Hey all... I took my tacoma on the first long distance drive since I bought it and it developed a rattling sound. We can't pinpoint exactly where it is coming from, but it seems to be in the dash or drivers-side kick-panel. Basically, somewhere to the left and in front of the driver.

It kind of sounds like a speedo cable, but the speedo needle doesn't bounce around at all like I would expect.

Then....
Just last week, I noticed a similar sound coming from the same general area on the passenger side.

In both instances, the sound doesn't start until the truck is going around 45 mph and stops when you slow down much below that.

Do you folks have any ideas what this could be?

 

unfortunately it could be several things. try taking the knee bolster down and see if you see anything that could be moving or rattling. Grab things and shake and see if u can replicate the sound. I had a similar issue and it was the harness to my remote start rattling against some stuff.

 

Are you sure it's not just your key fob hitting the dash? That one got me for a while.

MadCityRich

 

Chromatest, Have you had any luck finding the source of your rattle? I have the same problem in my 97 4runner.

 

I haven't sorted it out yet... I do know it's not the key fob.

 

I think there's a TSB about dash rattles in Tacos and 4Runners. Something about a bracket touching some metal part. I know mine has a rattle on the passenger side, but it's above the airbag and I've never been brave enough to remove it to check it out.

 

mine rattles, but it's missing a few screws in the cowl so it's an easy fix (if i ever get around to buying some screws..)

 

From the .gov website, I don't see anything about it. You can do a search on your own vehicle here:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr.../tsbsearch.cfm

 

For what it's worth, I get a rattle in my driver door when the window is cranked all the way up. If I just tap the window down button (window is still closed) the rattle goes away. Good luck.

 

“Rattling noise in drivers side dash. ideas? “


Could be your wife or your girlfriend when one of them is driving your truck..? :-)))

 

that happens to me too it comes and it goes and itstarts up at about 20 mph and then gets louder and sometimes stops and it is someties on the passengers side but mostley on the drivers side

 

Glad I am not the only one that took some time to figure out it was the key fob. It got me for a while too (couple of hours). LOL

Cheers

 

This might sound odd, but put your defrost onto full windshield, and crank teh heat and fan all the way up for a few minutes and see if that helps. My brother was telling me this used to happed to him in his '99 taco. I had/sometimes have something similiar and it helps mine.

 

i hate to dig up an old thread, but did you ever figure the problem out. or does anyone have any info on the TSB for the dash rattle?

My 03 just started doing this tonight

this is really starting to make me wonder, my 03 with 70k miles has almost as many problems as my 89 honda with 270k on it

 

I still haven't figured it out yet. One of these days I'll pull out my front seat so I have room to get down there.

 

Noises/rattles can be tough to find,because the sound bounces all arond the cabin....many moons ago I traced several that would happen more frequently when the outside temp would drop..Most of them comming from the dash area (rattle bouncing off windshield)ended up being loose dash clips...THE ONES THAT LOCATE THE DASH PINS WITH THE FIREWALL...they just need a couple wraps of thin felt/foam tape...Unfortunatly the entire dash needs to be removed..No easy task even for an experienced tech.

Only real short cut to possibly cut down on the noise if the rattle is comming from this area of the dash..is to jam in some foam backer rod along the whole length of where the dash and windshield meet....something like this,maybe 3/8 or 1/4 :

http://www.mountainhomebuildingprodu...G-p-16204.html

 

It's probly just a little rattling part, if you can locate it just secure it with some silicone or a zip tie. I have these in my truck but i just turn the music up a few notches

 

thats what i was thinking last night, shimming the dash with foam. if i put my hand on the passenger side of the dash while i'm driving then it goes away

 

As mentioned by others, there are plastic clips that attach the dash cover to the firewall that can rattle. I was able to access mine by removing the gauge cluster and then cinching this area of the cover (left of the cluster) to the firewall with some wire. Worked well for me.

 

I little metal wire clip fell on my foot in my 4runner two days ago.
this is after 160,000 miles.

it could be any small nut, bolt, or wire clip 'fromunda' bouncing around.