Shifter Console Creaking Noise and Buzzing noise

I have had my truck for about a month now, and I have been trying to make the cabin as quiet as possible. One of my biggest pet peeves are little squeaks, rattles and creaks the interior plastics make going over bumps. So far I have eliminated a passenger side creaking from near the A pillar and a bunch of wind noise with vinyl tubing in the weather stripping.

So today on my way to work, I finally found the source of another creaking noise in my 2010 Tacoma 6SPD MT. This time the noise was coming from the center shifter console. Any small bump in the road and you could hear the noise.

If you push on the side of the shifter console, you can hear the creaking loud as day. I made this video so people could hear the noise.



A bunch of research on this forum showed some threads that also talk about a similar noise and other noises. But no one has posted a video of the noise, so I figured that would be helpful.

I plan on following this thread https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/center-console-removal-w-pics.57895/ to remove the console and investigate what pieces can be causing the noise. (I know thats an automatic, but it has to be similar to remove). I plan on taking pictures of the process and what I have found.

Here's a few other threads that talk about it:

• https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/maddening-console-creak-tick-solved.447792/
  
• https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/creaking-center-console-anyone-else.337395/

I also found this write up for another buzzing noise that I have been hearing on the interior.

http://guidedir.com/toyota-tacoma-buzzing-interior-noise-fix/

 

Removing the center console is very easy in the manuals, and is very similar to that thread. The first step though is to remove the cup holders. Just grab them and pull straight up; that's all there is to it. Then you can remove the screws at the bottom of the center console and the other two screws under the cup holders. After that the front part slips right off the shifter.

 

You are talking about the three cup holder right? Not the 2 in front of the shifter on the AT's?

 

Correct. I had the manual and had to remove the center console many times for various mods.

 

Cool, thanks for the tip!

 

No problem! Good luck in your endeavors, and thanks for contributing to the forum in a well laid out thread.

 

This forum has been extremely helpful to me so far, so I am glad to help!

 

Just found this TSB which addresses a buzzing or rattling noise coming from the glove box area as well. I'll be investigating this one as well...

 

So yesterday I fixed the creaking noise that I posted in the video.

Here are the steps I followed:

Remove the cup holders. They popped right out just as was suggested above. I was surprised how easy they came out.

Remove the entire center console assembly. This was accomplished by removing the 6 screws circled in yellow.


I then looked at how the front part of the console that connects to the dash and not surprisingly, there are many areas of plastic on plastic. So I am not shocked this thing made as much noise as it did. I cleaned all of the plastic on plastic areas very well with rubbing alcohol.

I had a bunch of sheets of "stick-on" or "peel and stick" felt for a different but similar project (*more about this project below) I was working on and starting cutting small pieces to fit on the areas that could rub together. I did a few pieces then re-installed and still had some noise, so I popped it back out and added more felt. I did this process maybe 6 times.

Here are some pictures I took. The yellow arrows are pointing to where I also stuck felt but didnt take any pictures. Also I removed the yellow clips that the arrow is pointing at. With all the added felt, the console was more snug in the dash and I didnt see the need for the clip and I thought it was contributing to some noise. Props to Toyota for making quality clips that dont break, even after 7 years! The VW clips are shit compared to them.




I added A LOT of felt to every clip and every mating surface, and an hour and a half later, I took it for a drive and sure enough ALL of the creaking from this console is gone! I probably went over board with it, but I wanted to rid the noise for good!


*The project I was working on with the "peel and stick" felt, was also to eliminate noises in the cabin. But it was for the storage areas where everything is hard plastic and then is filled with other plastic/hard objects. So as they slid around, it would make a noise. I got this idea from my GTI which had every storage compartment lined with felt/carpet from the factory. For whatever reason, the cheap plastic Toyota uses is very loud any time something touches it.

So I have been slowly covering every plastic storage compartment with felt and have been happy with my results. So far I have covered the inside of the center console, the center cup holders (bottom and sides), and the storage area in front of the shifter. I forgot to take pictures of the center console and cup holders but here is the other storage area. Had I known I was going to end up taking the whole thing out, it would have looked better and been easier to apply. Maybe I will re-do it, but you cant notice it when its in place.



I never got around to the glove box buzzing noise last night, but I can hear this one better now that the creaking is gone. Hopefully tonight I will fix that one. Almost to a dead silent interior!

 

Dude that's awesome!! Gotta love when a project like this works out.

 

Where'd you get that thin adhesive felt? All I can find is thick stuff.