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Rattle In Dash!

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by keymusic, Feb 17, 2017.

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  1. keymusic

    keymusic Active Member

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    Anyone have a rattle in the dash area of a 4th generation Prius? It happens whenever there is a slight road vibration from a surface that's not perfectly smooth. The rattle is pretty quiet but very irritating. I can't tell exactly where it's coming from but it sounds like in the center left dash somewhere.
     
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  2. 'LectroFuel

    'LectroFuel Senior Member

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    I have that rattle in my car. Overtime I take the car in to get an oil change, the technician rides with me to hear the rattle and he never can. It's so annoying
     
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  3. ponderosabob

    ponderosabob Junior Member

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    We had that issue in our 2016 model three.
    It was driving me crazy trying to locate it.
    Went into the dealer, and they tracked it down to a loosely installed clip for the antenna on the back of the head unit.
    Back to nice silent vehicle.
     
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  4. keymusic

    keymusic Active Member

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    Thanks. I'll have my dealer look there. Did you take the service person out for a test drive to hear it?
     
  5. tucatz

    tucatz Active Member

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    I've had several dash rattles, a door rattle, and a rear end rattle in my early build 2016. (See earlier posts) My first dash rattle was from the lower heater ducts. It's a 2 piece white plastic assembly that vibrates at certsin speeds and road conditions. I solved this problem by stuffing toweling around the outlets and between the plastic cowl. Now I have another buzz inside the dashboard, trying to track it down.
     
  6. keymusic

    keymusic Active Member

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    Can you indicate where the plastic cowl is? Thanks
     
  7. tucatz

    tucatz Active Member

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    It's the black plastic panel below the steering wheel. There are cutouts for the heating ducts. Stuff toweling around the outlets and wrap the the duct outlets and the noise will stop. There are also outlets on the passenger side. Same procedure.
     
  8. keymusic

    keymusic Active Member

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    Thanks I'll try that.
     
  9. WeiW

    WeiW Junior Member

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    9 months in with 12,000km with a few rattles with road surface not even

    - driver side door upper panel
    - driver side dash near centre
    - pessenager side dash near centre
    - driver side seat belt height adjustment switch/button
    - passenger side seat belt height adjustment switch/button

    I am going to bring it into dealer to see what they can do.

    Never had this kind of problems with my old Honda Civic hybrid
     
  10. alexgrigori

    alexgrigori Active Member

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    From time to time I do hear a light frying noise (grind for a bit) from the middle of the dashboard.
    It is only noticeable during acceleration if ICE is engaged. It is typically disappear after a while.
    It is hard to pinpoint this noise source but I have a feeling that it has electrical nature and generated by some sort of beeper.
     
  11. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    I think you have to get your dealer involved. If you can, show them what is happening. If a mechanic can hear it for him/herself they'll have a better understanding of the problem... and it will get formally recorded.
     
  12. alexgrigori

    alexgrigori Active Member

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    Looks like it is weather (ambient temp) related too. As temp goes up (global warming :-?) I had no issues with this noise.
    Will keep u posted...
     
  13. tucatz

    tucatz Active Member

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    The buzzing from lower heating ducts outlets has been fixed. My car was at the dealer for another issue (broken windshield) and I had the ducts replaced under warranty. There is a TSB out for this problem.

    Latest issue here is the door panel, where the armrest and pleather panel join. Kinda squeaks and buzzes.

    It seems to me that all of the various buzzes and rattles come from the 2016 model. Any 2017's out there with these issues? My guess is that us early adopters have bought the car before the bugs are worked out.
     
  14. StaceyRae

    StaceyRae Junior Member

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    I have rattles in my car too. Mainly coming from the steering column. I had the tech drive with me, and of course he couldn't hear it. He did say that since the interior of the car is mainly plastic that any changes in weather can cause the plastic to expand or contract causing the rattling. He also said that they use adhesive felt to silence the plastic on plastic noise.
     
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  15. WeiW

    WeiW Junior Member

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    Going for my first oil change this week. I am gonna ask them for the air duct fixes per TSB and see if they can do something for the door panel and seat belt adjustment rattles issues. Update to come.
     
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  16. tucatz

    tucatz Active Member

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    I have a buzz inside my dashboard that sounds like it's in the area of the steering column, or maybe behind the info head unit. It's intermittent, and seems to really buzz going over rough asphalt around 50 mph. I've been feeling around and tapping all the plastic dash pieces when I do hear it, but can't locate the source. I've taken off the side covers (accessible with the doors open) and felt inside as far as I get my arm. Honestly, it's really bugging me.
     
  17. killertofu88

    killertofu88 Junior Member

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    I had the same issue with the white air ducts beneath my driver's dash. I asked the dealer about it at my 6 month oil change and they said they heard the same thing in the demo model so it was a non issue to them. Ummm, no, it means you need to fix your demo model too lol.

    I stuffed a small piece of foam into the very edge of one of the two ducts and now I don't hear anything of that sort. NOW I hear a buzzing from my driver's door from both road bumps and any music with a decent amount of bass (though I don't listen THAT loud) and now I'm hearing a buzz on the passenger side too. Yeesh, if only things like these didn't bother me :cry:
     
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  18. keymusic

    keymusic Active Member

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    :(
     
  19. tucatz

    tucatz Active Member

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    Shoutout to Ponderosabob and all others with issue - is your dashboard still buzzing? Have you tried to fi it? How do you get into dash to secure the antenna clip? My dash is still buzzing and it's driving me crazeee.
     
  20. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    Looks like the dealer did it for him, so unless he was looking over the mechanic's shoulder I doubt he saw the deed being done. There must be a few on here who could instruct you on how to get into the dash though!