Dash is rattling like woah

[KevinBRZ]

I don't know if it's from the cold weather or if something is loose. It has been happening only the past 2 or 3 weeks. Any little bump makes the entire dash sound like it's hanging on by one clip. It makes so much noise. It makes the car sound like it's really cheap (maybe it is). I can't really tell where it's coming from exactly because I can't stick my head anywhere while driving to hear it better. It's coming from the dash though.

[Muskokan]

Have you ever taken off the plastics yet? Hope mine don't do this. My suggestion for finding it would be to do what I did in my old car, take the plastics off and drive around with them like that on a bumpy road, turned out to be a lose clip hitting metal.

[KevinBRZ]

Which plastics are you referring to?

[abutterman]

do you have an autodim mirror? when the base becomes loose, the vibration makes it sound like the dash is making noise. i was going nuts trying to find what was rattling in my car until the mirror eventually fell off. had it replaced a few months ago and its been rattle free since then

[cnk]

It's getting colder now. Crickets are probably migrating from the engine to the cabin for warmth.

On a serious note though, did you do any work in the dash area recently? Maybe have someone ride with you and see if they can hear where it's coming from.

[KevinBRZ]

I brought my car in for PDR for hail damage, but that was 2 months ago and I don't see any reason they would have taken the dash apart. They did have to take the headliner out to get at the dents. I haven't heard the rattles until recently once it started going below 10 C in the mornings and figured it was just cold, but I hear it now when it's 20 C outside in the afternoon.

I do have a autodim mirror. I will try that when I get home. I push down on the dash when I'm driving but I still hear the rattle, so I don't know what would be underneath. If no one else is having issues, it might be something else that sounds like it's coming from the dash, but isn't.

[rapidcars]

Originally Posted by abutterman

do you have an autodim mirror? when the base becomes loose, the vibration makes it sound like the dash is making noise. i was going nuts trying to find what was rattling in my car until the mirror eventually fell off. had it replaced a few months ago and its been rattle free since then

This is probably the culprit as they've been falling off for lots of people lately. I've had it repaired twice already

[SloS14]

I had a rattle that sounded like it was coming from behind the gauge cluster that drove me insane. It ended up being my clip-on garage door opener on my headliner. I am old.

[abutterman]

Originally Posted by KevinBRZ

I brought my car in for PDR for hail damage, but that was 2 months ago and I don't see any reason they would have taken the dash apart. They did have to take the headliner out to get at the dents. I haven't heard the rattles until recently once it started going below 10 C in the mornings and figured it was just cold, but I hear it now when it's 20 C outside in the afternoon.

I do have a autodim mirror. I will try that when I get home. I push down on the dash when I'm driving but I still hear the rattle, so I don't know what would be underneath. If no one else is having issues, it might be something else that sounds like it's coming from the dash, but isn't.

yea most likely the mirror then. it was the same with mine... tried pressing down everywhere,even pulled the head unit out and poked around but found nothing.

if you push up on the base of the mirror it'll probably go away. if that does it, i'd say bring it to the dealer and tell them you want it replaced before it falls off while youre driving.

[KevinBRZ]

Originally Posted by abutterman

yea most likely the mirror then. it was the same with mine... tried pressing down everywhere,even pulled the head unit out and poked around but found nothing.

if you push up on the base of the mirror it'll probably go away. if that does it, i'd say bring it to the dealer and tell them you want it replaced before it falls off while youre driving.

Thanks for the advice. It definitely is the autodim mirror base. When I put it on it seemed like a poor design, and it seems to have gotten worse over time. The sound must be echoing off the windshield and makes it seem louder than it is.

[abutterman]

Originally Posted by KevinBRZ

Thanks for the advice. It definitely is the autodim mirror base. When I put it on it seemed like a poor design, and it seems to have gotten worse over time. The sound must be echoing off the windshield and makes it seem louder than it is.

Yea thats basially it. The original screws were crap and strip easily. I think the new base has new screws

[mashal]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOxWfRrb2Sk"]Black Rob - Whoa | *Best Quality* (2000) - YouTube[/ame]