Jace7

can you scan or copy what specifically they replaced part #'s and explanation.
Maybe I can forward that to my service guy and have him take care of what he didn't already/ should have done....
thanks.

GS2006

With all respect, this has nothing to do with the car being quiet. It is very loud. Loud enough to hear over a loud stereo. Actually it sounds like a blown speaker. When I first heard it, I thought the passenger side speaker blew.

GS2006

the test will be when it gets cold again in his area.

GS2006

Amazing. You got it to do it for them and they still did not fix it. I had a hard time getting it act up when he was in the car. Going to set up an appt. for next week to have another dealer look at it and fix the other dealer’s screw up where they sawed the car paint to the metal.

sdbrandon

What you have described is not a rattle, but rather loose parts. If you hear noise over the stereo that is very bad design.

GS2006

I think it is more of incompatibility of two types of material that manifest the issue with temperature. I do not have much confidence in this TISB. When it starts and hits the resonance frequency she blows .. It would not surprise me if was a fundamental design of the dashboard as I believe they use guide pins (not bolted) to hold it in place on the firewall. On the passenger side if you push on the dash, you can see all kinds of movement. That does not make it bad in itself, but does make it susceptible for the material at the contact points. Just my opinion which means nothing. I’m more pissed about the damage to my car though..

2thfixr

I think you may be right. At times my car has a slight rattle but sometimes it actually sounds like clicking. It's that loud and that obvious. I guess we should look at the bright side. At least it won't rattle once winter is over.

Jace7

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DrexLex

Ok, let me give you some cause for hope. I've had the dash rattles/squeaks since day 1. Today I went out and opened the hood (06 GS430, built early 05). I removed the wipers, then the plastic cowling under them. Then replaced the wipers. Went for a drive. It should have rattled at least a few times, but it was dead silent. Drove for a half hour, and it's cold enough for it to happen.

So now, what about the plastic cowl makes all that noise? There are several contact points where the cowl slides over the bottom edge of the glass, Every one of them has some cushion tape present. Those look good. So probably are quiet.

So first I totally cut off the guide post near the middle as others noted. But then I noticed there are three more plastic clips which also fit through three slots in the same metal flange where the guide post goes. So I took some duct tape and cut squares about 3/4". Then applied that over each of the three plastic clips on the cowl.

Reinstalled the cowl and wipers and all that remains is a very faint creaking sound once in a while. I can induce that same sound with the car stopped if I gently press my hand on top of the cowl and make it flex a bit. The cowel is actually made up of three plastic pieces. The main one and two smaller ones underneath on each end (I don't mean those little clip-on doodads at each end which are removeable). Then there's the screens and whatnot. So actually it's a complex piece, and I suspect there are two separate noise mechanisms. One is the metal-plastic clip/post friction, and the other is the flexing within the cowl which creaks. If I decide to dismember the thing again, I will look at possibly glueing the pieces under the cowl so there don't creak when flexed.

GS2006

DrexLex,
Thanks for the test. Before you did anything, did it sound like the rattle was comming from the driver side dashboard speaker?
Thanks

DrexLex

Yes. I was quite convinced that the dash rattle was inside--in the dash somewhere. I thought it was the speaker grills, but they seemed solid. I felt that to have the dealer dismember the dash would be detrimental for all the usual reasons--scratches, create new problems, etc, so I lived with the noise. But someone reported about the outside cowl and prongs so I finally figured I could at least try that.

Removing it completely for a short spell is a good way to isolate the problem one way or another.

Tonight I again pulled off the cowl, as it is still quieter off than on (except for the engine noise that gets louder), to see if I could find out any more about the creaking sound that's still there. I noticed that in the groove in the cowl where the edge of the windshield glass sits, there a thin strip of foam rubber running along the groove. I guess this keeps the plastic of the cowl from rubbing the edge of the glass. Except that strip was only there half way. It covered the driver's side, but not the passenger's. So I stuck some weatherstrip foam rubber in there to complete the length. Then I also applied black electrical tape along the underside of the top edge that rests on the windshield. Someone once suggested this idea, and it's cheap! I reinstalled everything, but have not gone for a drive yet. I'll advise when I have news. There has to be a way to shut up this plastic!

2thfixr

Any chance you could take some photos of the foam rubber that you are talking about. It sounds like you are headed in the right direction. The rattle is being reported by a lot of people and it seems that most of the problem is on the passenger side. I have yet to get a rattle on the driver's side of my car so if there is even the slightest difference between the driver's side and the passenger side, it may be the source of our problems. My car is going in tomorrow for the TSIB and I will have to mention this foam thing to them.

DrexLex

If your dealer can hear the rattle, then removes the wipers/cowl, and the rattle is gone, you're at least sure it's related to the cowl.

Take a look at the attached diagram. It's a cross section which shows where the strip of foam sits . This foam runs along the driver's side of the windshield, but a section about a foot long on the passenger side has none.

Good luck!

2thfixr

Thanks for taking the time to do that. I just got my car back and the rattle is almost completely gone with the pin TSIB. I heard a little something but I think it might have been ice in my son's cup but I can't be sure. That, I can live with!

Maybe when things "settle" the rattle will come back but I will definitely do the foam strip if it does. Since you added the foam, did it help?

DrexLex

I added the foam, but have yet to take that test drive. The suspense is killing me, but I had just spend some quality time washing the car, and wanted it to last another day. Rain rain, go away, so I can drive my car today!

If the foam doesn't solve it, I'll keep hammering until something does. I smell the sweet scent of success in the air. Will advise.