers seat. The noise sound like it is coming from the rear window area...sounds like the something it hitting the body of the car and is located in the window well of the rear power window. The noise just clunks once or twice as if a metal bar is not supported correctly. I checked the trunk and everything else I could think of but nothing I do seems to work. Might be a suspension problem? I think I only have a front anti-roll bar and not one in the rear....
Has anyone else had this problem? Thanks in advance,
Cheers,
Salestech

 

does this sound happen whenever the body flexes also like when youtake a small turn, or go up a curb, or when you are hitting small cracks in aparkign lot while going slow? i have a 1993 sol si that had the most annoying noises from all of the mounts of the top, and it sounded liek it was the seals but it isnt, i found it to be fromt he chrome sliding metal pins that engage the body when you lock the top in. i applied a lube called waxilit [ that is how it is spelled] this is a liquid seal wax, it goes on as a liquid and rapidly meavs a waxy lube behind. as soon as i did it, not only did the sound dissapear and never return, but the locking action of the top pins is so easy and buttery smooth, i cant belive i had to crank so hard on them before. [ i broke one of the handles!] anyways, i have had these sounds to be concentrated in certain spotrs, or even ovccur when the car is sitting in drive at a light waiting to go. easy way to know, remove the top, see if its still there. i have heard of the regulator rusting up bad from water entry and the regulator breaking, then the whoel window crashing down.

 

just pop out the personal trunk and the rear speaker panels. and then you can get in the rear window well... or just get up under it and look for loose stuff... OOORRRR it could be the muffler knocking on something because that BLOWS and is horribly annoying...

hope that helps and good luck sir.

 

Thanks fastrc2 for the insights.....the clunking sound only happens when I accelerate in first gear...not when I hit bumps or pull any fast turns.....I tried your idea and removed the top and the sounds is still there...but I will lube the top as you suggest as it seems to be a bit harder when I set the locks and the lube is a good idea. I guess the next step is to get into the window well and look to see if anything is loose. Thanks again for the ideas..
Cheers,
Salestech

 

Hi....Thanks Clean_sol for the next step idea. I guess I knew that I would need to get into the wheel well eventually to fix this problem...I was putting it off as I thought it would be a very big deal to get into that area but your simple direction seems like I can actually do this job and not wind up in any trouble. I do not have a manual but I assume that this is straight forward so I will try it and post the results. Thanks Again..
Cheers,
Salestech

 

Hey,
I took the whole thing apart and found the problem. (not that I solved it yet) After I removed the speaker panels and middle panel behind the two seats I found that
I could see the problem. I simple rolled the back window down first and then looked
right down the window well. There is a very small opening slot right next to the window that you can peer into the window well. So I spied a weird looking electronic box. It has a bright blue wire going into it and it is a sort of round thing with a grey metal thing that looks like a solenoid attached to it. I do not own a service manual so I really would like to know what the thing is....because it is not attached or secured to the frame....and hence when ever I accelerate fast the thing rocks back and then hits the frame of the car with a thunk noise. I would love to wrap it in a piece of foam and all my problems would go away. But it looks like some kinda huge job to remove the metal back plate that would give me access to the area. Any ideas?
Cheers,
Ken

 

secure it to the car using plastic tie wraps? ive never had mine apart but if theres something it could be tie wrapped to it wont be able to make noise.

 

Hi,
Great idea....now if I could only figure out how to get into that area to secure it?
I happen to own a micro fibre-optic camera system made by Sumitomo Elec. and I am going to stick the video camera down the 1/4" slot and look around to see if I can find
an easy way to get in there so I can secure the thing. I looked in the trunk and it seems like that is totally sealed up. And when I opened the panel behind the driver seat I see a huge metal plate with tons of bolts and screws attached to it. I am a bit afraid to try and remove anything there without some type of manual...or mentor :-) Anyway..I will keep looking into it and see what I can do ....thanks for the idea...
Cheers,
Ken