Cold Weather Rattle Fixed

For the past couple of months, I have been tracking down a rather loud rattle. If you've ever tried to fix a dash rattle, finding the source can be very frustrating. I finally found and fixed the rattle that has been driving me crazy, so I thought I'd share what is was, along with other things I tried and found along the way. Hopefully, this can save someone else some time and frustration.

Like a lot of rattles, it only happened in colder weather and seemed to go away once the truck warmed up. It also only happened when the truck was in drive, so I only ever got to hear it when behind the wheel. From the driver seat, I would have sworn that it was a dash rattle from inside the cab.

Here's a recording of the rattle. The recording doesn't really do it justice - it seemed a lot louder in person (you may need to turn the volume up):

https://youtu.be/1EIRLTl4JGg

Over the course of several weekends, I started tearing into the dash to find it. It definitely came from the passenger side. I started simple and addressed the infamous passenger tweeter/A-pillar rub (lots of threads about that here). I also added 5/8" foam backer rod along the dash between the windshield and the dash, but neither of those fixed it.

Next, I removed the passenger kick panel. In there, I found a white, plastic piece lining a hole feeding wires through to the door (picture below). It was very loose and sounded like it could have been the source, so I secured it.


Unfortunately, that wasn't it either. Next, I completely removed the glove box, and the trim immediately above the glove box. I secured everything I could behind the glove box. While inspecting the glove box, I noticed a wear-spot on the top, and noticed a wiring harness above the glove box that was resting on top of the glove box when in place. I placed a piece of foam on top of the wear-spot on the glove box. The picture below shows the harness and the top of the glove box where the wear-spot was:


Unfortunately, that also didn't fix it. Next, I suspected the passenger door. I removed the door trim and the speaker. With the speaker removed, I checked that the window track was secure and while poking around inside the door, I found the same wiring bundle from the white plastic piece in the first picture above. It was loose and able to rattle around inside the door. I secured it, and reinstalled the speaker. The picture below shows the approximate location of the wire bundle inside the door:



Unfortunately, that wasn't it either.

The answer came from the 2nd Gen forums. Since I was certain that the rattle was coming from inside the cabin, I wasn't considering other possibilities. But it seems that the air intake on 2nd Gens were notorious for rattling, to the point that there was a TSB to address it. So, after reading about that, I took a look at my intake and found that the tube that goes through a hole and into the space behind the passenger fender was rattling against the edges of the hole. Picture below:



After adding some extra foam lining the hole, the rattle is gone.

Long story short, if you think you have a cold-weather dash rattle, before you go tearing into your dash, check your intake.

 

I just live with my cold weather rattles because it is too cold to try and hunt them down lol.
Kudos to you for finding your source.

 

thanks for sharing and being detailed.

i have rattles and squeaks in all kinds of weather, but they are definitely worse in cold weather. i have an access cab and the worst of the rattles and ticking noise was coming from behind the access cab door panels. i removed them and placed tape across the metal support brackets. i also secured the loose wires and added foam and that helped a lot.

my dash squeaks and rattles around the bezel. i can press on and make it go away for a while, but it returns usually in the morning when it's cold.

the door latch or weather strip above my left ear are now making a ticking noise. i have not yet addressed it.

my tacoma has more rattles and squeaks than our '09 camry with 200K+ miles, as well as every other vehicle i have owned with the exception of an S10 blazer.