Has anyone had a rattle behind the glovebox, it looks like its coming between the airbag indent (can see a slight rectangular discoloration/texture variation in the black dashboard material where the airbag pops out) and the small, round defrost vent. Applying pressure to the dash at this spot mutes the sound. The rattle sound is a high pitch; like plastic rubbing on plastic. I've driven with the glovebox empty (w/o tray, too) and the doors open and it still makes the sound. Also the rattle occurs more often in cold weather. I'm thinking of taking off the lower and upper gloveboxes to see whats behind there..
Okay, I removed the lower and upper gloveboxes and the rightside air vent. The hard part was the screw covers of the upper glovebox. For anyone attempting this, it seems best to push the cover on its top or bottom end with a flat screwdriver and pry from the opposite end that will pop out. There isnt much behind the upper glovebox. I could see the airbag enclosure but I didnt see much to the right of it. Wiggling the AC vent duct did not reproduce any rattle sounds, and during a test drive, there were considerably fewer rattles. I gave up and put everything back and went for a ride. Now the rattles have returned so next I'll try to shim everything around the glove boxes and vent? Maybe the dash by the window and A-pillar to? hmm
I developed a short-lived rattle in that area. I dropped the lower glove box door and checked the cabin air filter. I cleaned out a few leaves, and put it back together. The rattle remained for a day, then disappeared. It almost sounded like a computer hard drive. Anyway, I hope your rattle goes away, too.
In that case, I'll suggest you check the upper glovebox since you said that you removed that and the rattle disappeared? That leads me to believe that the object that's rattling is the shelf in the upper glovebox. It's supposed to be slid in so that it's stable. If you've just rested the removeable shelf, it will rattle.
I have the same noise on my 04, only when it's cold (less then about 60). It only happens on larger bumps and it makes "tick" type noise just once. If I apply downward pressure on the dash,just in front of the upper glove box, then it stops.
Tideland, Its not the uppder glovebox tray, I have that out. 200Volts, My sounds kind of like a 'tick' too, but sometimes occurs very often: quickly (distractingly annoying).. Someone in another thread mentioned shimming the plastic dash near the glass, I'm going to have to try shimming everywhere imaginable because there doesnt seem to be anything underneath the dash, its got to be the plastic rubbing elsewhere. I'll let you know how well my wooden toothpick shimming experiment goes
I'd be inclined to use strips of self-stick weatherstrip type foam, rather than toothpicks. It will still probably migrate around when the dash sits in the sun and gets hot, but may help for a year or two. And I certainly wouldn't bother replacing those idiotic plastic caps over the two screws in the upper glovebox -- mine got mangled enough in the process that it just wasn't worth it. . _H*
get a piece of garden hose about 3 feet long and have someone drive the car at the speed where the noise starts and take the garden hose put one end to your ear and start searching with the other end you'll pinpoint the area were the noise is very quickly using this techinque.
oooh, that sounds like it would be a good tool for finding rattles. i'm guessing that you have experience using this method yourself, Frank?
yes for years in the auto business I've used it and when I was in the tuneup speciality shop used it to find intake leaks and then bought an electronic leak detector. But still use the hose for finding squeeks and rattles and other noises, IE: transmission noises as you can pinpoint which end of the case it's in. Engine noises and even found a squeaking rear main oil seal with it. Fast and most important Cheap. I actually use 5/8" heater hose. Your hubby will know what that is.
he's got a stethoscope thing for moving parts and etc in the engine compartment (NOT cheap), but i don't think he has anything to pinpoint those other kinds of noises. 5/8" heater hose- i'll pass that on to him. thanks.
yes I've got three maybe four stethoscope, yes I know, but your always looking for one with the best diaphram, but for the fastest location of noises you can't beat the hose. By the time I'm listening to a tranny with the hose, shortly after I'll be taking it out and apart and I just need an idea where the noise is eminating from. Once inside you know roughly where to look for problems. Same goes for engine noises, alternator bearings, water pumps, A/C compressor noise etc.
thanks for the tips. he says he'll try that out next time the opportunity presents itself. thorough as hell as he is, he's still picking up tips for the quickest way to do things. seems that mostly comes with more years of experience.
I applied some closed cell weather stripping to try to reduce the sounds around the glovebox. I found a contact point between the black dash and a support that I think may have caused some noise. There is still a high pitch, 'tick' type noise coming from somewhere, so I cannot be certain how much the weather stripping has helped. Places I put weatherstripping: - overtop the bottom glovebox's rubber stopper contact points (these stoppers looked too small so I put a 1 inch piece over them. - in between the black dash and the gray A-Pillar.. used a toothpick to push the weatherstripping down into the crack - interface between dash and a support. Part of the dash rests on a support and I think this interface causes some noise. To get to this spot, I had to remove the upper glovebox (its really just the lid that comes off). The contact point is on the right, under the words "SRS" (about 3 inches to the left of the circular vent). There are probably similar places causing noise elswhere on the dash, but they aren't as easily accesssible.
