Gordon Shumway

My situation seems to be rather unique as I went from not having the problem to really bad popping to not having the problem. I am convinced that vehichle flexing induces the problem, and not necessarily rough roads. My '08 was quiet as a church mouse until a 4000+ mile trip this summer. I first started to notice a creaking sound while running hard over the Cherohala Skyway, and by the time of my return run on the Dragon it was popping like a bag of Orville Reddenbacher's best stuff. It kept up all the way over the Blue Ridge Parkway, and for another week after that. By my return to Florida it had calmed downed, and I barely hear anything now. I am doing the E-clips and grease right now, and expect that to work like a charm for our Florida roads. I will definitely go for the new handles if it crops up again, and they should be readily available by then.

Vette_DD

Excellent information, as usual, Paul.

Please see what you can do to get DocRing to put a link to this thread in the C6 FAQ sticky.

Hopefully, the pics will also remain available for awhile.

zorasdream

Hi Paul

I tried this twice and no response from the plant it's been aleast two months. I will try a third time but don't expect much at this point.

EvanD

First a bit of history. My new 1800 mile 09 coupe is my second vette, the first being a 92 coupe.

My car has no noise. Now I will say over very rough conditions I do get a very small amount of noise from the top shifting very slightly. This is nothing compared to my C4 or any other Corvette I have been in. Almost nil. We are so lucky with this car.

Second to people that think the car has wind noise with the top off, go ride in any previouse generation Corvette.

Last, this car is not a Cadillac, for what it is we have a wonderfull driving car that really provides a great driving experience.

ohmy

Talon...

Do you know if the rear slot assembly (the part that receives the rear pins) is at all adjustable?

Thanks

talon90

There is an adjustment procedure called out in the service manual. It is held in place by 4 bolts. Two that hold a bracket to the b pillar halo and two that hold the socket to the bracket. I would guess that it could be adjusted in small increments about the diameter of the bolts. I've also read that some members have had luck with adding a bit of shrink tubing to the pins however.

You have to remove the trim panel that you see around it in this photo.

ohmy

Talon, as usual you amaze me with your ability to answer any question that is asked of you, and your willingness to help others is truly commandable, not to mention an asset to this forum... thank you again, cheers...

RIRaven

Thanks for a great thread. I have only had this car two weeks but the popping from the roof was killing me. I did the e-ring insertion, tightened the j-hook one turn and did a lube job. Now the popping is gone. The only sound from the roof is some squeaking from the gaskets on rough roads (unfortunately, that describes most Rhode Island roads).
I am going to ask to have the new style handles installed under warranty.

talon90

ryoder

I lubed up the metal track and final resting place of the rollers, the indentation, and the noise was totally gone for a week. It came back the other day.

What is a J-hook and how do I tighten that?

talon90

The J-hook is the safety latch that is in the center of the back of the roof panel. Pictured below.



The service manual advises the following procedure for minor adjustment. It is a little bit of a trial and error.

For minor rear latch adjustment, adjust the latch handle hook one turn at a time to achieve moderate pressure to the latch as follows.
Remove the roof lift off panel.
Loosen the set screw locking the latch hook.
Turn the hook in to tighten or out to loosen.
Tighten the set screw.
Install the roof panel.

gota07

The J-hook is at the end of the rear latch. Release the rear latch and the part that disconnected from the roof bow will have the J-hook on the end. The hook is attached to the rear latch via a threaded connection that can be used to adjust the tension of the hook.

bonnell

I just had the new latches installed yesterday (October 15) and I now have a car without noise. The fix works!

Red Rochester

Thank You for taking the time to explain the roof assemble conditions.

George Ware

Thanks so much! I have a blk 08 3LT with a noisy top.

George Ware

BSE1956

My local dealer is really really awful.........he says there's no bulletin on the handles.r
This, amongst other BS.
I just sprayed white silicon grease on/in the rollers and presto! NO NOISE!

talon90

I hope it helps.

talon90

It is unfortunate that our chances with the dealers are so hit or miss. As you'll find in post #2 that there most certainly is a bulliten. I have posted the entire contents of the bulliten along with the part numbers for the handle. I'm glad that one of the other solutions worked out for you. You might consider trying another dealer to see if they can help.

dpigguy

super information as usual Paul! I did the e-clip some 8k miles ago and have not heard anything since. I also did the silicon based lub process after reading about it here on the CF. while I would love to get the new handles when available, I am hesitant doing so since the old ones are working great. any information on long term performance on the e-clips that would point us towards replaceing latches under warranty vs. just leaving a "sleeping dog" lie?

Dan

talon90

Dan,

Thank you. I'm in the same boat as you are. I'm thinking about the new handles simply because they are the latest design and are specifically designed to minimize the noises associated with the rattle of the roller mechanism. My problem is that with my early production rollers (I don't even have room for an e-clip) I have no noise what-so-ever. I am firmly in the camp of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I also have a healthy dose of silicone lube on my gasket. With that said, I would not replace them unless your current situation changes. The latch redesign basically puts in to effect what you have accomplished with the e-clip, it immobilizes the motion of the roller on the latch that can contribute to one type of noise that can develop due to the relative motion of roller in contact with the latch plate.

Paul