Dash Noise - has anyone had the dealer fix it?

My 2016 with under 14,000 miles has had the dreaded speaker grill/a-piller rattle for most of a year. In that time, it's been to the dealer three times and every time, the tech cannot replicate the noise and therefore cannot fix the noise. The service writers all know the noise, but "if they can't replicate it, they can't fix it."

I get that. In my previous life as an office machine tech (aka: copier guy), I totally understand that you need to identify the noise before you can properly eliminate it. But, seriously...how has Toyota NOT issued a TSB on this yet? Or have they and the dealer is just not finding it?

 

Interested to hear responses - I have the same issue, with same results from dealer. I even placed foam along the dash/pillar junction when doing the Subaru tweeter swap, as well as padded the little cap on the passenger side of the dash (that I think would normally be for auto-headlights) with no luck.

 

Just got a VM from the dealer. Apparently the service writer didn't include my description of where the noise was coming from, so the tech was looking at the suspension. Knowing where the noise was coming from, they added "some insulating foam" and want me to drive it for a few days to make sure the noise is gone. Fingers crossed!

 

What Vbpiper said. Stuff something in there and it's fixed. The dealer will not hear it because when you get there it's warmed inside and may not be making any noise. Has to be cold.

G.

 

I’ll be fighting that fight at my next check up. I took it in last January at 20k and asked them to look into it. They said they couldn’t replicate it. This time I’m going to make sure they do a test drive with me in the car, because you can’t not hear it. It was okay during the summer months but now that it’s getting colder it’s very annoying.

 

See posts 3 & 5.

G.

 

Anti Squeak Anti Rattle Self Adhesive Felt Tape 1" X 20"

https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Squeak-Rattle-Self-Adhesive/dp/B012D1FXD2

 

You’ve got a point but at the same time, like everyone says I want my $35k truck to be fixed right. Just sucks that all of these are well known problems but Toyota dealerships act like they don’t exist and we’re crazy for thinking they do.

 

I intentionally turned the defroster on all the way to cold for the entire trip to the shop this morning. Froze my butt off, but I wanted to make sure the noise was there. Of course, the drop-off bay is kept at like 80 degrees!

In my case, it's worst in the "shoulder seasons" (Spring and Fall). Dead of Summer and dead of Winter it's still there, but not as prevalent. Jamming a toothpick in between the grill and the a-pillar got rid of it for a while, but who wants to drive around with a toothpick stuck in their dashboard on a $35,000 truck?

 

@Garyji haha see my point.

I’ll be going that route if I get no help from the dealer, but I figure I may as well make one last ditch effort.

 

So, service manager said that tech could still not replicate noise, but had him "spray some foam in there" (where "there" is he couldn't elaborate on). Two days later, noise is still there. Maybe just slightly quieter, but still definitely there. I'm going to leave the truck overnight next week and maybe if they drive it first thing in the morning, cold, the tech will hear it. I still don't expect them to fix it, but I'm exhausting all of the options before ToyotaCare is up in January. Then I'll pop the a-pillar trim off and add some insulation there.

 

I was actually going to make a new thread on this, I put stuff around the passenger side speaker grille and yet still had weird annoying dash noises. I picked up some of this round rope weather strip foam and stuffed it down between the windshield and dash and it is finally quiet.

 

Be careful with that "pop the a-pillar" stuff. There's an airbag back there.

Just sayin'.

G.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tapping-noise-from-passenger-dash-speaker-solved.422339/

Here's a huge thread about various fixes.

 

BTW, took my Taco in the other day and left it overnight so they could "replicate the noise". Turns out they could and when they called Toyota and described where it was coming from, they found that there was an updated part number for the speaker grill/cover. Ordered it, replaced it this morning and so far (in the 4 mile ride from the shop), no noise! Hopefully this is a more or less permanent fix. Apparently, the service manager said that Toyota said that the retaining clips on the original cover were too short and allowed some vibration. The new part has "longer clips" to eliminate the noise. Not sure I buy all that, but that particular noise does seem to be gone.

 

I hope that works.Keep us posted

 

Drove a good 35-40 miles today all over some of the bumpiest roads in Southeast PA and didn't hear a peep from that area. Now I'm noticing some other noises, but they're the typical pops and creaks that any car makes on these same roads. I'd say this new speaker grill is the fix. If you're still having this noise, get it to a dealer/shop and tell them that there's a new part number.

 

Awesome.Thanks for keeping us posted.Hopefully this will help solve the problem with the speaker rattle. My temporary fix has been working thus far.I stuffed hard foam between dash/pillar and it has stopped the noise