Oh boy....Dash rattles.

[jbdan]

After hours upon hours of trying to locate one of my 2 rattles in my 08 Pri I finally found it. I've learned to avoid my local Toyo dealers for a fix under warranty as when they fix one rattle my car is returned to me with a new rattle. So I thought I'd give it a go myself and post my findings so as to maybe help someone else who's as anal as I am about interior rattles.

Great help is offered here in this forum and I appreciate the quality of people in here. After cancelling out all possibilities with cup holders, sunglass holder, glove compartment, srs pillar, small triangular window/dash panel etc.... I thought to look into the driver-side vent panel.

I noticed after removing it, if I thumped it on the side with my finger, it made several rattles. So I thought I would try to isolate the rattles to a certain area....couldn't as they were all over. So here is what I did (pics kind of large sorry):

1st image(0402): 4 little yellowish clips rattled-not tight/firm
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/7489/dcp0402kr5.jpg
2nd image(0405): this piece rattles/is loose
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/8530/dcp0405yq5.jpg
3rd image(0406): so is this
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/3685/dcp0406eb2.jpg
4th image(0407): oem felt from "under stereo" storage
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/6885/dcp0407bx0.jpg
5th image(0408): small piece of felt in 1 of the 4 yellow clips
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/4033/dcp0408rd1.jpg
6th image(0410): felt installed
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5868/dcp0410yb4.jpg

This solved it for me. Now to do passenger side as there is a rattle over there from the exact same area. All in all takes about 20 or so minutes. Hope this helps someone who can't locate rattles.

[JunsGrayPria]

I've complained about my dash rattles on the driver side... rattles especially when the road is rough. I think it's the vents also. They always come back to me saying they can't hear the noise when they test drive it.

How exactly were you able to remove the vent piece to fix the rattle? How did you separate it? I'll try the padding and maybe it will help.

Thanks for the great pics.

[jbdan]

Originally Posted by JunsGrayPria

I've complained about my dash rattles on the driver side... rattles especially when the road is rough. I think it's the vents also. They always come back to me saying they can't hear the noise when they test drive it.

How exactly were you able to remove the vent piece to fix the rattle? How did you separate it? I'll try the padding and maybe it will help.

Thanks for the great pics.

I understand...*mechanic drives my car and doesn't hear what I hear* therefore he says, "sorry, but unless we can duplicate the rattle we can't fix it." ugh lol

To remove the vent panel I used a black plastic spatula...like you use to flip your pancakes ! Start at the top and wedge it gently between it and the dash. Slowly pry vent plastic away from dash until about 1/2" out. Then rinse and repeat on the bottem where vent plastic meets with black underdash plastic. Be gentle and you'll see that it almost "pops" right off.

Can't see very well in last pic, but there is felt also in that little upsidedown "U" shaped thingy closest to the lighter colored vent foam seal.

Good luck and hope it fixes your rattle as I know how frustrating they can be!

[drees]

You are awesome, those dash rattles have been driving my wife and I crazy. They seem to pop up when you hit just the wrong type of road surface.

I get the rattle mostly on the drivers side, but occasionally the passenger side like you.

I'll have to pop those vents out this weekend and see if I can fix the rattle, too. Thanks for the pics!

BTW, what also works for the yellow clips (on other cars where I've had those clips rattle) is to pop them off, and pop them back on with a small dab of silicone sealant.

[jbdan]

Originally Posted by drees

You are awesome, those dash rattles have been driving my wife and I crazy. They seem to pop up when you hit just the wrong type of road surface.

I get the rattle mostly on the drivers side, but occasionally the passenger side like you.

I'll have to pop those vents out this weekend and see if I can fix the rattle, too. Thanks for the pics!

BTW, what also works for the yellow clips (on other cars where I've had those clips rattle) is to pop them off, and pop them back on with a small dab of silicone sealant.

I thought about silicone caulk. I think the sealant would work as well. I wanted to use something that was less permanent incase something got glued/sealed shut. Guess I was afraid of not being able to remove the vent panel as easily incase something came up and I needed to remove it again heh.

Hope it works for you too. The rattling in there drove me nutzo's

[kerryjchinn]

JBDan - U Da Man!

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your persistence in tracking down the one thing I could not stand about my Prius - dashboard rattles. I mean come on, it's a Toyota. They figured out dashboards that don't rattle decades ago with their TQM (total quality management) production process, right?

I've tried to track the source of these rattles numerous times myself but only came as close as knowing it was likely associated in or near the driver and passenger vents. I also tried to find help on this board and others, but I believe you are the first to actually hit the nail on the head.

Kudos to you my friend. Well done. This weekend will be spent bringing peace to my ears... at last.

[jbdan]

Originally Posted by kerryjchinn

JBDan - U Da Man!

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your persistence in tracking down the one thing I could not stand about my Prius - dashboard rattles. I mean come on, it's a Toyota. They figured out dashboards that don't rattle decades ago with their TQM (total quality management) production process, right?

I've tried to track the source of these rattles numerous times myself but only came as close as knowing it was likely associated in or near the driver and passenger vents. I also tried to find help on this board and others, but I believe you are the first to actually hit the nail on the head.

Kudos to you my friend. Well done. This weekend will be spent bringing peace to my ears... at last.

In agreement with you 110% on TQM! You would think!

Here's to hoping this solves your rattles (*place 'beer' icon here*) . I know some people get the rattles from the other things I mentioned in my orig post, but for my 08, none of those "other" areas were the culprit....at least not yet heh. This is the sole reason I posted this so I hope it helps ya!