I am getting a terrible rattle from somewhere in the cabin. My wife is convinced it is coming from the front passenger door but I hear it from behind the middle of the dash. Some days it is not there for the outward part of the trip and then it is there for the return. Sometimes it seems to start after the first quarter of a mile or so. The cabin has never really got warmed up as my journeys are all very short so I don't know if it disappears with a bit of heat. I am wondering if it is down to the blower fan having been replaced (I don't suspect the fan but possibly the panel disturbance in replacing it). I am not really up for crawling about under the dash so unfortunately I think I will just have to live with it.

Easy to check if it still makes the noise with the fan switched off.

I'll try that the next time I am out. it certainly makes no noise with the fan running and the car stationary. I was out at it since starting the thread and I certainly can't find nothing loose of the external panels. My wife thinks it goes away when she presses on the door panel but they are as tight as a drum. Perhaps the harness inside the door itself is rattling against the back of the door card.

It is very difficult to pinpoint noise in a moving car. The Jazz went through several drop links during my ownership and every time it sounded like it was coming from the rear. After the first time I was no longer fooled.

Came accross a rattle that turned out to be the eye level vent at the front it was cracked behind the slats due to someone using one of those clip type holders for the phone, as you said didn't appear all the time but when it did rather annoying, had to remove the whole vent and replaced it with a good used unit from a breakers yard cost £20 if i remember managed to pry it out think it was 2 clis ontop 2 on bottom and 1 on each side  replacement just clipped it and the rattle stopped

Has your relative got one of those switchable multi-channel (4 or 6) electronic stethoscope sound detecting devices where you attach the microphone sensors to various places and switch between the channels to see where the origin of the noise might be.

 

Or mechanic's stethoscope, or length of hose pipe, I've use the vacuum cleaner hose before (I didn't find it using that as I didn't try the one place I thought it wasn't as I'd already checked, it was of course there).  Up to you, or the boss, or a mate if you're the driver or listener.

 

There is just me and the missus and she doesn't drive, so we will just have to live with it. I can always take my hearing aid out, That should help!

My wife is much better than me at identifying noises (from all the faults we had repeat on the cars) and locating the noises but she's not stupid and won't sit in a car just listen for noises and very wisely always disappeared promptly if I was ever doing anything other than driving a car.

 

Anyway you're old enough to know what to do about car noises - turn up the stereo radio. 😄

 

Are you sure it's no your hearing aid rattling in your ear.

 

ETA: I was thinking of your son-in-law for the sound equipment.

 

Edited 26 March, 20233 yr by nta16
ETA:

We used to play music all the time in the car but then I kinda went off it and now I like to drive in silence (or the best I can get).

If I'm driving it's silence, passenger perhaps Radio 4, if my wife is driving and I'm not there it'll be la-la music all the time.  Quite a few of my vehicles didn't have a radio or it wasn't worth turning it on.  I can't stand getting into someone's car and the radio or music is never off but if I'm not paying for the fuel I put up with it or if I know them ask if they want to turn it off.

                 

When I was backpacking around the world I always carried earplugs in my wallet for rides with taxi drivers in some countries who thought it was obligatory to show you how loud their stereo was.

 

I still carry them now and they were used for ferry trips where there were expressive children with disconnected parents. Thankfully I no longer travel across the channel.

I can recommend factual podcasts on long journeys using the Bluetooth connectivity that everyone has become obsessed with, very improving.

Unfortunately most drivers seem to listen to the same music as teenaged gurls, which is a worry and possibly representative of their mental age.

What is wrong with me still listening to the Bay City Rollers like I used to when I was a teenage gurl?

Out in the car today, and I have to admit, my wife is right, the rattle is coming from her door. If she leans on the door arm rest it stops. I checked the panels and they are all tight with no discernible movement between sections. I resorted to thumping the arm rest then spraying WD40 44722 Specialist High Performance Silicone Lubricant into all the seams. I will see if that has any effect and report back the next time I take the car out.

I was out with the car this morning and I am please to say my cabin rattle has disappeared. Whether it was the thump or the silicone spray that did it is anyone's guess.

Mate your rattle wool be back. I spent so much time getting rid of rattles in my vrs (sold it now). I was doing an audio system so I sound deadened the door but the thing that stopped the rattles and buzzes was putting thin sticky foam sheets on the inside of the door card. Then using tesa tape on the door handle trim bit that clips out and anywhere plastic touches plastic including the little grooves that the door clips slide into as they tend to rattle. It worked a treat