finally sorted some suicide inducing rattles
I hate rattles.
I hate rattles you can't locate.
And I hate rattles that you can locate, but can't get too(easily) nor effect an easy solution even if you manage to cobble s tool up to get to it.
Left side central (face)air vent(next to radio) flap spindle rattled on mine. Came in at 1750RPM no matter what speed/road conditions etc.
Finally found the courage to dismantle the dash to pieces again(about 4th time .. and fully over it now) trying to work out a way to stop this spindle rattling and making a pleasant drive the symphony from hell!
Easy-ish solution was to place something into the vent when it rattled and even the slightest pressure on the internal flap(ie. spindle) would stop it. Lost a pen and a straw into the heater box over the period that's it's annoyed me, so something had to be done.
Thought of using a lightweight spring to put a bit of pressure back out on the two way flap to help keep some pressure on it, hook it up to anywhere that would stop it rattling but not so much pressure so that it didn't open close as it should.
No springs(reminder to self to locate a pack of assorted springs too).
Cut a small rubber o-ring in half and using rudimentary tools and lots of patience I wedged the half o-ring between the spindle shaft and the edge of the insides of the vent. One side of the spindle took about 20-30mins due to the lack of access.
Other side now wouldn't shift across as the o-ring now tightened up the side to side slack of the spindle. A bit more sideways force .. noting that more force = success! .. and I had just enough space to force in the other half on the other side. That side fluked it in easier and took less than 10 mins to finally get the o-ring lined up.
No more annoying rattle at 1750RPM .. which coincides perfectly with torque converter lockup and 80k/h on our many 80k/h limited roadwork zones.
While I was at it I also used some rubber finishing bead stuff that clips itself into edges, like a door seal trim but without the rubber seal .. onto the bottom edge of the instrument cowl, and stopped that from making annoying plastic on plastic squeaks and rattles. Now the cowl sits nice and tight with a rubber to plastic surface interface .. [thumbsupbig]
All in all, from the two test drives I've done .. interior rattles are a thing of the past(I'm hoping).