Took my Defender in to Land Rover San Antonio for crackling sound in passenger A pillar. Couple hours later was told it was ready. Applied felt tape. Fix didn’t work, if anything slightly worse. Anyone been down this road can tell me what next step would be?

 

Tucker - was your noise ever fixed?

 

My Defender A pillar trim isn't loose yet. But on my LR4 with the same problem after a windshield replacement, I installed new clips that attach the pillar trim. The clips are basically "one use" so if you pull the trim off you need to install new clips before reattaching it. I also used really strong double-faced carpet tape to hold the trim tight.

 

If someone can send around the new part that some people had installed with the fix, that would be helpful. The tape doesn't work and my dealer is clueless and not responsive. They applied the anti squeak tape now twice. Each "fix" made it better each time, but now the A Pillar noise is back. Noticeable only at higher speeds - greater than 70. I also have a slew of door rattles like they aren't flush/tight - but coming to grip that is LR engineering. Boy - miss my BMW and Porsche build quality.

 

I have been debating between ordering another Defender or an X5 to replace our aging LR4. Decided to go with a 2022 X5 as long as some of the currently unavailable options return for the 2022 model year order entry. Having had 2 LR4's in the family motor pool for the last 8 years I'm ready for some variety.

 

I don't think it's the A pillar. I road in passenger seat for quite a while with ear and eye to windshield. I was originally suspicious of something loose inside or maybe outside trim on the pillar. Now, I'm quite certain it's actually the passenger wiper flapping in the wind. around 60 MPH, the wiper starts lifting off the glass and then slapping back down.

Maybe it's still in the pillar and this is a coincidence. But I think this is it. I could watch the wiper flapping around and here the ticking sound as it looked like the wiper was hitting the windshield.

If this is the case, it seems we need a little "spoiler" that can clip onto the wiper arm and force it down at speed.

One thing I didn't try yet is running the wipers at speed when I'm hearing the ticking sound to see if it stops when they run.

 

^^Interesting take. Who will be the first to put duct tape on the wiper, cruise on down the highway at 80mph and report back?

 

I did “a little” more testing. Upon further exam, I’m back to thinking it’s the A pillar shroud like others have said. While hearing it, I ran the wipers several times, and it seems I continued to hear it. So now thinking it’s not the wiper… although it remains true that the thing flaps around in the wind.

I’ve had this truck two weeks. AC broke and it spent five days in the shop. Yesterday, inside passenger door handle stopped working. Back to the shop next Tuesday. And then this ticking sound and I’m having some random issues with the touchscreen software. Not off to a good start.

 

I applied the felt tape fix myself to my June 2020 build US spec p400 HSE, and it eliminated 60-75% of the noise from the passenger side A-pillar. Seeing this post, and wanting to totally eliminate it, I ordered the exterior pillar trim molding directly from MyRoverParts. About $80. And they did confirm its the revised part as per Gator's post. I will have it painted Tasman Blue and install it myself, then submit all receipts to LRNA and request reimbursement. The closest LR dealer is over 200 miles from me, and they can’t see me until mid July.

One question though - do I remove the felt tape before installing the revised trim molding?

 

Thanks for the post. Our high volume LR dealer has no idea. I sent him the part numbers - so will see what comes back. I might be your sister build - June 2020 for my HSE. Two trips and still a noise - though only at higher speeds.