Gen 3 Dashboard rattles & creaks

I would like to say my 04 impala had 0 rattles over the 70,000 i drove it. My prius has the center console withion a month of owning it. I'm not defending gm besides of the interior quality. They do somethings right.

 

Interesting observation, I have a '92 Chevy pickup that I bought new and after 18 years it still has no rattles. Still runs great also.

My new Prius has so many rattles I would just be happy to find and fix the worst of them. Rattle finding has become sort of a hobby, but it's not one I wanted.

 

Mr. TOyoda has more apologies to do...
when he gets out of his Audi...hahaha

 

I have the annoying right side rattle. I believe it is a resonant frequency problem as it always happens when the ICE is turning around 1700 RPM.

I have not isolated the exact location yet as I am always driving when it happens. I will have get my wife to drive while I search for the source.

 

Damn I have a rattle in the center cup holder area when I go over bumpy roads! Bleh!

 

My daughter's 2010 Prius has much more dash rattles than mine. A few days ago I forced a piece of heavy rubber in the middle of the gap which exists between the lower part of the console (at floor level) and the bottom of the dash just above it (about 1/8" horizontal gap). This reduced the rattling drastically in her car. I did the same in my car and it seems to have also improved the situation a bit but not as dramatically as in her car. I don't know if this will last or not... I guess this breaks the resonance of the plastic components somehow...

It may not work in your car but it does not hurt to try...

 

Are you talking about the spot between the two center cup holders? That little slot in there between the arm rest and the floating console whatevermajigget?

 

Exactly what I feel. Been looking to Trade for Acura TL or the Lexus 450h. ...sighs.. I can stand everything but the rattling and make the car feel so cheap and it is driving me nuts, insane and very uspet.

 

Under 1000 miles on a 1 week old Prius II. From delivery we've noticed a rattle that seems to be coming from the passenger
side of the dash area. Also noticed what sounds like cracking ice from the upper driver's window area. Disappointing in a brand new car and our first Toyota.
On the other hand, impressed with the technology Toyota has brought together here and how they've packaged it.

 

I've got my Gen III running quietly now and am quite happy with it. I've learned that locating the source of a squeak/rattle/creak is really tricky. For example, one really annoying rattle turned out to be my sun glasses in the overhead eyeglass holder. Here are the two that I've had luck fixing.

1. Rear passenger seat back clamp. This is where the steel loop engages in the button release mechanism at the top of the back seat. The noise was a creaking that manifested itself when the body twisted, as when going over driveway curbs at an angle, and was temperature sensitive. A tiny squirt of spray-on lubricant fixed the problem.

2. Sky Bridge console and cup holder (this one seems to affect a lot of folks). I tried a couple of things on this one and am not sure which one actually fixed the problem. First, I removed the plastic tops. There are details for doing this on other posts, but it's easy and doesn't require any tools. Just be careful when pulling the piece with the hole for the shifter knob, it will come up too hard if you pull with too much force. Once the two pieces were removed I stuffed all the inside air spaces with a sound deadening material. Glass wool used for aquarium water filters worked for me. I "REALLY" stuffed it in hard, the idea being that the wool would provide some upward tension against the top pieces when they were re-installed. Second, I applied a "lubricant" around all edges where the tops intersect with the bottom pieces. I used liquid Palmolive dish washing soap and a q-tip. ALL edges and clamp surfaces received an application. Granted, there are probably better choices of lubricant, but this was handy and non-destructive. I wanted to use silicon grease, but couldn't find any.

I'd eventually like to line the glove boxes with felt, and add some additional felt to the eyeglass holder, but the car is nice and quiet now, and has been for more than one month.

 

For #1, just spray the area, that's it? I may try this since I'm having creaking noises coming from that area...

 

As you lower the backseat back, you'll see a steel loop about 1-inch across that's attached to the chassis. This loop engages the button-operated latch mechanism located inside the seat-back. I just squired WD-40 into the slot where the latch lives. I'll have to take some photos tomorrow.

I was careful to not let the WD-40 contact the leather surrounding the slot. This is easy enough if you have one of those small extension tubes on your sprayer. WD-40 might not be the best spray for this task, but I had it on hand and I haven't had to redo it yet.

 

Sounds as though dashboard rattles are a feature of the Series 3. In my case, it is a persistent rattle in the area of the driver's side air vent. (Presumably the passenger side vent in left hand drive vehicles). The area is not accessible from either the cabin side or the engine side. Any thoughts before I make representations to the local dealer would be appreciated.

 

I finally took my entire dash apart, and 6 hours later, I have just a minimim of noise. There is a cable near the passenger air bag that I believe was bouncing up and hiiting the top of the dash over bumps. I took a foot long piece of 2 x 2 foam insulation, split it down the center and wrapped it on this cable. I put this same foam between the air ducts, which stiffened them up, as I believe some rattles were these ducts rattling against the top of the vents near the window. Every flat area of plastic, I added pieces of adhesive dynamat, put foam insulation roll strips (found at Home Depot, etc.), under all bolts around speakers. When you put it all back together, you can get an idea of what is rattling or rubbing together, and just add pieces of foam or adhesive felt. I also used tool box rubber liner in many areas, sprayed with spray adhesive to adhere.
I am pretty happy with the noise now, there are a few scuffs from using probably wrong tools to get panels apart, but not too bad. Only recurring problem is my air bag light is on now. Dealer says the bag is still OK, only the light is on. I will go back in when by back feels better, pretty cramped quarters there and the windshield and mirror will bang your head often.

 

Any fixes for this right dash side rattle without taking the whole dash apart ?
This can't be the intention...

 

To fix any rattle on the front you will have to take the trims off. So far I have taken my central trim off 6 times just to foam thongs up. Taken the left hand side trim off as well.

 

I suddenly got a passenger-side rattle and, based on ALL the other content-full posts I have read (in several threads), I suspected the passenger-side rear seat back, which I had down around the same time to carry a couple of long wood trim pieces. Re-latched it, and it seems solid, but the rattle remained.

It turns out that the actual cause was the blade portion of the front passenger seat belt turned so the metal contacted the plastic cover on the pillar right behind the front passenger door. Just turning it 180 degrees, and voila: no rattle! This may return, of course, but I'm often driving alone.

I may pursue some of the other remedies that have helped people with other parts of the car, as preventions. I had Wilson Wong's set of pads for all the storage spaces before I took delivery of the car, so that was a good start.

 

My Prius II has some rattles over rough roads. I am used to them. My Camry has them- albeit with 76K on it. I do follow the 35Fx33R tire pressure recs. (higher pressure 40's, as some are doing= more rattles).

This thread sounds a bit like the dripping faucet phenomenon. I find dripping sounds sleep inducing, my daughter goes nuts and can't sleep.

However, I do fix the faucet when it drips.

 

I jammed some cardboard around the back of the console's cup holder where it interfaces with the rest of the aft console. It has quieted most of the squeaks, but you can see the edge of the cardboard.
I called Toyota's "Consumer Experience" telephone number to get a case number for the squeaking and add to the people who have called to complain.
After being put on hold while the rep. researched the question, the rep. returned and told me that she doesn't have a record of any complaints about squeaks in the 2010 Prius. This highlights why Toyota is in the spot it is today.

 

I posted one of the first dash rattle posts in August '09 and finally got my car fixed today, thanks to the recall. The dealer installed a sound insulation package and now the rattle is gone. I grew to hate the car and every bump in the road, but now I may slowly warm up to her again.