Mouse noise behind my dash

I have a 01 tacoma that has this noise/squeal behind the dash. Sometimes it goes away after driving a while but comes intermittently. The noise will also come on whether or not the AC/fan is on...

Any ideas what it may be?

Edwin

 

I don't know, but if you're talking the passenger side, mine has it too...

 

Its the blower fan behind the glove box the bearing needs to be lubed

 

Mine's not the fan. My fan is brand-new, and my rattle is present regardless of fan operation. I can actually make it go away pressing hard on the glove box, or even by pressing on the plastic strip above the glove box just below the pax airbag.

 

I had a similar problem, it was driving me nuts. I figured out it was the strip of plastic closest to the windshield that runs from left side of the cab all the way to the right side, right where the windshield meets with the dash, close to the defrost vents, location kind of hard for me to explain. But all I did was press a few rubber grommets between the windshield and that piece of plastic. I drove a few years with a chopstick stuck there haha, the grommets work and look much better, can't really see them much. Don't know but that might be the prob.

 

In my case it was mice quite a family living in the heater box .

Moved them out and into the woods

 

My 03 Camry has the same issue. It's due to windshield to Instrument Panel (IP, (dash)) clearance. Ironically, mine only occurs in Winter. I believe the plastic shrinks just enough to allow relative movement. In Summer, I think it is tight against the windshield.

I know on some models Toyota has factory installed felt type material to the IP clips to the main reinforcement bar since it can occur there as well. 2nd gen Sienna for example. I believe later 1st gen Tundras and some older Camry's also have it.

 

@m32 @zach141b @fedup

I notice a picture (@PennSilverTaco ) that I think will show what I was trying to describe as might be the cause of your noise behind the dash. If it is unrelated to heater, comes and goes with cold vs hot temps, and only happens when the vehicle is in motion, and can be eliminated by pushing on the dash near the glass, good chance it is one or more of the clips. The instrument panel (dash) has clips that go into these when it is installed. Keeps the outer layer of the IP level/prevents sagging with heat and age. The big pink on engages first and guides the IP in and up so everything else aligns correctly.

If you ever have your IP out like PennSilverTaco does, it is a good idea to add some felt to them to prevent rubbing.

 

My dash makes no noise, strangely enough...

And it better not, cuz I ain't payin' $955 for the dash to come out again!

 

Also, OP...

As the owner of the truck seen with its dashboard dismantled in the photo, let me tell you...

If you have a complex aftermarket stereo system that goes way beyond a simple head unit and speakers, like I do, and your vehicle needs work that requires the dash to come out, disconnect everything before having someone else work on it.

I have a $325 Pioneer head unit with external hookups for Bluetooth, backup camera, subwoofer, external amplifier, USB, and AUX.

The tech who worked on my truck was nice enough to photograph everything with his phone before he unhooked it. However, he accidentally stuffed a dashcam wire up behind the head unit and we had to remove the radio bezel and HVAC controls to access that and get it out. Then, the backup camera wire was not properly reconnected.

The tech was courteous and professional, but not too thrilled about having to go through all this extra work for a stereo system.

Also, most people would just power their aftermarket speakers using the factory wiring, and this is what I did for five years after I got my first aftermarket stereo. My neighbor helped me install a setup that rivals the work you'd get for several hundred dollars at a specialty shop. Instead of being plugged directly into the head unit, the speakers are plugged into a Rockford Fosgate amp that is plugged into the head unit. This pretty much eliminates distortion when the volume is cranked. The amp, along with the Kicker 8" sub, are hooked up to the battery for power.

 

You're probably right.

 

Well here's all I did when I had my noise problem over 150,000 miles ago, it may not be related to the OP problem at all. The noise was driving me nuts though, I started pressing around on the dash. I found the rattle problem and put two grommets between the windshield and the dash. Here's my truck btw. It took care of the prob for pennies.

 

This is excellent--I just purchased some grommets like that the other day, for use on another project for which they didn't work out, size-wise. So, I have the parts in hand!
Thanks.

 

I like to get old electric fans going from the teens, 20s-40s so I had the grommets hanging around also. I'm curious to know if you had the same rattle source that I did, if the grommets work.

 

The three grommets have definitely stopped the rattle. (Awesome--thank you!!) It does still make a difficult-to-describe (but bearable) sound from the right side of the dash, when I hit bumps. Maybe a couple more grommets...