[adjmcloon]

Hey all,

The weather was gorgeous yesterday, and so I was tinkering around with my hobby (the Armada, of course). I noticed when driving over railroad tracks and occasionally rough road that I had annoying dash rattles.

One rattle was coming from the passenger side of the dash near the windshield, and another was coming from the center dash section (I have no navigation) where my little tray is. A third was coming from the guage cluster.

I got to pushing around on the dash with my fingers, and found each offending spot. The more I take things apart to kill rattles, the more it amazes me at the lack of measures Nissan took to keep noises down in these vehicles. There's plastic hitting metal and plastic on plastic all over this thing...but I digress. Here's what went down for each section:

1. Passenger side dash- pulled the long, thin cover off (near the windshield) and put some thin foam strips strategically between it and the dash. I also added some dynamat to strategic sections. I also used a 7mm socket wrench to tighten all of the bolts that you'll find under this cover. Almost every one of mine was about finger tight! Guess the Nissan worker had a bad day that day. Put it all back together, did the "finger push" test, and that one was gone.

2. Center dash (where the trey is above the radio if you don't have nav)- Pulled that off, and wow! There is absolutely nothing between this section and the dash plastic underneath! I cut some foam for the larger sections and used the old felt side of a velcro strip near and around where the clips mate to the dash. Finger test, rattles gone.

3. Instrument cluster- Again, plenty of sections that are obvious rattle traps once you pull the guage surround off. Put some velcro felt on all the spots around where the clips mate and other obvious places, reassembled, tested, and problem solved.

The test drive was a success as well- no more dash rattles! Now I've just got to get in to the dealer for the window rattle TSB and I think I'll be rattle free once again (for a while).



P.S. Sorry, no pics (camera's dead)

 

[PumaFiveOh]

Haha...

Man, you just exactly mentioned the three noises I have in the same spots in my car. But mine wasn't so much a rattle, but a weird annoying creak/tick, like marble hitting glass sound. I also was able to reproduce this sound by pushing here and there on the dash...anyway now that I know they are indeed what I thought, just bad design with plastic rubbing on one another...I'll have to fix it when this damn rain stops and I get some free time. :goodjob:

 

[scooter996]

How do you pull the dash board and the other pieces of plastic off without breaking them/

 

[adjmcloon]

For the piece by the windshield, I just use a flat screwdriver and a piece of thin cloth (underneath to keep from marring the dash) and just pry up one end and work it towards the other.

The center dash section will pop off if you pull it towards you while pushing down (to release the clips). Same with the guage section, but there are some connections toward the bottom as well.

Just remember to not force anything, but it does take some force to get the pieces to pop out.

 

[mhhotrod]

Question???

Adjmcloom, I'm getting a squeaking noise from the instrument panel, like the plastic around the housing is rubbing against the clear plastic on the gauges... ANNOYING! Is that what your talking about too? Man if it is, your the man! I have had it in the dealer three times to fix it and they haven't been able to figure it out yet...

 

[adjmcloon]

I had a similar noise and fixed it with the felt tape/velcro thing. Just pull the panel towards you (takes a little muscle) and apply the velcro to the spots where everything meets.

Found something else out today- my dash rattles came back, and so I lined every hole where a clip joins and it seemed to fix it. Also my driver's seat started creaking again, so I loosened up the bolts (use a 15mm socket), applied a small rubber washer, and the creaking is gone.