vibration/rattling/squeeking from driver left side

[hamproof]

Hi,
Using the search tool, I found quite a few number of EP owners having all sort of sounds in their car. I've checked the visors, taken out loose items from glove box, map holders etc. and nothing that I do eliminate this annoying rattling sound which seem to come near the driver side air vent.
I've checked the visor (both driver and passenger side). I've checked the moonroof seal which seem to be a cause to some people. I've taken out the trim panels below the dash and zip-tie any wires that might cause rattling. I've taken out the cluster (thanks Paxie) and found a little broken plastic that was suppose to hold the cluster in place as a guide for the tech to then screw the 3 screws to hold it in place (side note - I was disappointed the British fac. tech actually jam/force the cluster in resulting in the breakage of the little plastic guide thingy). I removed that but the rattling still persist. Also, my cluster still has a pretty big gap on the left side all the way around. Can someone check theirs and see if there's a gap here? I screw the cluster back properly but I don't see how I can eliminate this gap (highlighted in the attached picture).
A few things I found to be loose :- Driver side plastic molding around the windshield (at speed, I believe this piece was flapping around causing some weird sound); Sound proofing material under hood wasn't secure properly as one of the plastic plugs was loose.
Anyone having sound that seem to emanating from the driver side air vent? Any ideas how to remove this and look? Or maybe I've a loose bolt in the airbag like a poster said or some loose screw in the dash. Either way it is going to be hard to bring it in the dealer and have them look for it. Chances are they'll say it is normal.

[Will2K2]

I also have an occasional rattle from the cluster somewhere.

Other than that, my major beef is the fucking drivers door:mad:

I swear to god some no teeth , ugly British Bastard forgot to tighten my cross member in the door or something.:mad:

Cause my drivers door rattles like a MOFO!!!!!!!!! and it doesn't seem to be aligned properly either cause when I close the door I can feel the door hit the striker more than the passenger door!!!

I should have known better (STUPID BRITS) :mad: :mad:

my last Hatch (a 2000 ) was made here in Ontario (like all Hatchs of that body style EK) and that thing was as solid as a rock , no rattles at all

[BlairSpeed]

well, my EP now as 4200mi on it and I havent had anything rattle at all. I even have a 220w 10" sub in the back and still no rattles. I dont want to jinx myself by saying any of this but my Si is solid as a rock. If you guys arent happy w/ the workmanship of your EP, you need to contact your dealer and start complain'in yo. :mad:

[n8s si]

I've noticed a rattle there too. I found that if i held the top left corner of the dash (above the tach) down, it goes away. Im guessing that somethings not tightened inside.

[blueiedgod]

well, after trying to figure out where the high pitch squeak was coming from. i finally did. at first i thought it was the cup holder on the left side by the vent. but it turned out that they did not attach the tweeter correctly. there is a spting clip on top and two hook on the bottom, well, they inserted one hook correctly but not the other (toward the front) i unclipper the spring clip on top of the tweeter, and properly inserted two hooks on the bottm and then snapped the top clip in place. no more squeaks for me.
jus wondering, has anyone looked under the dash, it seems like the bottom dash cover (the plastic cover over feet) on only attached in two places, and is just haging there by the side wall.
also, i am finding that during spirited driving, the top of my right shoe, catches the cable right above the gas pedal (I am size 12).
can;t waint until i am at 600 miles to red-line her. so far i have gotten her up to 4000 rpm, and she is very strong, feels like a small V6 under the hood.

[hamproof]

I suspected the tweeter also but I can't remove it. Per Paxie audio installation post, I tried to pull it with all my might on the upper portion towards me (with windows open) but it won't come off. I might have to try attacking this area again.

The lower dash cover is actually held in 3 places. 2 metal clip thingys in towards the end of the car and a plastic slot like contraption towards the front of the car. Theoretically, it is held in 2 areas but 3 clips.

n8s si - I assume you bought your car in Grand Blanc Honda? I bought mine there too. Maybe the cars from GB has this weird rattling sound :P

I've tried pushing the top of the dash but it doesn't eliminate the rattling.

