APU6speed

For the past couple of months I noticed a rattle coming from the left side of the dash of my 2000 GS400. It is very annoying and seems to be getting louder and more frequent recently. The rattle occurs at all speeds when I drive on slightly rough roads (although sometimes I think I hear rattling even when I drive on smooth roads, must be in my head).

I've searched this entire board about rattle problems but nothing has been useful. I know the rattle is coming from the left side of the dash because the rattle stops when I apply light pressure downward on the part of the dash right in front of the tachometer. The rattle goes away also when I push up on the dash on the area just to the right of the parking brake release. Have any of you guys experienced a similar rattling problem? If so, where was it coming from and how did you fix it?

I'm thinking about investigating the source of the rattle. Any tips on removing the dash panel underneath the steering wheel?

Thanks,
Michael

2SAVVY

The best suggestion I can give you is bring your car to your Lexus Dealer and explain where the source of noise is coming from and they will take it from there.. We had a small annoying noise coming from the passenger rear door and they but some foam padding in an area and noise went away.. However we still hear a bit of noise when the interior is cold.. When it warms up its goes away..

Hope that helps!

meanboy

I've had some rattles in my dash since I bought the can in 1999. Finally, a tech drove the car instead of listening to it from the passenger side and he heard the rattles. They put some felt in but it still rattles. Even more now it seems. It's going back in two weeks for another round. Number five, coming up..

KNKGS400

do u have coins in the holder if so try taking them out

neema110

dude i had the exact same problem a couple of months ago, and i tood it to lexus and they fixed it for me for free, so i would recomend taking it to lexus and have them take a look at it, because you wouldnt want to make the rattling worse.


good luck
neema

itsallgood

Hey Neema,

What did they fix? Can you let us know so that we can tell the dealer what the problem is...

Aloha

meanboy

They put some felt between the dash and instrument cluster bezel. It didn't work. Maybe, a wire is hitting something. .
I cannot figure that one out.

The coin thing is good. I would check that too but my rattles don't sound like change hitting each other.

Off-topic, does anyone run BBS runs? Tire Rack had some closeouts, BBS RC, I was thinking about them.

APU6speed

Thanks for all the advice. I will make an appointment with my Lexus dealership and hopefully they can take care of it.

Does anyone know whether the dealership will refuse to look at the rattling problem under warranty because I installed an aftermarket radio/speakers (i.e., I caused the rattling by doing the radio installation). Since the rattling is coming from left of the steering wheel, I can't imagine how working on the center console to replace the factory Pioneer radio could be the cause of the noise.

alexus

iTrader: (1)

is your car on warranty?

alexus

iTrader: (1)

i have exact same problem.. for the passanger side.. i didn't really paid too much of attention there.. but now that you guys talkin about it.. i have it too.. mine is 1998

can i disassemble dash board by myself?

NVMYGS3

I have the same rattle. It's actually a squeaky sound between the Foot(hand)brake release mechanism and the plastics surrounding it.

I fixed it 2 ways. 1) I WD 40'd the whole thing 2) I got a peice of paper and jammed it between the edges of the Break release and it doesn't squeak anymore.

neema110

i they told me that door to the golvecompartment had something loose. to tel you the truth i just went up and told them that thier was a rattle, and they fixed it for me in a few minutes. so i hope i helped you out enough

(f)-LEX-ible

I can't tell you how many times I took my car to the dealer for this. I found the rattle and made them fix it.

There are some wires in the dash that I can only assume connect to the flashing alarm light under the drivers side air vent. The housing on those wire is rubbing together making the rattling noise that you hear.

The understand better, stick your finger up in the hole (just behind the parking brake release and you will feel the wires that I just mentioned. Once you locate them, drive your car. When you hear the rattles, stick your finger in that same hole and and press the wires together. The rattling WILL stop. Then, take your car straight to the dealer and make them wrap these wires with that felt stuff that they use. If they wrap them correctly, you'll never hear that rattle again. You can tell 'em that I sent you!

I hope that this helps.

As an aside, the rattles that developed in my car are the only real disappointment that I have experience with it. I can't tell you all of the locations that I have WD-40ed and stuffed that foam stuff that is used to ship computers around my car. After a six month period of being totally fanatical about the rattles, I think that I have isolated and eliminated all 8 of them.

whitels

I fixed my own left side dash rattles by disassembling the left-side bottom covers completely out of the way, wiggling wires underneath to make sure they're not hitting objects that can cause rattling noise and taping wire together to prevent more movements, putting the covers back carefully and securely, and the rattles went away. The two major noise generators that I found were the OBD connector not properly tucked away in the bottom plastic cover which causes it to knock against it, and the cover itself not properly installed - the part connected to the steering column was hanging loose and hitting objects around as the car goes over bumps.