New 2.5T Stinger, whistle coming from driver side window

[ejag]

I recently purchased a used stinger with 800 miles. Owner traded the car in for a miata and I got a pretty good deal on it.

One thing I have noticed, is that when driving over 40 mph, I get a slight whistling sound from the drivers-side window. The whistling gets louder around 60, and at 80 it is extremely loud. When trying to find the source of the sound, I noticed that the trim at the top of the door (between the window and body of the car) is loose. The trim is still attached, but actually actually pops up off of the door frame and must be held in place. I have circled the part that I am talking about in the picture below.

I have talked to 3 people about this, and they have all had different causes. I have heard A.) The window is out of alignment. B.) The door frame is bent and C.) The loose trim is creating the noise. The window appears to be on the tracks so it is not out of alignment, and the door still closes flush with the body.

I plan on taping it down this weekend to see if it makes any difference, but I was wondering if anyone had experienced something similar, had any ideas on the cause, or had any ideas for further troubleshooting.

All help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Kia Stinger]

I recently purchased a used stinger with 800 miles. Owner traded the car in for a miata and I got a pretty good deal on it.

One thing I have noticed, is that when driving over 40 mph, I get a slight whistling sound from the drivers-side window. The whistling gets louder around 60, and at 80 it is extremely loud. When trying to find the source of the sound, I noticed that the trim at the top of the door (between the window and body of the car) is loose. The trim is still attached, but actually actually pops up off of the door frame and must be held in place. I have circled the part that I am talking about in the picture below.

I have talked to 3 people about this, and they have all had different causes. I have heard A.) The window is out of alignment. B.) The door frame is bent and C.) The loose trim is creating the noise. The window appears to be on the tracks so it is not out of alignment, and the door still closes flush with the body.

I plan on taping it down this weekend to see if it makes any difference, but I was wondering if anyone had experienced something similar, had any ideas on the cause, or had any ideas for further troubleshooting.

All help is appreciated.

Thanks!

View attachment 77621

Welcome aboard! And thank you for signing up. Congratulations on your new Stinger! Just letting you know that I moved this topic out of the community lounge and into the main Stinger forum.

By the way... What did the Stinger replace for you?

 

[ejag]

Welcome aboard! And thank you for signing up. Congratulations on your new Stinger! Just letting you know that I moved this topic out of the community lounge and into the main Stinger forum.

By the way... What did the Stinger replace for you?

Thank you! The Stinger replaced an old POS Honda Civic that I drove into the ground

 

[Kia Stinger]

Thank you! The Stinger replaced an old POS Honda Civic that I drove into the ground

Nice upgrade! Congratulations...

 

[Snicklefritz]

a vibrating window trim causing a whistle is something unique, and I hope that's your issue because it should be easy to fix. my guess is that the strip is either not attached fully or one or more fasteners are broken.

 

[ejag]

a vibrating window trim causing a whistle is something unique, and I hope that's your issue because it should be easy to fix. my guess is that the strip is either not attached fully or one or more fasteners are broken.

I am hoping this is the cause as well. I would rather not have to take it in to be serviced, especially for something so trivial. For clarification, I think the whistle might be coming from air passing through the gap between the trim and the window, not the trim rattling. I have noticed that lowering the window fixes the whistle, but is not always practical in a cold weather state. Could this be a realistic cause of the whistling? I am hoping it's not a bent frame.

Do you have any ideas on how I would be able to test for this?

 

[Snicklefritz]

your frame isn't bent. the car is new still. and any accident in that short time would be in the car's short history, or should be. you didn't say if you bought your stinger directly from the previous owner or through a dealership.

but it's possible that you have a badly fitted door seal. you already said the closed door looks flush and straight so I wouldn't borrow trouble thinking that you have a malformed door either.

 

[Volfy]

Maybe some pics of these areas you are describing on your car would help.

Even if the trim piece is somewhat loose, I would imagine closing the door would compress the piece enough to form a good seal. However, without seeing it, it's difficult to know for sure.

 

[ejag]

your frame isn't bent. the car is new still. and any accident in that short time would be in the car's short history, or should be. you didn't say if you bought your stinger directly from the previous owner or through a dealership.

but it's possible that you have a badly fitted door seal. you already said the closed door looks flush and straight so I wouldn't borrow trouble thinking that you have a malformed door either.

Good point, I probably should have brought this up in the original post. I bought it from a supposedly reputable dealership. The main reason I am worried is when we got it up on the lift, it looked like someone had driven it up on a curb. The underside was scraped up and the front bumper had been replaced.

When I went back to the listing, I noticed that the pictures of the car had the Kia badge on the front, and a license plate mount. When I purchased the car, it had neither. The carfax on it was completely clean, and I'm inclined to think something happened during a test drive or something, the dealership did the repairs themselves and never reported it.

I talked to them about it, and of course they have "no idea what happened" so I have no idea what the true extent of the damage is. The car still drives very well and I love it, I just wish I could get the noise taken care of. Will update tomorrow with pictures when I have better lighting.

 

[ejag]

Maybe some pics of these areas you are describing on your car would help.

Even if the trim piece is somewhat loose, I would imagine closing the door would compress the piece enough to form a good seal. However, without seeing it, it's difficult to know for sure.

I just did some testing, I taped all of the gaps on the door shut and I was still getting the whistling noise. I noticed that when the window is down, I can press the trim down and it stays there, but is pushed out when I roll the window up. I will update with a video or pictures tomorrow when it's light outside.

 

[Snicklefritz]

that complicates things having a previous 'hit' like that. is your car a kia cpo by chance?

 

[ejag]

that complicates things having a previous 'hit' like that. is your car a kia cpo by chance?

It is not a CPO but I do have some good news! I did some more testing and found out that it has nothing to do with the trim, and is actually coming from the driver's side mirror. I had found a few other threads mentioning this issue, but I never tested it as I thought it HAD to be the door. I have some tape over it until I can take it in to the dealer to get the mirror tightened and potentially replace the seal.

I appreciate your help trying to troubleshoot this! It has been so annoying to deal with and I'm very happy to have it figured out. I was hearing that whistle in my sleep, at work, etc.

 

[Volfy]

I was hearing that whistle in my sleep, at work, etc.

That's a good problem to have. I wish I could get more sleep, at work.

 

[Snicklefritz]

I have some tape over it until I can take it in to the dealer to get the mirror tightened and potentially replace the seal.

smh. now I remember those discussions, or one discussion, where the 'whistling mirror' was the culprit. glad you tracked it down. any continuous noise that shouldn't be there is insane.

 

[rpoffen]

Mine has a slight whistle coming from the mirror too. Must be the aerodynamics.

 

[Snowwhite]

it's not a difficult fix. the inside trim piece snaps off and then you can see the nuts. Just tighten them a bit without going overboard.

 

[BUZSTINGR]

Mine has a slight whistle coming from the mirror too. Must be the aerodynamics.

The mirror has an underlying gasket, or mirror is not sitting flush. The mirror itself is attached by 3 bolts, accessed behind the inside door panel.