I have a 2006 LS 430 and it seems to have developed a rather annoying rattle in the dash. It seems to come from above the nav screen. if I push down on the dash in that area, it seems to help. It is worse when it is cold. Any suggestions on where to start before I tear the whole dash apart? And yes, I realize I have partially answered my question, but I am hoping that someone else may have had this issue and have a specific fix.

 

I have been trying to get enough time to post my fix for this problem. I'll post my short summary on my quick and easy fix.

If yours is the same as mine, the upper right of the navigation housing made noise especially when it was cold and going over bumps. I could put pressure on that area and the noise would go away completely.

The LS430 seems to suffer from this noise quite a bit. When mine appeared I did a search and found quite a few people that have complained about this problem. Some people take the whole dash apart and try to put felt between the navigation housing and the dash.

I tried the easy way and it worked perfectly. I just took some high quality silicone tape (the kind that isn't sticky but adheres to itself) and cut a strip for that corner. This kind of tape can stretch and when it does it gets much thinner but when you let go it goes back to its original thickness which is pretty thick. I pulled the tape and worked it down between the two surfaces until the tape could not be seen. Hint: I could get a fingernail behind the navigation housing to help get the tape in between the surfaces. I have not had a single noise from that area since.

I need to write up my fix with pictures sometime. Mine was a 5 minute fix!!

 

I'd love to see a write up. Also, would you mind posting a link or picture of the tape you're referring to, I'm not familiar with it.

 

Could you please post a link or picture of the silicone tape that you describe?

 

I am interested in the is well.

 

This is a common problem with LS430s and I tried a couple of things before I finally found out what worked on my 2001 UL.

Mine sounded like it was coming from the top of the NAV unit as well.

The big culprit for me was the front bezel of the NAV unit. You can't really tell where the noise is unless you take the bezel off the front of the NAV unit. After you get it removed from the NAV unit you can move it/twist it a bit to hear where the noise is.

Once I got the bezel off the nav unit (which is VERY easy) I found that my 2 air vents were causing all of the noise. There are 8 click and lock connector tabs that allow the air vents to be attached to the the base of the NAV bezel.

Using a small flat blade screwdriver (think jewelers size) carefully pry the tabs up a bit and wiggle the vents assembly off the base of the NAV unit bezel. It is easier to pry one at a time and pull the vent assembly near that area to keep the tabs from locking back down. Work your way around one side, then start on the other side. NO sudden pulls needed. Be patient and gentle.

Once I had the vents off, I took some Finish Line Teflon grease and applied them to the tabs on both the bezel base and the vent assembly. Just squeeze out a dab onto a towel and use your fingertips to apply liberally on the tabs.

Reassemble the vent assembly back onto the NAV bezel.

I also applied some of this grease onto the tabs that are on top of NAV bezel. Then I reattached the NAV bezel to the NAV unit.

When I reinstalled the NAV unit, I put some extra electrical tape over the felt covered metal tabs that hold the NAV unit into the dash. This just adds a bit more quieting insulation at those areas. I put 2 pieces of tape on each tab.

VIOLA, my dash is now SUPER quiet again. I love it now. It was driving me crazy trying to listen to music and hearing my dash rattle over EVERY bump.

WOOHOO

 

I hate my rattle!!!

 

I've used silicone tape before, and it works great when you don't want any the tape to stick to surfaces (other than itself).

Some samples of silicone tape:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...ngJavascript=1

 

94GS300
What color did you use, dash color or just clear?

 

Used clear silicone tape between dash and clock/nav area, no more noise from there. Sometimes have a noise from steering column area and somewhere in center console area, but the car is very quiet overall. Replaced windshield due to some chips in my line of site and the car got quieter inside. Windshield guy actually cemented rubber strip that extends from chrome at top of windsheild to the glass. 95+% of the time the car is very smooth and quiet.

 

Thanks for another great tip on this site. I used the thin teflon tape that you find in the plumbing dept. of your home improvement store (for wrapping pipe treads). Stuffed it in with fingernail. No more noise!

 

Can you please post a picture of the crevices where you stuffed the silicone tape? Is it the same as Teflon tape? I have some of the laying around.
Thanks!

 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Nashua-Ta...4250/203534911
I placed the (silicone) tape in top crevice between dash and clock / nav plastic frame. Cut the tape width in half then with finger nail worked tape into the crevice and then pushed tape in a bit further (completely out of site) with a small smooth rounded scissor end. Am not good at pics, but just picture the clock nav housing where it meets the dash board, you will see a crevice between dash and plastic frame which houses clock/nav. My rattle would stop when just resing my palm on the top of the clock/dash area so that is where I squeezed in the tape. Hope this helped.

 

As for interrior noises, I am convinced that it would be impossible to get them all, the car is very quiet, but temperature changes seems to cause different areas of the interrior to do different things noise wise. Next step will be to replace the Dunlops with Michelin Primacy MXV4 H rated, had the Primacy on my 91 LS 400 and they were smooth and quiet and still good at 92k miles on them (freeway driving).