Quick question. Just got back from a trip to MI in the fishing van. The van ran great and we got good mileage, but the wind noise around the doors on the interstate was deafening at times. Is that normal for these vans or is it possible the weatherstripping just worn out? Is it hard to change it out if necessary or is there another possible solution? My wife mentioned the little wind deflectors that go around the front and top edge of the windows, do those work? Thanks for the help.
WEATHER STRIPPING
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Good question. Mine does the same thing on the dirvers side. I dont think my weather stripping is bad though. It appears as if the door isnt closing as tight as it should. Is this what is going on with yours? I can look from the outside and see that the door could be closed tighter. Is there any way of adjusting how tight the door shuts?
That is exactly what mine is doing. The driver's side is worse than the passenger's side. The weatherstripping appears to be in good condition, but it really lets the wind noise in. I am thinking of trying a set of those wind deflectors to see if they help.
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Greetings,
The weather stripping may well be worn out. I had the same problem last year, too much wind noise. The wind noise was substantially reduced after I installed new weather stripping on the driver and passenger sides.
Still not as quiet as I'd like, but I can now talk on the phone without people thinking I have a window open.
The weather strip is not difficult to replace. You'll have to remove the molding that covers the pillar the shoulder harness is mounted to, and the molding on the floor at the bottom of the door openings. The old weather strip just pulls right out. Be warned that the screws on the bottom may be rusty and difficult to get out.
When installing the new weather strip, you should start at the top and work your way down, making sure that the corners at the top are fully seated. You'll need a rubber mallet, but make sure the weather strip clips/channel is in proper alignment with the lip it attaches to when you "lightly" tap with the rubber mallet. If not the clips will not hold tightly enough and the weather strip will come loose.
I haven't tried the external wind deflectors yet, but may try them to see if they'll reduce the wind noise further.
RootsMan.
The weather stripping may well be worn out. I had the same problem last year, too much wind noise. The wind noise was substantially reduced after I installed new weather stripping on the driver and passenger sides.
Still not as quiet as I'd like, but I can now talk on the phone without people thinking I have a window open.
The weather strip is not difficult to replace. You'll have to remove the molding that covers the pillar the shoulder harness is mounted to, and the molding on the floor at the bottom of the door openings. The old weather strip just pulls right out. Be warned that the screws on the bottom may be rusty and difficult to get out.
When installing the new weather strip, you should start at the top and work your way down, making sure that the corners at the top are fully seated. You'll need a rubber mallet, but make sure the weather strip clips/channel is in proper alignment with the lip it attaches to when you "lightly" tap with the rubber mallet. If not the clips will not hold tightly enough and the weather strip will come loose.
I haven't tried the external wind deflectors yet, but may try them to see if they'll reduce the wind noise further.
RootsMan.
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76 Posts
You may not have to replace the weather strip. A trick that I used to use in the assembly plant to fix windnoise was to adjust the door striker to pull the door in a little more, reducing the seal gap, that is the gap between the door and the pinch weld flange on the body that the seal is mounted on. This will result in higher door closing efforts, but with a little time, you can fiddle around with it and improve windnoise issues. One work of caution, DON'T take the striker out, the back-up nut is held in a cage inside the b-pillar inner, if you loosen it so that the striker comes unthreaded, the tapping plate may drop into the inner panel, good luck trying to get to it once that happens! (If it does happen, use a magnet to attract the tapping plate and pull it up to re-align the plate with the hole in the b-pillar outer, it takes a little practice, but it does work!) Correct procedure, loosen striker, check for engagement to the weather strip, then tighten striker. Check to make sure that the door latch engages striker without too much effort. If the door "pops" open, (springs off of the weather strip,) you will probably want to back off on it a little bit. If the latch/striker is pre-loaded too much, eventually the door handle will break because of the pressure on it from the system. (the door handles are the weak link in the system).
Additionally, you CAN try tweaking the door header in a little bit to reduce the noise in the upper header (right by your ear). Just make sure that the window is down, and ALWAYS cycle the glass to make sure that you haven't bent the glass run channel so much that the window binds. Just some ideas for the adventuresome. I am not responsible for any damage that you may cause by "overdoing it"!
In case you didn't know, I worked as a bodyshop engineer for GM for 20 years. :chevy:
Additionally, you CAN try tweaking the door header in a little bit to reduce the noise in the upper header (right by your ear). Just make sure that the window is down, and ALWAYS cycle the glass to make sure that you haven't bent the glass run channel so much that the window binds. Just some ideas for the adventuresome. I am not responsible for any damage that you may cause by "overdoing it"!
In case you didn't know, I worked as a bodyshop engineer for GM for 20 years. :chevy:
It's fairly simple. You will need to "tweak the door header." I have been throught this enough times.
Just follow the procedure that was mentioned above in the last part of the comments by remark123. I put a 2x4 in between the door jamb and the body at back edge of the door just above the striker. Wrap it with some foam or a bath towel to keep from marring the paint. With the window down, GENTLY (did I say GENTLY ?)start bending the top of the door frame towards the roof. You won't have to bend it much, and it is better to do it in small progressive steps. Eventually, it will leak air again and you will have to repeat the process.
I have done this so many times on my 91 and nothing has broken or gone bad. Just be gentle with it.
Just follow the procedure that was mentioned above in the last part of the comments by remark123. I put a 2x4 in between the door jamb and the body at back edge of the door just above the striker. Wrap it with some foam or a bath towel to keep from marring the paint. With the window down, GENTLY (did I say GENTLY ?)start bending the top of the door frame towards the roof. You won't have to bend it much, and it is better to do it in small progressive steps. Eventually, it will leak air again and you will have to repeat the process.
I have done this so many times on my 91 and nothing has broken or gone bad. Just be gentle with it.
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