Please help me with these freaking rattles

It is not difficult to remove the door panels and the dashboard speaker covers. Doing so should help you identify and fix the sources of the rattles. I am planning on putting speakers in my doors this weekend. I can take some photos if you wish.

 

I will let you know after I do it. I've removed the dash speaker cover and it's pretty easy. You need to remove the A-arm pillar first. I will post some illustrations when I'm back at my desk.

 

Holland is so beautiful... it's my favorite country to visit.

 

Your "second most" sounds like this one
Rattle or Buzz on Passenger Side? Check Here: | Page 2 | PriusChat

 

Given the Prius is built for what it is and without much attention given to interior noise/rattle comfort, along with looking for ways to cure those rattling areas, I would look to see if it's possible to make the car less vibrate to begin with driving on brick roads.

Quality of tires and tire pressure come to mind. We own Prii because of high MPG, but in this case I would sacrify a couple MPG for a better riding comfort. I would decrease tire pressure to a minimum acceptable level. If and when it's time to replace tires, I would look for tires that are more quiet/comfort and softer, versus handling, best mpg, etc.

Removing door panels are not hard at all. One screw inside the small cover of the door level. Another small screw on the bottom of the door handle "pocket", underneath the black rubber piece . Then pull the panel out, starting from bottom, then lift it up. There are small, black, soft, rubber/paper-like washers on those door-panel push-pins. Make sure you don't loose them.

 

While installing new dashboard speakers today, I found something interesting: When you remove the A-pillar cover, there's a cover beneath the small triangular window. This piece is vented to let the defroster warm the glass. Remove this piece, and beneath is a small plastic "cup." Mine had something inside. Presumably, something fell inside the vent, landed in this little cup, and it's been rattling away for years. I shook it out, now that rattle is gone.
In the photo below, it's the small tan piece of plastic with the five slots.

 

I have a 2015 Prius first thing I notice there are layers upon layers of rattles I spend estimating over 100+ hrs securing& sound proofing it! One common rattle where u can't do anything about it is the seat belt retractor. it's a motion ball that re acts to movement to lock the seat belt. I suggest to tighten all panels and wedge foam window seal strips between suspected areas of rattles to isolate problem.

 

Mine has a very annoying rattle at the connection between the rear of the flying buttress and the lower part of the center console. If I pull on the flying buttress, the rattle stops, temporarily. Anybody know how to tighten up that junction? I'm hoping there's a hidden nut or bolt that needs tightening, if I learn how to uncover it. Thanks!

 

If you want to know, it's cellulose fiber from exotic trees which are renewable farmed to provide a non-petroleum-based material.

The biggest source of rattle in my 2010 Prius was the spare tire, which sits on a piece of styrofoam. I bought some cheap felt at a fabric store and wrapped the tire in the felt.

 

I'm surprised the car isn't made out of bricks, lol. Goeie dag!

 

I recently helped a friend with some serious dash rattle issues. We tore down the dash and found these areas to cause squeaks, ticking and rattles under the dash-plate. They were hard to discover until we drove his Prius on some rough roads with the dash-plate off. Here are some pictures showing all the culprit areas. We solved it with lots of pieces of foam rubber tucked behind the intersections of plastic ducting and the electrical connectors attached to the central crash support tube structure.

 

I'll mail you a beer if you tell us how you removed the dash. I know how to remove the glove box and the A-arm pillar plastic, but the top of the dash... how do I remove that?

 

No need for a beer, but thanks anyway. I'll come up with a step by step writeup (sorry no additional pictures) and post here later. This is advanced trim removal and if the connections on your car are stubborn, there's always a chance for marring or clip breakage. Give yourself a day to do this. More later when I complete the writeup.

UPDATE: I'm doing this same process to another Prius next weekend and will get pictures of the removal process of the dash-plate.

 

Haha this show how cheaply Prius are put together! 2 dollars worth of insulation would prevent these but in term that 7 million dollar more in profits. Please do post info to remove dash! Iam sure I will do this some day! Many Thanks!

 

Please post a write up!!! I definitely need it because I'm thinking about getting two bird with one stone with the auto headlight mod and insulating the dash components.