Can someone look closely at his/her cluster and see if you see the gap I pointed out in the picture? It is a pretty significant gap on mine. I say maybe 3-5mm wide gap. Seem more appropriate on a Ford built car than Honda :)

[BlasTech]

My Si is back in the dealers hands... for the fifth time.. So far they've taken the interior apart and re-torqued all the suspension, but the right-side just keeps CREAKING...and I dont mean squeaking, or rattling...I mean its the sound of metal things being bent... it sounds like a lawn chair in a fiberglass bath-tub.

I got my laptop and made a f*cking CD of the noise, and left it in the car with a note for the tech..."THIS IS THE SOUND YOU NEED TO FIX". You wannna hear? send me an email (mailto:mcknight@austin.rr.com) and I'll send you a MP3. Meanwhile
















:'(





:mad:





:(

[hamproof]

The rattles are driving me nuts. Detroit roads are the worse and since I like driving around w/ the radio or CD playing, I can hear every single sound and the rattle that seem to be coming from the left side is driving me nuts.

Anyway, I need to know how to remove the panels holding the driver side air vents on the left. I suspect the bugger is in there making all the squeeking and rattling. Will try to take off the tweeter cover (I've tried to many times and no matter how much I pry, pull and yank, it won't come off) and see if the offending bugger is in there.

For those who claim there's no sound on their car, try turning everything off (radio, CD, heater/AC etc) and go over some bumpy roads. I can't believe my Si is rattling like crazy when someone else is whisper quiet.

Thanks.

I really need to know how to remove the panels to the left driver side air vent before I crack my fist banging on the dash. Also, I tried trying off the a-pillar cover and it ain't coming out. Any ideas?

[Tenacious G]

Thank god I've found some people with the same rattling noise coming from the left side of the dash as me.

I just purchased an 02 EP and it seems like the rattling is geting worse ... or I just pay more attention to it. What's frustrating is my brother also recently got an Si, and his is sound as a pound.

As soon as my plates are in, I'm taking a Honda service tech. out with me to complain, see if there is anything they can do about it. 700 miles with a rattle, that's pretty disappointing by Honda standards. My POS Sentra with 90K miles didn't have a rattle.

I'll keep you posted if the dealership service tech. finds anything.

[hamproof]

Hey, keep me posted as to whether they find anything. I still haven't solve mine yet. I made appointment but didn't bring it in. A few days before the appointment date, I figured I'll stop it and let them hear it as it was very very obvious rattling sound that day. Got the service writer to sit in my car, drove around, but hardly any sound came out! Imagine, all the way from work to the dealership, all of 40mins. there's a sound but when one of them sits in there, it made a little squeeking sound.

From my conversation with her, she says the tech. needs to hear it. It is useless if she hears it as she can't convey sound to the tech. I know the tech will drive it for a few minutes, hear nothing and won't do a thing. The sound usually appears after ~10mins. of driving. But not always. Sometimes there's a sound all the way home (50mins. drive). Sometimes not a peep!

The 2 places I have yet to look is inside the steering wheel cover and inside the driver side door. I've looked inside the IP, and I conclude there's nothing there that could be causing the sound. At least nothing that I can see. I can press the dash all I want, I can bang my hand in frustration but the sound never changes.

[sonic imperial]

Man I've got squeaks and rattles all over the place and my car is still bone stock after 10,000 miles. I used to think lowering/modding the car made it worse but now I think it's just a honda thing (this is my 3rd new honda in as many years and all have had lots of rattles with no mods). My parents drive GM products with way more miles than I have and their vehicles are much quieter than mine, so go figure. I give up trying to solve the problems, I just live with it. As long as I get from point A to B, I'm fine. There are much more important issues in life than to stress out over squeaks and rattles in an $18,000 car.

[Tenacious G]

thanks for the words of wisdom/inspiration sonic imperial, but the fact remains that $16k, $17k, $18k ... however much you paid for a car is still a lot of money.

some people, myself included, expect certain things from a quality manufacturer like Honda. when a car develops rattles with less than 1,000 miles ... it makes you start to wonder about the quality of the car you just purchased and if more significant problems will creep up in the future.

but sorry to trouble you with my complaints of rattles, and maybe I'll learn to "live with it," but in the meantime, i think i'll go ahead and complain.

[hamproof]

Not sure if you read this. If you haven't check it out:

Link to rattle (http://ephatch.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=106571)

[Tenacious G]

hamproof,

i saw that, and i'll check it out when i get the chance. but i'm 99.9% certain the rattle is coming from the dash.

