Huge rattle from center dashboard

That's funny! I heard the same rattle and was driving with my ear to the dashboard until I too discovered it was my sunglasses in the overhead compartment! And yes, they are burning hot when I take them out after being parked outside for a while.

The rattle I hear most often is the passenger seatbelt buckle rattling on the b-pillar. Never notice a car do that before...

What's interesting is that I swore that it, too was coming from the dash.

I have an intermittent, very subtle rattle that appears to be coming from behind the center dashboard. I have no sunglasses in the overhead compartment and just papers in the glove box. If the Leaf wasn't so quiet I'm sure I wouldn't hear it. Not a big deal but if it gets worse I could see myself looking into finding its source.

HIOJim said:

I have an intermittent, very subtle rattle that appears to be coming from behind the center dashboard. I have no sunglasses in the overhead compartment and just papers in the glove box. If the Leaf wasn't so quiet I'm sure I wouldn't hear it. Not a big deal but if it gets worse I could see myself looking into finding its source.

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We had the same rattle and found it was the wire cover for the rearview mirror was not snapped in all the way on the miror side. Also found it is expandable so it pushes into the headliner.

derekjsmith said:

We had the same rattle and found it was the wire cover for the rearview mirror was not snapped in all the way on the miror side. Also found it is expandable so it pushes into the headliner.

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Good tip! I'll check it out and report back.

Update: Nope, that wasn't it though I could see how it could generate a rattle. The search continues....

HIOJim said:

derekjsmith said:

We had the same rattle and found it was the wire cover for the rearview mirror was not snapped in all the way on the miror side. Also found it is expandable so it pushes into the headliner.

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Good tip! I'll check it out and report back.

Update: Nope, that wasn't it though I could see how it could generate a rattle. The search continues....

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Found it!

Seems my hood support rod in the 'motor compartment' was rattling at its pivot point where it attached to the hood. I looked at another Leaf and the rubber bushing on that car was a better fit than the one on mine. I wrapped two turns of electrical tape on the end of the rod and now it fits nice and snug.

I had the same rattle. It turned out that the visor was not secured in its catch

So, our Identified "Dashboard" Rattle Sources:

Visor: un-hooked
Rear-View Mirror: cover loose
Seat-Belt: not retracted
Glasses Cooker: items inside
Hood Support Rod: Pivot or Latch point.

Good Work.

Reviving this post, I finally broke down and took mine in. I'm relatively confident the dealer had never serviced a Leaf before because I had to tell them about the free rental car I get. My rattle was none of the above listed sources. In fact I had specifically removed everything Nissan did not put in the car the night before I took it in. The rattle had grown successively worse over ~3000 miles, not too bad, but it went from intermittent to every time I was on a rough road so I figured the time was right as I could readily reproduce it.

Day one they removed trim pieces and tried insulating to no avail and at the end of the day a call was put in to Nissan I'm told and they dispatched one of the super mobile techs. Today the dealer tech and corporate tech apparently spent all day working on it and they still have not been able to find the source of the noise.

It is coming from the front center of the dash and I'm now fearing that the whole dash has been in and out of the car more than once. I have not been able to get any carwings updates so that means the 12 volt is disconnected, which likely means they have the car torn apart. I'm going to try and swing by on my lunch break tomorrow and see if I can even see the car.

The Altima loaner I'm in ssuuuccckksss!

Wow, I was going to have the dealer work on my center console sounding rattle when I take it in for the 7500 service next month. I've also got a driver seat "clunking" that happens every time I take a corner. I think I'll do some of my own investigations on the rattle, first.

Wait...we get a free loaner when our LEAFs go in for service?

mwalsh said:

Wait...we get a free loaner when our LEAFs go in for service?

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Only if it is warranty repair:

During the first 36 months/36,000 miles of service, your participating Nissan LEAF certified dealer will provide you with a complimentary rental vehicle when a warrantable repair is performed

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Ray

planet4ever said:

Only if it is warranty repair:

During the first 36 months/36,000 miles of service, your participating Nissan LEAF certified dealer will provide you with a complimentary rental vehicle when a warrantable repair is performed

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Of course, they rarely make that determination when you drop it off. All the times I've had stuff done under warranty, It's always been a call back later in the day when they've told me, "Yes we're taking care of it under warranty".

drees said:

The rattle I hear most often is the passenger seatbelt buckle rattling on the b-pillar. Never notice a car do that before...

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I have had this rattle too. Thought I was the only one until I read this.

Well, day three and they still haven't figured it out. They're going to pick up on Monday. I'm tempted to go by there tomorrow and see if the car it drivable, I may take it back for the weekend. Grrr! :evil:

As an update I finally got the car back on the fourth business day and they sort of admitted they were not entirely sure how they fixed it. Apparently they found some AC ducts with loose screws, tied up some wire harness bits, but none of that did it. The service paper shows they finally put a wood block with foam underneath the windshield where the cowl is and that made the noise go away and upon removing it the noise stayed away. I've put ~200 miles on it since and it's still gone.

Early on, I think somebody reported a loose cowling
just in front of the bottom edge of the windshield.

Is the block/wedge anywhere one can get at it, or
does one have to dismantle the entire dashboard to get at it?

Far as I can tell they put a block under the windshield to see if it made the noise go away, and it did. When they removed this (not part of the car) the noise stayed away apparently. It sounds kind of strange to me, but whatever, they fixed it and it hasn't come back yet. A loose cowl cover would make perfect sense though.

Am I really the only one to see the obvious problem by carefully studying your picture !!?

:lol: :lol: :lol: