Wind noise from gap near mirror
 

I've been driving home on the freeway with the top up and noticed something odd. There is a high pitched wind howl noise coming from somewhere in the car, and as I tried to localize it I figured out it was coming from where the door window meets the plastic mirror triangle piece and the rubber trim on the A-pillar (right there at the top of the mirror piece). If I put my finger there it would suppress it, so I'm guessing it's just a little gap or something.

Has anyone else had this problem, or more helpfully has anyone else been able to fix this problem somehow? The trim on everything feels kinda dry, so I'm not sure if I need to re-condition the rubber trim to make a better seal or if there's something else I can do to close/silence the gap.

-David

I haven't had this specific problem with my Boxster but in a previous life I can say that I've fixed a few wind noises around the mirror area. In my previous life, 9 times out of 10 it was a fit issue between the body and the mirror seal (yes, an earth shattering revelation). The way we fixed these issues was to remove the mirror and use a spray on chalk to see where the seal wasn't seating properly. Most of the time we simply added more foam tape with the adhesive backing.

If it were me I'd take the inner door panel off to see if there was anything obvious out of place or not fitting properly. If everything seems normal I would add the foam tape regardless and put it back together. The spray chalk works great if you can find it. It also makes a freakin' mess which requires you to tape everything off. You might be able to get away with a sidewalk chalk but the spray puts on a heavy layer that transfers from one surface to another to give you a visible indicator.

So you use the spray on chalk on the rubber trim, close the door, and then open again and see where it hasn't rubbed on the door surface to know where your leak is? If the technique works i might try regular chalk first, it does seem a lot easier to deal with..

-David

Yes, that is correct. When you close the door with the chalk on it do it as light as possible meaning close the door just enough for it to latch. If you close the door hard you will end up with "false" readings because you compressed the whole seal and then it rebounded.