I checked the gap in the cluster, and it's pretty significant at the top. i'm champing at the bit to let the honda techs listen to see if they'll do anything about it. this rattle is driving me crazy.

i don't understand how my co-worker's 1980 MB can be rattle free and my new EP sound like a hyundai. i'm really disappointed in the build quality ... but absolutely love the car otherwise.

[hamproof]

I didn't get a chance to look at another Si after I discovered the gap (significant gap IMO) at the top of the cluster where the trim pieces meet. But trust me. It ain't the cause of it.

My rattling sound seems to be coming from the left side dash around the driver side left vents and cup holder area. I swear it has to come from where but I've looked at that area including removing the cluster and jiggling the heat ducts, looking at wires behind that area (removing the lower panels and the left storage cubby) and there's absolutely nothing there that could make the sound. I even drove around with all these panels off and the sound is still there. Thus this has led me to believe it is either the steering wheel or inside the door.

But like I said, it was rattling like nobody's business early Sat. morning. Non stop. Sunday morning I go out to do an errant but not a peep. Same thing yesterday and same thing today! I was suppose to bring the car in yesterday and have them look at it today.

I really ENVY all the owners w/o any rattle. This is one heck of a rattle and it's almost giving me migraines. Maybe I can sue Honda for mental anguish!

[Tenacious G]

well, after some careful inspection, i also have the rattling coming from the passenger side door that Chakra posted. but it's comforting to know that one has actually been located. i'll check it when i get the time.

what's weird is your rattling seems to be tempermental ... sometimes there, sometimes not. mine is pretty constant. i'm wondering if it could be temperature related? weather here is pretty mild all the time, but the rattle seems worse on cold(er) days. it's warm today (mid 70s) so it'll be interesting to see if the rattle is still there or less noticable.

[hamproof]

On Sat. it was rattling. (50miles)
On Sun. not a peep (15miles)
On Mon. not a peep (I took esp. bumpy and pothole ridden rd.)
On Tue. not a peep (usual route to work - 60miles RT)
On Wed. BAM! Rattle came back.

I can only shake my head. I was going to take it in Mon. evening to have it looked at Tues. I even tried to make the rattle appear on the way home on Monday by driving esp. hard on the bumpy roads and potholes nonetheless. Not a damn sound.

All was fine on Tuesday. Maybe a peep here and there. Nothing serious.

This morning, driving to work, not quite full blown rattle. But I can hear it alright. On previous occasion, if I turn up the radio, you can still hear the rattle. It is that loud (radio maybe at 3-4 bars).

This is driving me nuts! If I get it while driving home tonight, I'm gonna stop by the dealership and hopefully the rattle won't be stage shy.

[Tenacious G]

i completly forgot to post that i took my EP into the dealership to have them look into the driver's side rattle. *remarkably* they told me they couldn't hear any rattle ... BUT when i got into the car and drove one of the service guys around, it was there, but he could "barely" hear it. whatever, it was especially loud/annoying that day.

but, i got the same story, that "they don't want to pull anything apart with out knowing exactly where the rattle is coming from." or so said the service adviser. by this time, i had wasted an entire day off from work waiting to hear from the dealer about my car (they had it for nine hours), so i said fine, and took my car back.

and, with the warmer weather, the rattle doesn't seem as obvious, but when the A/C is turned on, it becomes much more apparent. could be a fittment issue in the dash, but i'm not sure. i've about had it, so i'm taking it back in soon and hopefully they'll go ahead and look in the dash to see if they can find it.

[raiyo]

Is the rattle due to music or just normal driving/vibration? I hear some rattle now and then when a loud car runs by me, i think it is my cup holder. i gotta look into this before i add my woofer, heheh. i dont wanna drive myself crazy.

[hamproof]

If your rattle is anything like the ones some of us have encountered, it is not the cup holder. It seem like it is coming from there. But it isn't the cause.

In the cold wintery days, the vibe/rattle/squeek will be constant. However, it is warmer now and I don't hear it as much. But at times I can still hear it. Looks like I'll have to wait till next winter before I can do anything. Dealership looked at it a few times but no resolution. If they can't hear it, they can't help you.

Oh yeah, it is not due to music. I turned my radio off and the AC and fan off.