Dashboard Rattle

[M00t1]

Hi gentlemen. I know  there are plenty of us that suffer from the dreaded dashboard rattle. I've had my 2016 Superb 2.0 diesel estate for a couple of years now. It always had a slight rattle coming from the centre of the dash when the engine is up to temperature between 1 and 2000 revs and even louder under load,  but now it's getting ridiculous and it's driving me up the wall..I've had all but the subframe engine mount done because going on what I've read on the forums and given the vibration seems to be directly behind the centre vents I'm reluctant to go to the expense of having the mount replaced. My trusted mechanic is opting for the sub frame mount but I'm convinced it's something behind the dash. 

I've had the top speaker grill out and the infotainment head unit out at the same time and I can replicate the rattle holding at about 1200revs. Poked, proded, pushed, pulled, all to no avail. I've read that it could be the heater pipes of the AC pipes that might be vibrating together so I want to get access to both and slide some pipe lagging up the pipes towards the bulkhead to see if this does the trick.  I can't find anywhere on how to take the glove box out completely to gain access to the heater pipes and hopefully the AC pipes all from the passenger side ( I've got the CD player and airbag switch to contend with aswell ).

I know I've got to take the centre consol trim off and possibly I've got to switch to the righthand drivers side to gain access to the AC pipes.

 

So if anybody has any idea how to do it that would be much appreciated.

Also any info on centre of the dash rattle causes and how they were fixed would be a great help.

Thanks in advance chaps. 

[ApertureS]

Maybe look at getting the fuel pipe noise TPI carried out - this is often reported as a vibration behind the dash but it is not actually.

 

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2014/SB-10069579-2280.pdf

[M00t1]

Thanks Ap,  I'll look into that too as I believe that they run down a channel under the sill.

[JFCarter]

Hi guys,

 

Mine (MY17 tdi 150 L&K combi) had annoying rattles in the center of the dash too. Could hear them especially on low accelerations with load.

 

After removal and sound insulation of various parts of the dash (including the top speaker grill, the infotainment screen, the gps module, etc, with adhesive foam tape), I finally found what was rattling on mine.

 

It was the piano black trim fasteners along the dash but especially the one on the left of the infotainment screen (french car, so between the steering wheel and the screen, not shown in the picture below).

 

Several clips were not secured enough on the trim pieces: they stayed in the dash when I removed the pieces.

 

I took these clips out of the dash, secured them tightly on the trim pieces with needle nose pliers: they are now tightly fastened to the trim pieces and I have no more rattle in the center of the dash.

 

Might not be the case for yours @M00t1 but, if you haven't tried already, it is worth giving it a go. It is costless and easy to do (I used a plastic pry tool inserted vertically between the trim pieces).

 

Edited 16 January by JFCarter

[steevs]

1 hour ago, JFCarter said:

Hi guys,

 

Mine (MY17 tdi 150 L&K combi) had annoying rattles in the center of the dash too. Could hear them especially on low accelerations with load.

 

After removal and sound insulation of various parts of the dash (including the top speaker grill, the infotainment screen, the gps module, etc, with adhesive foam tape), I finally found what was rattling on mine.

 

It was the piano black trim fasteners along the dash but especially the one on the left of the infotainment screen (french car, so between the steering wheel and the screen, not shown in the picture below).

 

Several clips were not secured enough on the trim pieces: they stayed in the dash when I removed the pieces.

 

I took these clips out of the dash, secured them tightly on the trim pieces with needle nose pliers: they are now tightly fastened to the trim pieces and I have no more rattle in the center of the dash.

 

Might not be the case for yours @M00t1 but, if you haven't tried already, it is worth giving it a go. It is costless and easy to do (I used a plastic pry tool inserted vertically between the trim pieces).

 

 

Just posting my experience on this, the noise was caused by the top speaker grille on mine, I also had noise from pretty much every decorative trim though the speaker grille one was the hardest to track down and the most annoying under hard acceleration.

 

All of my noise issues were solved by placing some fabric tape/wiring loom tape around all the plastic pieces that are used to click into the dashboard (they are obvious)

 

But I've learned: as you fix one squeak, 2 extra ones appear until you've torn apart the frontend of the car.

[JFCarter]

@steevs : I could not agree more.

 

I had a rattle coming from the left side vent (it was more a squeak than a rattle actually), which was solved by applying a light coat of silicon grease around the frame of the vent. But I still have an unidentified rattle in the driver door.

[M00t1]

Hi JF, I did eventually find art of my rattle. Mine

[M00t1]

Hi JF, I did eventually find part of my rattle. Mine was the same as yours, I could swear it was coming from the top of the dash,, I eventually traced it to the heating pipes on the right hand side behind the lower console long panel. This has cured maybe 80% of it,  I do still have a rattle around the 2000 rpm mark which my mechanic is convinced is an engine mount. I'll definitely whip those bits off and have a look. At the very least it will discount them.