I know there are tons of threads out there about rattles because I have read most of them to no avail.

I have a 2002 Sport that rattle on the passenger side. It seems to come from the passenger vent or under/behind the glovebox (I originally thought it was something in the gb but it isnt). The rattle comes and goes, sometimes it is worse than others. Some days it isnt there at all but in general is is there in the background and driving me insane.
The fan/ac have no effect on it, i can turn off the fan, change speeds, hot/cold, etc and nothing changes the rattle.
Bumps and speed also do not seem to affect it.
I have read threads about cleaning a fan under the dash. I removed the black plastic fan unit that I assume was being referenced (the ac/fan didnt work at all with it out) and the rattle continued even with that unit removed. I have taken off the dash and some plastic ducts looking for loose parts but dont notice anything.
Nothing rattles when i tap/bang on the left side of the airbag so I assume it isnt the taco rattle.
I wanted to get anyones input before I disassembled the entire dash.
Has anyone had a problem like this?

 

My drivers side front window assembly has a rattle. I only hear it if the window is ALL the way up. If I tap it down just 1/2 a centimeter, the rattle goes away... maybe it's your passenger front window?

 

i wish because it would easier to take apart the door than the dash but it still happens with the window open.

 

I have a rattle once in awhile too.......drives me crazy, so I just crank up the stereo!

 

Same here... comes and goes.... not real loud, but irritating to know its there. Hopefully someone has whipped this problem.

Subscribed!

James

 

Ive got one like that also. Sounds like change rattling in my ashtray, but its not, cuz I have checked like a hundred times. Hope someone gets to the bottom of this.

 

I had a rattle once that I thought was coming from my glovebox area and it turned out to be the emergency brake cable. It stretched over time and I adjusted it and no more rattle.

 

I had a huge nasty rattle that would never go away, so I took the plunge and took apart the dash. After doing that about 7 times I finall fixed all of them. The big rattle was the defrost plenum going to the windshield. That thing rattled all the way down the windshiield so I had to take apart the dash a few times to get that thing to stop. Anyways just try that and keep us posted!

 

Yatzheee... I have that same sound and its coming for my ashtray area... I have checked it out and cant find anything. I also have about 1000 wires behind the dash trim behind the stereo so that probably doesnt help.

 

i too have the mystery rattle and would love to know the solution.

 

Dont know if its good or not that the sound is replicated in other runners. At least I am not alone, or crazy.

 

I noticed this rattle more during this winter...it sounds like someone is tapping againest the passenger glovebox or windshield...

 

It might be what DOT3 is describing. I had that happen to me too. I could make it stop by putting my finger on the threaded part where the ebrake cable is bolted to the ebrake handle and pushing it sideways to "pull" the cable tighter. After that I tightened up the cable and all was good again. That rattle sounded like it could have been coming from anywhere up front. I don't know how I figured that one out other than getting lucky.

 

I now believe mine is the ebrake cable also. It was pretty loud this morning so I pulled the ebrake up a bit and it altered the sound. SO I guess i need to figure out how to tighten it to get it to go away. At least its not a major problem and seems to be an easy fix.

 

I have it in my 01 Tacoma but I found it and you wont believe it. It sounded just like you guy's are describing and one day driving down my wash board road I reached over and pushed down on the lower left hand corner of my passenger side air bag cover. It took very little pressure and just one finger and all the rattling stopped dead! Let go on the cover and it was right back again. Tried pushing down on it all over and it would only stop when I applied pressure to that one spot. Haven't figured out what to do about it because "it Is " the air bag cover. Mike