Dash Board rattle

[j.arnaldo]

I have a squeak, instead of a rattle. I've learned to live with it (it's a very low-pitched one). Good luck.

[earwicker7]

Finally got tired of the rattle and took it to the dealer. The said that although it may sound (from the driver's perspective) like it's coming from behind the speedometer pod, it's actually from the cluster of gauges in the center of the dash. They're taking the whole damn thing (not just what appears on top of the dash, apparently) out next week and replacing it.

Woohoo! I thought for sure they'd play the "We can't reproduce it" card, but they came through for me. This is soooooo important to me, as I feel it's been keeping me from fully enjoying the exhaust tone (what fun is it to give it some gas and get a rattle back?).

Long story short... don't trust your instincts and think the dealer will hassle you!

[Mr Ed]

Buy some silicon spray, that can take rattles/squeaks out.

My FPV GT's A pillar had a squeak and after spraying that stuff on, it went away. Now from time to time, I spray some more.

Silicon spray doesnt interfere with electrics so its cool.

I actually sprayed some silicon on the Z too (seat belt thingy) near the seat as they squeak sometimes too!

[LiquidZ]

Last night, I discovered I had a rattle coming from my center dash. I haven't heard this before. My girlfriend was in the car and helped me locate the rattle. We found that when you open the cubby door in the center of the dash, and push down on the "floor" of the cubby (force directed towards the top of the radio), the rattle stops. I am assuming the rattle is located between the cubby and radio.

I will say that the rattle isn't like others I have heard before in other cars. It is a very faint "ticking" and sounds similar to static coming through speakers. The rattle still persists even when the radio is off.

Anybody have a similar problem and/or solution? If all else fails, I'll see if the dealer can fix it.

[gumpy]

Originally Posted by robbie

Are any of you getting a rattle eminating from the centre dash? I'm getting one when i run on course chip surfaces eg M4 in sydney and it is driving me nuts!!! Not sure whether the dealership can help.

you know... i get a buzzing noise from somewhere in the dash whilst on the M2 and M4 as well...

I've accepted this noise as Nissan's lack of attempt to have any noise suppression in the car as it only occurs on them rough roads at 90+kph... Thankfully the tyre roar generally overwhelms the noise ><...

It's annoying but i don't think it's something they can fix cause it sounds like some thin metal component shaking and resonating just at a particular frequency...

Would just like to add that I can now see why the 135i was more expensive and how it could have possibly been worth the extra money. Those cars have very few squeaks and rattles, the boot opens when you press open and the fuel guages aren't f'd in the a.

[chiliwili]

i have a similar noise... i thought it was the roof mechanism (i have the roadster). Hasn't really bothered me much though. I don't know, i never expect the car to be perfect... even if it is bloody good.

[robbie]

i don't know bout the 135i. i hv seen my friends reduces to tears as they battle with unthinkable reliability issues on their current gen beemers. so i won't be so convinced that you would be happier from a reliability perspective. also, the z and the 135 are totally different in styling and practicality.

back to the noise issues - hasn't anyone found the solution. surely given the number of us with the same issue, i would have thought that nissan oz would take the effort to find a solution ... unless no ones raised it with them??

[gumpy]

Originally Posted by robbie

i don't know bout the 135i. i hv seen my friends reduces to tears as they battle with unthinkable reliability issues on their current gen beemers. so i won't be so convinced that you would be happier from a reliability perspective. also, the z and the 135 are totally different in styling and practicality.

back to the noise issues - hasn't anyone found the solution. surely given the number of us with the same issue, i would have thought that nissan oz would take the effort to find a solution ... unless no ones raised it with them??

No Nissan will not do out of their way to do anything, even if it were brought to their attention. But that would be the same for all car companies i think.... i have no faith in them anymore...

[dudafunk]

I have started having the same problem too, after reaching 6000 miles.
I think its behind the RPM console too but I'll try the cubby/radio push attempt someone mentioned above right away. I thought I did explore the area but I'll give it another shot after reading this thread...

And about the dealeship.. yeah I'm not going there. **** the dealers.

[fullmonty]

Originally Posted by GTRFAN

I had something rattle for a while behind the cluster area just in front of the windscreen, but it went away.

I had this last night while I was idling

[earwicker7]

So it turns out that even with the dealership "fix", the rattles are still there. I'm pretty convinced at this point that it is a problem with the design of the car and there doesn't seem to be much that can be done through traditional methods (I don't have the cubby, so that fix won't work for me).

The only thing I can still think of is to possibly turn to audio experts... I would think that a big part of "monster" stereos would be making sure that the car doesn't turn into a rattling nightmare. Does anyone know if there are methods of rattle-proofing that car audio fans use?

[KingZee]

I've had this issue for a while, definitely around my stereo/cubby...anyone figure anything out with this yet?

[dthem370]

I have the same problem as well, I just learned to live with it. It did get worse with the exhaust but oh well. I don't want to deal with the dealership.

[earwicker7]

I've also noticed that it is the loudest when it is around 70 degrees fahrenheit outside. I think the issue is that one of the hard plastic parts in the dashboard is expanding/contracting based on the ambient temperature, and when it is at that certain point, it rattles against the window.

[KingZee]

Originally Posted by earwicker7

I've also noticed that it is the loudest when it is around 70 degrees fahrenheit outside. I think the issue is that one of the hard plastic parts in the dashboard is expanding/contracting based on the ambient temperature, and when it is at that certain point, it rattles against the window.

Yeah I'm sure it's something like that...I thought it had to do with my after market stereo install but obviously many are having the same issue so that's that.

If we can find exactly which piece it is we can probably wrap it with something to eliminate the rattle. I'll take the dash apart when I have some time and try and post pics if I figure anything out.