Dash Rattle
Looking for some help here.....
I have developed a very annoying rattle in the driver's side of my dash. At first I thought it was from my wiring harness for my alarm. But come to find out that wasn't the problem... It happens at just about any speed and sounds like it coming from the upper portion of the dash near the steering column. Anyone ever experience anything like this? Any help would be greatly appreciated, for this is really beginning to annoy me.....
I have developed a very annoying rattle in the driver's side of my dash. At first I thought it was from my wiring harness for my alarm. But come to find out that wasn't the problem... It happens at just about any speed and sounds like it coming from the upper portion of the dash near the steering column. Anyone ever experience anything like this? Any help would be greatly appreciated, for this is really beginning to annoy me.....
I posted a thread about this a few months ago on the Expy forum but nobody really answered. I figured that I had a unique problem, well now i know I wasn't alone! Anyway, I had a rattle from that sounded like it was coming from behind the instrument panel. Could only hear mine when you were driving about 50MPH+. Being that I drive alot of highway miles with my X that meant i heard it all the time. I always put it off until i had the truck in for something else and finally just got it fixed. The rattle had been there since day one when i took delivery w/ 10 miles on the clock and now it has 33,000+ so i know how anoying it can be. Anyway, here is what I found out. Took it to Ford dealer for other warranty work and had the sweak looked at while it was there. Picked it up the next day and SURPRISE, "we could not duplicate the problem." I told the service advisor "lets go for a ride". I pointed out the problem and he wrote up another work order for it. After 3 days of tracking down this problem they finally got it fixed. The service advisor said they had to remove the cowl piece (plastic ''gril" where the windshild wipers are) and install an 'anti-rattle' kit. I dont know WTF this anti-rattle kit is and neither did the service advisor <---(their good for nothing anyway) but it fixed the problem. NO MORE RATTLE!!! Once again, i dont know what kind of anti-rattle kit they put on the truck and wonder why these aren't put on at the factory but it worked. In my opinion, i think they just took some stuff apart and put it back together and somehow fixed the rattle, but who am I to say? Sorry so this is so long, but I hope it helps, I know how much a person can hate a rattle in their truck!
Alan M.
Alan M.
Just wanted to thank you for you feedback. After a few days of searching....I was led to my UPPER DRIVER'S DOOR HINGE. I had the whole dash apart and I could still hear the rattle during normal driving. Finally, I had noticed that I heard the noise when I had opened the drivers door all the way! I gently started to work the driver's door back and forth, and there it was(so I hope thats it!) It seems that the hinge is creaking against the body pillar. It's almost like a "snapping" sound. Unfortunately, I had tried to tighten the hinge myself....there's a mistake.....just put a small nick in the front edge of the door. I guess I'll leave it to the pros. It's going to the dealer as soon as I can make an appointment!
Anti-Rattle Kits
Ford's Anti-Rattle Kit Explained by a buddy of mine (Who is a Ford Mechanic): A Soft Washer applied to the underside of plastic body accessories to absorb vibration of parts that do not quite fit right on the vehicle.
Ford, no doubt, charges a significant amount of money for this "special" kit...
Ford, no doubt, charges a significant amount of money for this "special" kit...


