Extreme wind noise from Corolla doors

[nielshm]

Yesterday on the motorway I noticed wind noise from my doors. Really loud, making talking diffucult with a normal voice 

This is what I noticed: wind in the back, quite pleasant. Direct headwind, more noise, but acceptable. But changing direction, crossing the wind in some 30 or 45 degree angle, ohh my.... Wind speed is about 7-8 meters/sec. 

Noise seems to come from front doors mostly, but also rear doors are quite affected. 

I read some articles claiming that Toyota might have a fix or different rubber seal, but I can't figure out if it fits the Corolla. 

Any one know if anything can be done? I've looking at many cars on a walk around town. Most doors seems 90% identical in the way they close and fits the body. Some cars are just very quiet, and some are very noisy. It's nearly impossible to see what makes the difference. 

[Gray86]

I can’t help with the fix, but mine has been a bit noisy from day 1 above 50mph. It’s like a cricket (animal) is sitting inside by the door seal. 

[nielshm]

I don't hear it as a "cricket" noise. Just plenty of sound of wind passing by.

I'm trying to search internet for thin rubber seals, just to apply a bit more pressure on existing seals, or to close small gaps. Some claims that D-profiled seals around door edges could help, but I really don't like the look of it, and I would hate to ruin my existing seals by adding to much pressure.  

 

[nielshm]

14 minutes ago, ToyotaRecall said:

There was a recall for this on my 2005 Corolla Matrix XR - excessive noise at highway speeds due to improperly designed door seals.

I think I'll visit my dealer to see if new 2021 cars have different door seals.

[nielshm]

17 minutes ago, ToyotaRecall said:

There was a recall for this on my 2005 Corolla Matrix XR - excessive noise at highway speeds due to improperly designed door seals.

By the way, did it help getting the seals replaced?

[TonyHSD]

Some other makes has extra door seals between the doors openings and all around the door frames, not sure it’s alway from the seals though, my car is older top speck Auris and is relatively quiet on motorways however when I am in for relaxing time and lay down on the seat and outside is windy I feel wind entering through door handles, if there is a wind in then there is a noise in too. 😂👍

[camellia30]

I find mine noisy, I turn music up to uncomfortable levels.

I was sceptical of the tyre noise claims, maybe this is it.

[nielshm]

I went to my dealer yesterday, and had a mechanic with me on a testdrive.

The noise isn't from the wind (not as much), but tire noise is extreme. Speed must be below 30-35 mph before tires are quiet. We examined the tires, and found out that all 4 had heel/toe wearing on the outside. Passenger side is worse than drivers side.

The car has done 32.000 miles, and I'll try to get a 4-wheel alignment this week. I wonder if the heel/toe will wear out if the tires are properly aligned? I'll go Germany next monday, so it's a long high speed strecth, 650 miles each way. Since the autobahn is a mixture of rough tarmac and concrete, heel/toe can be a true nightmare, so I hope to get things sorted out.

[Gerg]

3 hours ago, nielshm said:

I wonder if the heel/toe will wear out if the tires are properly aligned?

I can't see that sorting itself out afterwards.  I have had some success putting 'saw-toothed' (heel/toe) tyres on the other side of the car (not Toyota), but if your tyres are directional (?), then that's not an option. And it took a long time to equalise the wear anyway after swapping them.

Not for tyre noise very specifically but soundproofing in general, perhaps you've seen this French website, and this topic?:

https://hybridlife.org/threads/corolla-ts-insonorisation-passages-de-roues-et-portieres.7375/

The posts of forum member 'FoLuxo' are worth noting especially, he's has plenty of history with the subject of soundproofing.

Or this Czech website:

https://www.ahifi.cz/clanky/detail/toyota-corolla-odhlucneni-0.htm

[nielshm]

16 minutes ago, Gerg said:

I can't see that sorting itself out afterwards.  I have had some success putting 'saw-toothed' (heel/toe) tyres on the other side of the car (not Toyota), but if your tyres are directional (?), then that's not an option. And it took a long time to equalise the wear anyway after swapping them.

Not for tyre noise especially, but soundproofing in general, perhaps you've seen this French website, and this topic?:

https://hybridlife.org/threads/corolla-ts-insonorisation-passages-de-roues-et-portieres.7375/

The posts of forum member 'FoLuxo' are worth noting especially, he's has plenty of history with the subject of soundproofing.

Or this Czech website:

https://www.ahifi.cz/clanky/detail/toyota-corolla-odhlucneni-0.htm

My tires are not directional. It's Conti Eco Contact and can be swapped to the other side of the car.

[Gerg]

18 minutes ago, nielshm said:

My tires are not directional. It's Conti Eco Contact and can be swapped to the other side of the car.

This was a few years back, I seem to remember swapping the tyres bought an immediate, noticeable improvement in noise (but for me this was a 'false' failed-wheel-bearing type noise, only when over 60 mph), but for the irregular tyre wear pattern to go took a long while.

