This rattle is about to drive me nuts !!!!!

I had the same thing on my passenger side. I had furniture pad (basically a small piece of foam or cardboard) shoved between window and dash for like the last 6 years.

A few months ago, I had the windshield removed and fixed the problem with spray foam.

You could push on the dash and locate the spots. There are several plastic mounts that connect to the firewall. They have give in them and make the noise. There a probably 6 or so that go across the whole dash.

I sprayed the foam on these spots and the next day the problem was gone - No more give or annoying noise.

I would suggest removing the windshield so you can see what you are doing rather than just spraying the whole area.

I also had another rattle and my OME suspension fixed that problem.

 

toycar18, I really don't think it's got anything to do with the dash. I did read about the cardboard in one of the top posts and tried that and it made absolutely no difference. I'm almost positive it's coming from under the blow away dash panel where the airbag is mounted. I've never even seen a removed airbag, but suspect they are fairly heavy due to the structural mount I can see it is mounted to when the glove box is removed. The sound of the rattle is something heavy and that's about all I can figure since I've been able to get to everything else and shake it to determine if it's loose or not.

 

Reading this thread has made me feel better knowing that I'm not the only person dealing with the dash rattle. Mine is also on the passenger side defrost vent, a few years back I cut a small price of fabric and folded it several times, then wedged it in the space between the spots that were making all the noise. That fixed it, until the fabric fell through, and it's been back for a few months. I would love to find a more permanent solution besides turning the radio up.

 

If you used just a tiny touch of it in a few spots, it might work ok. I think it'd be pretty difficult to get in the correct position to do it though.

If you look at the FSM The best I can figure, the problem is between the Defroster Nozzle and the dash. Their pics aren't quite how I remember it looking though, with the defroster nozzle being a bit taller and longer (but it is just a drawn picture anyway). It sort of looks like there are vents on the nozzle, but that is not the case. The vents are part of the dash and not removable the best I could tell (probably just glued in). The connection between the vents and the nozzle is just like all the other vents under the dash, with the nozzle being on the outside of the dash connector.

I think part of the problem is that the nozzle is just too long and the plastic isn't rigid enough so it ends up warping a bit over time, causing a space to form between the nozzle and the vent.

So, when you're putting foam, paper, whatever between the windshield and the nozzle, you're forcing the nozzle to be closer to the vent connector so it cant rattle.

I'm not really sure you could easily get foam into it good enough to actually fix the problem, as the foam has a tendency to flow around and not actually put pressure on the items. You cant really go from inside the vent due to the connection piece being in the way, and you'd have to have it hook upwards to get the foam in a good spot from the back (and will probably end up making a huge mess).


Every piece of the vent tubing is made with the same plastic (until you get to the output), so potentially, every one of the tubes has the possibility of rattling once the plastic warps a little. Also, most are just held together with friction, so its not the hardest thing for them to separate over time. Some are actually screwed into different pieces, which screws can work their way out as well.

 

well, i noticed that my passenger side A-piller trim moves around a lot. I have never removed it before so its isn't loose due to me. So I think some of the noise is from that? Only suggestion I have because when I tap mine around with my hand it makes contact with the edge of the dash and it sounds pretty similar.

 

The Toyota dealer has noise reduction kits, or quiet kits. Some depending on your year and model are free bcuz its considered defective/recall issue

 

I had the same thing on my Taco, I purchased some of the foam that they use to install caps on trucks and cut it to size, put it between the window pillar and dash.. No more noise.

 

I had a very similar problem and tried a bunch of things that would help a little or cause it to quit temporarily. I finally figured out it was the hood latch because it had play in it, and would sound like it was in the dash i guess because of all the metal. I simply wrapped the latch that attaches to the hood a few times with duct tape. Hasnt made a sound since. You can tell if thats your problem by bumping your hood a few times at the front of it with palm of your hand and you will here it. Hope this helps.