Dealing with squeaks and rattles

[scriptacus]

Does anyone know how to remove the upper dashboard on the MS?

I've had the car into service twice now (6 months ownership) to deal with a loud and annoying creak in the upper passenger side of the dash (among other things), and it just came back again. I've scheduled yet another service appointment but they're so booked its not until the end of the month. I'd rather look into fixing it myself at this point than waste any more time dealing with the SCs. I love this car but it seems awfully noisy, even compared to my wife's Leaf. My heart sank a little the last time I had it in (for tire rotation, and the dash fix... again.) as I drove in a loaner with a VIN 10k higher than mine that was just as noisy with creaks and rattles as my car is. I had hoped Tesla would get a handle on these issues, but I really think they're just not there yet. Two different SCs have tried to fix this issue and both times it came back. They did manage to fix a loud rattle in the passenger door (loose speaker harness) but now the wire grill that covers the speaker has come loose and frequently rattles as well. Worse yet, they seem to have introduced the dreaded Pano roof creak with their preemptive "fix" the last time I had the car in. All in all I'm pretty fed up with the whole thing.

 

[ddruz]

Worse yet, they seem to have introduced the dreaded Pano roof creak with their preemptive "fix" the last time I had the car in.

I have this exact same experience. My pano roof was joyfully silent prior to their preemptive fix while the car was in for an unrelated matter on Aug 12. I'm scheduled to go in this week for it.

Are you sure your annoying creak in the upper passenger's side of the dash is not coming from the A-pillar cover? Mine was. I had it in twice to fix this and the second time it looks like they nailed it.

Unfortunately I don't know how to remove the upper dash board.

I agree with you that the Model S is awfully noisy compared to the Leaf. The Leaf was my prior car for about 1.5 years and was solid as a rock, beautifully silent. My Model S was relatively silent for the first 3 weeks, not as quiet as a Leaf but still very quiet. Then the creaks and rattles started up. They are my one disappointment about the car. But I will not rest till the SC gets my car back to at least as quiet as it was when new. It's a little over 4 months old now.

 

[texex91]

First, sorry to hear about the rattles--that stuff drives me crazy.

I'm also disappointed you have to wait a month for service. Tesla needs to expand their service centers as they sell more cars in a region (LA especially).

Let us know how things turn out.

 

[Slavas]

Has anyone solved this problem on their own?
Dashboard creak and crackling... crazy..., and it may not be permanent. Sometimes almost no sometimes strong. Air humidity or temperature may be affected.
I tried to remove the A-pillar cover but it does not help. It seems to me that the sound comes from the left defrost outlet near the windshield.
In general, it would be great if someone shared his personal experience of solving problems with squeaks in MS. I think there would be many grateful owner Tesla

 

[AronAZ]

I saw a thread somewhere that that I think few people pinned down their dash rattle to the defroster diverter valve or HVAC vent diverter valve. So your notion of being near the defroster outlet is probably spot on. Don’t recall the remedy - sorry.