It is interesting that in the US, tyre/wheel rotation typically happens at every service, for all cars, from what I can see anyway.

[RabButler]

On 7/12/2021 at 10:32 AM, Gray86 said:

I can’t help with the fix, but mine has been a bit noisy from day 1 above 50mph. It’s like a cricket (animal) is sitting inside by the door seal. 

I had that noise on my TS and I found that opening up the central vent a bit got rid of it.

[Gray86]

1 minute ago, RabButler said:

I had that noise on my TS and I found that opening up the central vent a bit got rid of it.

Central air vent on the dash, or something on the door? 

[RabButler]

Sorry. Central vent on the dash. Noise was coming from the right hand side and disappeared when I opened up the right-hand central vent a little bit.

[Trewithy]

Just make sure all the air vents are fully open then press auto on the climate control, set it at a reasonable temperature and let the car decide where to send the air. The performance of the CC is very good when left to its own devices.  All my previous cars had a Sun Sensor as part of the CC which was supposed to vary the air flow in accordance with the intensity of the sun, the Corolla doesn't have one but the system is good at controlling the temp inside the car one of the best I have had.

[Gray86]

On 7/13/2021 at 7:20 PM, RabButler said:

Sorry. Central vent on the dash. Noise was coming from the right hand side and disappeared when I opened up the right-hand central vent a little bit.

Tried this today to no avail. Definitely a seal issue on drivers door 

[TonyHSD]

4 hours ago, Gray86 said:

Tried this today to no avail. Definitely a seal issue on drivers door 

Is it possible to be only on your car? Defective seal or poor fitting? If you have an access to another Corolla same type and do a test drive for comparison, something might need attention from the service department. We had two same Toyota cars and one had a windscreen changed and ever since was noisier inside, whoever changed the screen did not fitted properly. 

[nielshm]

On 7/13/2021 at 10:10 AM, Gerg said:

This was a few years back, I seem to remember swapping the tyres bought an immediate, noticeable improvement in noise (but for me this was a 'false' failed-wheel-bearing type noise, only when over 60 mph), but for the irregular tyre wear pattern to go took a long while.

It is interesting that in the US, tyre/wheel rotation typically happens at every service, for all cars, from what I can see anyway.

I swapped my tyres yesterday (right/left), and noise level went do quite a bit. Now I can actually hear wind noise from the doors, noises that used to be suppressed by tyre noise. The car gets a wheel alignment today, I'm so excited to see if that brings further improvements.

[Gerg]

2 hours ago, nielshm said:

I'm so excited to see if that brings further improvements.

Whilst I hope it does for you, I am guessing it probably won't affect the noise much, sadly.

But I am certainly no expert on these matters. 

Both front and rear wheels on the Corolla will have an amount of toe-in set at the factory (wheels pointing slightly towards the centre line of the car), this is good for vehicle stability, apparently. 

Obviously there will be Toyota specification which your car will be being set to.   'Excessive' toe-in creates rolling-resistance (drag) and produces uneven tyre wear, usually sawtoothing. If there is little or no toe-in (particularly at the front), then the car can become more susceptible to side winds etc., and the steering can become more vague.  There are probably other considerations/symptoms that I don't know of.

On another brand (Skoda), I have heard of this toe-in figure being officially reduced, eventually, because so many owners were complaining of irregular tyre wear.  It's interesting that that figure can be changed from the chassis designers' original.

Perhaps someone can correct any errors in this?

[nielshm]

I had my wheels aligned yesterday, and they did'nt require any adjustment at all. 4 wheel spot on after 32000 miles, that's impressive. My issue with sawtooths on my tyres won't be fixed, and I have to try another brand next time I do a change. 

[TonyHSD]

5 hours ago, nielshm said:

I had my wheels aligned yesterday, and they did'nt require any adjustment at all. 4 wheel spot on after 32000 miles, that's impressive. My issue with sawtooths on my tyres won't be fixed, and I have to try another brand next time I do a change. 

Toyota suspension holds very well indeed. I had done over 60k miles checked and didn’t need adjustments too. The oem Falken tyres for Corolla  are not the best, you may try Goodyear or Michelin, they offer better quality rubber. 👍

[leepinner2005]

Hi, I have a 2020 Corolla and have same issue with wind noise from drivers door, did anyone get anywhere with this?

[FROSTYBALLS]

11 minutes ago, leepinner2005 said:

I have a 2020 Corolla

Your profile shows a 2013 Yaris - please update your profile to include the Corolla.

[lukikow]

Any updates so far? Maybe someone has tried the additional rubber?

[parkerbol]

To reduce the wind noise you have to add some additional rubber like Z type 

I just finished to "Z and D type" my Corolla 2019 hybrid and noise reduction is like wearing a first level of noise cancelling. Very pleasant ... but not enough. I will publish a post very soon.

But don't believe it will reduce noise at all because noise road is still present in the car even with a full wheel arches and hood insulation thanks to my friends Foluxo and Frg62. wiper cowl, rear and front panel, trunk need to be insulated too.