Mine is coming from the top of the horn button.
Same as you I can hold the top of horn button lightly and it stops but can also replicate the sound by tapping on the top of the horn button.

 

I just tested this, the horn button or entire center hub has a lot of movement and also rattles. I can hold the buttons and get that to rattle, too.


I guess I'll just turn up the stereo... if it's working.

 

Mine's doing this too. I can't get the sound to go away completely by holding anything, but I can reproduce it by tapping near the horn. It's driving me nuts.

 

I have the same issue on my 2018. A moderately bumpy road and the rattle starts in the horn button area. Pressure on the horn button stops the rattle, but it soon returns. Any cleaver fixes?

 

Do NOT try holding the buttons to stop the rattle. That’ll make the airbag deploy.

 

Why will the airbag deploy when holding buttons on the steering wheel? Can you be specific about what buttons you are talking about?

 

ive had a rattle in the steering column area since i purchased it 7mon ago.. have never found the source

 

my 2018 is having rattles either beyond steering column or tachometer.

 

My 2019 has occasional noises coming from the steering column area. Car can be completely quiet for miles/hours and then starts up for no apparent reason. One of my noises only appears at highway speeds. Sounds like a geiger counter. Comes and goes. There's no way I am going to have my dealer rip apart my dashboard to try to locate something that isn't consistent. The other noise is a clunking sound only over rough surfaces. Again, the car can be quiet all day and then the noise just starts when hitting a bump ie train tracks. Just hope the car settles down with time.

 

Finally took the Outback in to the service department.
The horn button no longer rattles.
They said somehow the wiring got pushed up against the horn button and was causing the rattle.
Also had a front end rattle that turned out to be the headlight.
Said it had a broken lens or something inside of it.
Although I think it still has a rattle but it is so low I can't tell for sure.
But still 99% quieter.

 

I've having the same issue for months, unfortunately could not replicate at the dealership. Hopefully with more complaints Subaru will address this issue.

 

2018 Outback. Same problem. They kept my car for over a week, said it was rack & pinion steering, then air-bag, .. got it back, started again next day.

 

2018 Outback here: Same issue (behind the horn rattle on bumpy road). I took it to dealer a few months ago and they kept it for two days -- ultimately telling me it was an issue with the airbag. I had no rattle for about 4 or 5 months. Now it's back. I'm at 2 years, 30k and I plan to take it back before warranty is up.

 

I have the same rattle on my 2018 Outback Limited 2.5. The rattle is coming from the big plastic horn button. It stops if I lightly hold the button. The dealer service department was tasked to fix the rattle and later checked it off as fixed. Nothing is fixed. I would have preferred if they said they could not fix it.

 

I found the Source

I have had this for about a year now. My symptoms are the same as everyone else here. If I lightly place my hand on the cover the noise goes away. I took it to the dealership almost a year ago and they said they fixed it, but the rattle is still there. Tonight I took of the steering wheel cover. I have without a doubt found where the rattle is coming from.

This little bugger that holds the cover onto the steering wheel is the source of the rattle; the rod with the spring and white thing. As silly as it sounds this is the only thing I can see to make the noise. I have a feeling that if Subaru used a stronger spring there would be no rattle.


Edit: I don't know how to fix it. Some lubrication maybe?

Self Induced Rattle




Note, this is not the rattle I'm experiencing:

 

I have had this for about a year now. My symptoms are the same as everyone else here. If I lightly place my hand on the cover the noise goes away. I took it to the dealership almost a year ago and they said they fixed it, but the rattle is still there. Tonight I took of the steering wheel cover. I have without a doubt found where the rattle is coming from.

This little bugger that holds the cover onto the steering wheel is the source of the rattle; the rod with the spring and white thing. As silly as it sounds this is the only thing I can see to make the noise. I have a feeling that if Subaru used a stronger spring there would be no rattle.


Edit: I don't know how to fix it. Some lubrication maybe?

You are one brave soul for taking off the steering wheel cover. I am surprised subaru is not aware of this issue and issued a TSB. Every dealership I complained to about it said they never heard of this issue before (which I don't believe) and they say its "normal". Maybe all subarus do it but 99% of people don't complain about it? I had a 19 legacy loaner while mine was getting the squeaky seat fixed and that car had the same rattle too. Not as bad as mine, but it was there.

 

Is the purpose for disconnecting the battery just to prevent the horn from blowing? If so, then I would rather just disconnect the fuse for the horn.

 

those connectors are for the airbag in the airbag module that is being removed. It also retains power for a minute or so after disconnecting the battery, so you'll want to wait at least a minute before removing those two contacts.

 

Fixed the issue

I had the same issue with a rattle that I could stop by placing my hand on the horn cover. My dealer did nothing to fix the issue when I reported it to them. I solved the problem by placing a small piece of rubber tubing between the horn cover and the steering wheel. No need to remove anything, just force the small diameter (approximately 1/4") tubing between the cover and the wheel and the tubing keeps a bit of tension on the cover and the rattle is gone.

 

over a year into ownership and mines getting alittle worse- i found that if i unlatch the steering wheel and allow it to float up and down, like youre adjusting the height... the sound goes away.

 

I have the same rattle/buzzing

Over moderately bumpy roads I've found the steering wheel button rattle, shown in the image. I can hold them lightly to make it stop but also replicate the sound tapping on the wheel.

