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I need to know about your rattles....
- Thread starter voip-ninja
- Start date
5_+JqckQttqck
Active Member
Front axle clicking is back after they replaced the whole steering column. It must be something else o.0.
Happens less than before but it's there and heard it while playing with summon.
Happens less than before but it's there and heard it while playing with summon.
CharleyBC
Active Member
Ha ha! Got one figured out! I’ll document it here in case someone else can benefit from this.
For several months we’ve had an intermittent rattle on the driver’s side (US car, so left, but it’s specifically the driver’s position, so it might happen on the right in New Zealand, etc.). When it was rattling we would usually be on pavement with a gravelly texture. I had been thinking it was coming from the left end of the dashboard somewhere. I suspected perhaps the VIN plate. My attempts to find it while driving were fruitless, either because of being in situations that demanded full driving attention and both hands, or because the pavement would suddenly smooth out, stopping the rattle.
Finally a few days ago I was on a long stretch of freeway with Autosteer on. Rough pavement and consistent rattle. “Okay, car, you drive. I’m going rattle hunting!” I started pressing my hand on the dash here and there. I discovered as I moved my hand around, I could feel the rattle, the intensity varying with location. So following the intensity like a Geiger counter, I ended up on the steering column, then down underneath. Then I found it! There is a plastic cover on the underside of the steering column, about straight below the near edge of the dash. As soon as I pressed it, the rattle stopped, and stayed stopped. From time to time on our journey, it would come back, but now I could confidently stop it every time. And now that we’re home from our trip, I’ll find some hunk of foam to stuff in to stop it permanently.
Funny about the acoustics. The actual source was pretty far from where both of us thought the sound was coming from.
For several months we’ve had an intermittent rattle on the driver’s side (US car, so left, but it’s specifically the driver’s position, so it might happen on the right in New Zealand, etc.). When it was rattling we would usually be on pavement with a gravelly texture. I had been thinking it was coming from the left end of the dashboard somewhere. I suspected perhaps the VIN plate. My attempts to find it while driving were fruitless, either because of being in situations that demanded full driving attention and both hands, or because the pavement would suddenly smooth out, stopping the rattle.
Finally a few days ago I was on a long stretch of freeway with Autosteer on. Rough pavement and consistent rattle. “Okay, car, you drive. I’m going rattle hunting!” I started pressing my hand on the dash here and there. I discovered as I moved my hand around, I could feel the rattle, the intensity varying with location. So following the intensity like a Geiger counter, I ended up on the steering column, then down underneath. Then I found it! There is a plastic cover on the underside of the steering column, about straight below the near edge of the dash. As soon as I pressed it, the rattle stopped, and stayed stopped. From time to time on our journey, it would come back, but now I could confidently stop it every time. And now that we’re home from our trip, I’ll find some hunk of foam to stuff in to stop it permanently.
Funny about the acoustics. The actual source was pretty far from where both of us thought the sound was coming from.
I have been having multiple rattles, one behind the screen and another the same as your on the steering column, but mine is on top. When I press the top of the steering column, the rattle stops. I actually took it to the SC a few months back and the tech heard it, said he packed it with additional material but it has returned...pretty frustrating.
At this point it’s easier to fix it myself. Lmk what you end up using to stuff it and if it stops the rattle.
Thanks
Is it coming from the wooden dash? If so, that's relatively easy to remove. The problem is that the entire bottom is plastic, and there's plastic-on-plastic contact that can result in a variety of rattles and screeching sounds. The solution is to cover all the contact point with a felt tape, and it's probably much easier to do that yourself than to bring it in.
In my case I brought it in and they covered almost all contact points, but missed 2 of them, which resulted in even greater rattling. I fixed the remaining 2 myself and that area has been silent ever since.
Thanks for the tip....it is pretty easy to remove the wooden dash? Any suggestions on the felt tape?
Easy is somewhat relative. You can find youtube vids that cover the removal of the front dash component. There are numerous tabs that have to be released and then the entire thing will come out as a single unit. You'll want to be very careful not to scratch it when you start getting it out of the car.
The tab themselves are removable/replaceable and in my case the service techs wanted to replace those tabs. Mobile service attempted that repair (tab replacement) and made things much much worse. I then brought it in and it turned out that the dash trim "sandwich" had bad spot welds that were also possibly contributing to different noises at different temperatures.
They replaced the part and insulated the whole thing and that particular noise (but not all my noises) has been gone since.
These cars are just noisy, so good luck with your efforts.
Take a look at I need to know about your rattles.... where I describe the felt tape fix. Amazon has some; I think I got this one.
Agreed, if you're not handy with disassembling things then it may be difficult. I can tell you that removing the front speaker grill is by far the most frustrating thing ever, so if the noise comes from there, it's probably better to get service involved. The wood dash was a lot easier in comparison (although unwieldy to deal with due to its length).
destructure00
Active Member
Let's see... What have I fixed so far....
Rear deck... Center brake light rattling
Seat belt adjusters both sides
Front fender liners
Front doors... Speaker/woofer connector rattling inside receptacle with loud bass
Passenger front door... Taped all points where wiring harness clipped into door panel
Creaking from loose ball joint nut drivers side (or whatever the nut circled in the photo below is)
Next up... Center console rattle, haven't found source yet, sounds like it's below or behind screen
Front door release buttons rattle with certain frequency bass
Rear deck... Center brake light rattling
Seat belt adjusters both sides
Front fender liners
Front doors... Speaker/woofer connector rattling inside receptacle with loud bass
Passenger front door... Taped all points where wiring harness clipped into door panel
Creaking from loose ball joint nut drivers side (or whatever the nut circled in the photo below is)
Next up... Center console rattle, haven't found source yet, sounds like it's below or behind screen
Front door release buttons rattle with certain frequency bass
CharleyBC
Active Member
Download Tone Generator and go between 80 - 100 Hz usually it will cause the rattle to appear. This 100% helped my SC determine my passenger bottom speaker issue.
CharleyBC
Active Member
Could you elaborate on this? Something you run on the browser in the car? Sounds useful, but I’m not sure I understand.
Its an app. Connect your phone via bluetooth and you can select a frequency to play via the car speakers. It will make it easier to identify rattles as it will shake panels inside of your car.
CharleyBC
Active Member
Got it! Cool. I can see lots of uses for that from time to time, not just for debugging rattles.
This board has really helped me (first of all verifying that I wasn't crazy hearing this rattle and then giving me ideas where to look for it) - and so I thought I'd return the favor. After weeks of searching, listening, trying, I finally found a mechanic that could identify the issue right away. In my case it was the black plastic running on the inside of the wheelbase hitting against the white/metal outer body. This would only happen after reaching a certain speed (25mph and up) and had to do with the wind pushing against the black plastic and it then flapping back against the white metal rim. He bent them apart and added a bit of cushion. The sound hasn't returned in about 2 months, so I'm trusting it will stay this way. I hope this helps someone else - best thing: you can easily try it with your hands. Just flap gently against it and see if that is shaking and sounding like the noise you experience.
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Whenever I turn sharply at low speeds, I can hear something either rolling/sliding/or scraping. Sounds like its coming from under the car near passenger side rear seat. Looked under car didn't see anything loose. Will take rear wheel off tomorrow just to take a better look to see if something is touching or rubbing.I have the stock 18's so that shouldn't be the issue. If you go in straight line or go over bumps, no noise. Only happens if turning sharping let or right sharply. I'm stumped
I Scheduled an appt, but nearest date is in 3 weeks.
I Scheduled an appt, but nearest date is in 3 weeks.
CharleyBC
Active Member
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