whitels

I have this rattling noise somewhere between under the very left dash area and the left speaker. It sounds much like a wire harness or loose thing hitting a sheet metal every time I hit bumps on the road.

If anyone has experienced and solved this problem, please I need your thoughts. I want to know which panel I need to open up first.

My car has a tint so possibly my left door panel was removed when the tint was installed but I don't know since I bought it that way. This is driving me nuts.

BLiu

whitels,

Do you hear the rattle when your window is halfway down? If so, try closing your window and see if you still hear the rattling. The reason is, I get a rattling noise from the window being down. It gets loose over time and, in your case, when they removed the panel, they might have loosened it some more. Hope this helps.

Brent

whitels

Brent,

I hear the rattle when the windows are closed. I can feel the sound as something very close to the driver's side I'm tempted to put a stethoscope while driving. It sounds like a plastic wiring connector banging on a sheet metal as a result of going over bumps.

I searched CL and I might look at the suspension or left wheel fender areas or the left vent. Might check the sway bar screws as well.

I will also check driving with the windows down and see if that will have an effect on the noise.

Thanks for the insight

whitels

Found the cause of the darn noise!!!!!!!!!

Above the brake pedals and below the dash is a plastic cover. The bolts were loose, and the plastic was not correctly inserted in place. The forward end should have been tucked under a metal strip connected to the steering column. Thus, the cover was playing up and down when I hit bumps. To make matters worse, there is an OBD access plug attached to the plastic and it's rectangular cover was not inserted at all- again dangling loose and hitting the plastic and creating the noise. Much like how sound is produced when the center ball hits a bell.
Problem solved.

Now...what's next. Because it is so quiet inside..those friggin tires howl so much more louder now. I have this tires with the brand called GRAND SPIRIT, tires the previous owner shoved in (on lease return). I have a feeling this will make the OEM Bridgestones - as bad as they are - lovely to me. Anyone wants to donate or their Bridgestones to me?