I saw a bunch of threads about noises but not in this specific area. Has anyone else heard this?

 

It's bother me for years since I bougth 2017 Subaru Outback.
The rattle from the steering since louder as time goes by!
I 've try differences way to fix but no results.
Today again I open up the air bag unit and solved the problem.
Hopefully to share to you all IF the problem is the same cause.
Please see the attached photo!

Over moderately bumpy roads I've found the steering wheel button rattle, shown in the image. I can hold them lightly to make it stop but also replicate the sound tapping on the wheel.

I saw a bunch of threads about noises but not in this specific area. Has anyone else heard this?

Hi all,
My 2017 Outback limited have the same problem causing me a big headache.
Have tried many time by take the center airbag unit out of the steering and check all possible loosen parts and did everything to eliminate that "Rat", the result is so disappointing!
I went to this forum looking for the answer but no availbe!
Tire and desperately.
I tried one more time and found the cause of it!
It's quiet so far after 3 days.
Hopefully this may help someone with similar issues.
See photo attached.
Good luck to all Subaru lovers from Toronto.Canada.

 

Well I finally got the rattle to stop.

I took it into the dealer for another unrelated issue and had them take a look at the rattle one more time. What really helped was being able to go out on a test drive with a tech and we were able to easily make the issue happen.

They replaced the airbag assembly under warranty. Part # 98211AL04AVH. Rattle is now gone.

98211AL04AVH - Air Bag Module (Driver). Inflator - Genuine Subaru Part

Genuine Subaru Part # 98211AL04AVH - Air Bag Module (Driver). Inflator. Fits Legacy, Outback

parts.subaru.com

There are older part numbers that work too, 02AVH, and 03AVH. If I had to guess, these were older part numbers that experienced the rattle. May be hard to get your dealer to replace the part, but thats what worked for me.

 

Our 2018's rattled a lot when we got it, but the dealer replaced the center hub of the steering wheel and the rattle stopped. However, not long ago, I heard it again.

 

I have this creaking noise/rattle coming from the steering wheel of my 2018 OB which has only 9k miles on it.

Took it to the dealer and their "fix" was to add some tape inside the steering wheel casing, where parts meet. It did not work.

Now I am bringing my car to the dealer again to have them take a look. What really worries me is that 1. The dealer seems to hate me because this is the 8th time I bring my car there due to several issues I have had with this car 2. I cannot replicate nor make the noise stop

 

Over moderately bumpy roads I've found the steering wheel button rattle, shown in the image. I can hold them lightly to make it stop but also replicate the sound tapping on the wheel.

I saw a bunch of threads about noises but not in this specific area. Has anyone else heard this?

Here is the real problem at least in some cases..The Steering Roll Connector (or clock spring as it is commonly called) is defective ! Mine finally failed at about 45000 miles (Eyesight off, rattling collar in it, turn signal ratcheting). The rotating hub is loose and rattles from the slightest jar (caused by the air bag wiring that connects to it when it moves when going over bumps (it drove me nuts too !). Mine could be duplicated by simply rocking the air bag (horn) with the steering wheel straight. I had it worked on or looked at 4 times by dealers and they DID NOT identify this problem even though I demonstrated this to them.

 

my 2021 XT has a rattle related to the steering wheel and airbag as well! Its only on rough roads that I hear it and it took me awhile to track it down. Its not really loud but its annoying. I can hold my hand on top of the air bag or the plastic trim behind it and it stops. I thought mine could be related to the plastic trim and how its so close to the air bag. I checked other subaru wheels and its not as close. 1st pic is a 19 forester and second is mine.

Oh and if you drive down the road with your hand on the airbag you can feel it wobbling around a bit.

 

There is a fleece backed tape which is great for applications like this (to keep connectors from rattling):

This is from the rear cargo light, and I wrapped the second connector after taking the photo.

I got some years ago from sounddeadenershowdown.com, but he no longer sells it. Or has a website.

Congratulations on finding the problem!

 

Ugh! I am not sure I understand the fix. I do know wedging a little piece of tubing in that gap just under the cover of the lower horn eliminated the noise for over a year...UNTIL the inch long piece of tubing worked it's way behind the plastic covering 2 days ago. So now I've got the original rattle back and I've got the piece of tubing clattering around every time I make a turn.

I'm hoping the little piece of tubing works its way back down to the bottom of the steering wheel again so I might be able to pull it out with a needle nose plier. I'm afraid to try to remove the whole airbag cover. However it's entirely possible spinning the wheel around has Lodge that little piece of tubing somewhere in the upper part of the wheel now...what a pain in the butt and I could just see the dealer blaming me for the sound if I choose to have them remove the airbag cover to get rid of the tubing... So at least that would only leave me with the original noise.

Subaru should never have put us in this situation...shame on them.

Perhaps a better solution that I should have used from the beginning was a piece of pipe insulation foam. When I wedge that in there the original noise again goes away just leaving me with little piece of tubing rolling around like it's in a pinball machine.

Fyi-I had another front end noise where they removed my steering wheel rack that noise went away. When they did that I was left with a creek when I make turns sometimes and this other rattle. I've had them look at it twice they tell me all Subarus do it which I argued but realized I was going to get nowhere fast. I have a 2018 it's going to be 4 years old in March with 25,000 miles... you should not have these kinds of issues on cars with so few miles. I don't know if Subarus are going to be in my future.