Gremlins in my dash!

[ess56]

Have an 05 XT that i purchased back in Oct (i am now the 2nd owner). Anyhow, a rattleing noise has developed behind the dash (on driver side). At times, it seems to be coming from directly behind the gauges, while at other times it seems to be more to the left corner. There does not seem to be a pattern of when the rattleing begins, so that is why i indicate a gremlin! Also, its very difficult to get my ear up closer to the dash to pinpoint it. Any ideas appreciated. Thx.

[tubeboggan]

Originally Posted by ess56

Have an 05 XT that i purchased back in Oct (i am now the 2nd owner). Anyhow, a rattleing noise has developed behind the dash (on driver side). At times, it seems to be coming from directly behind the gauges, while at other times it seems to be more to the left corner. There does not seem to be a pattern of when the rattleing begins, so that is why i indicate a gremlin! Also, its very difficult to get my ear up closer to the dash to pinpoint it. Any ideas appreciated. Thx.

omg! I think I have the exact same thing! It happens when my 05 xt (2nd owner aswell) shakes. When it rattles on the drivers side, I can nudge the dash towards the window and it goes away until the car shakes again. Also more recently it rattles on the right corner now. Thought it might be a screw bouncing around. It was most noticeable when i had a bad wheel bearing and when the car shakes the rattle would show up. But after i got a new hub/bearing in, the rattle went away because the car would drive smoother. It comes back once in awhile.

[Soledad]

My '05 has the same rattle. There is a TSB on it. Check here for the .pdf of the TSB.

Someone found that if you take off the side panel on the left side of the dash and make the screw hole bigger it allows the dash to move forward just enough to stop the rattle. I was going to try that when the weather warms up more.

Others will wedge a piece of solid foam or rubber between the dash and windshield to get it to stop. I'm just about ready to do that because the colder it is the louder the rattle is. And I drive dirt roads frequently and it's driving me insane.

[ess56]

Guys -
Thx for the quick response here.....sorry to see that you both have the same issue, but on the other hand glad i'm not going crazy here. Will checkout the TSB and foam idea! Thx again.

[ScoobyRu]

Originally Posted by Soledad

My '05 has the same rattle. There is a TSB on it. Check here for the .pdf of the TSB.

Someone found that if you take off the side panel on the left side of the dash and make the screw hole bigger it allows the dash to move forward just enough to stop the rattle. I was going to try that when the weather warms up more.

Others will wedge a piece of solid foam or rubber between the dash and windshield to get it to stop. I'm just about ready to do that because the colder it is the louder the rattle is. And I drive dirt roads frequently and it's driving me insane.

This is what I did a few days ago. I used a piece of toolbox liner rubber stuffed between the dash and windshield, just left of the Vin number.. Worked like a charm.

As to what causes the rattle, from what I can tell it's the defroster duct separating from the dash. The defroster duct is a 3-sided piece that is plastic welded/glued to the dash.