Mystery Rattle Solved (I think)

[trilobyte650]

It is with some trepidation that I declare that the mystery rattle has been solved (fingers crossed). For about a month (since I got the van) I've been going nuts trying to track down a bizarre rattle. I've been convinced that it was eminating from under the dash, somewhere up behind the glove box. It sounded a bit like someone sticking a popcycle stick in a fan, sometimes quite loud. And now here is the bizarre thing: it seemed to be related most closely to wind speed! It would start at about 60kms and go to about 80kms. Engine rpm didn't matter, road surface didn't matter. But I was convinced it was coming from inside the van. I tied up every wire I could find, I put foam behind the license plate, I did other crazy things but couldn't figure it out. I was about ready to take a chainsaw to the dashboard when I discovered this:


The little piece of rubber above the headlight had come unglued at one end. I pulled it off. The rattle hasn't come back since.

Peter.

[username]

hey, that sounds a lot like the rattle mine has. seems to start around 40km for me though. hopefully it will be as easy to fix as yours..

[JerBull]

We had this problem too! My girlfriend and I endured a 10hr drive to fredricton with that horible buzzing. I knew It was coming from the front of the van because it was related to wind speed and I ended up taping up everything but the strips to no avail. Then I tore out my dash and found a bunch of stuff that had been stuck in there, but nothing that rattled. The rub is that the dash doesn't sit quite as evenly as it did before. anyhow thanks for the post, helped me find an easy fix.

[Profister]

The little piece of rubber above the headlight had come unglued at one end. I pulled it off. The rattle hasn't come back since.

This was the first problem I discovered in my van. I just taped the gaps over a year ago and did not have time to do anything else about it.

[konadog]

Oooo, thanks heaps for this - we have the same rattle on and off - drives me mad! I'm going to have a look-see at the fix this morning. Thanks again!!!

[sid]

somebody called it "bees in a paper bag" at 60km/h and up. = annoying.

it was the rubber srip atop the depo lamp, i took em off both and the buzzing is gonzo. if only the clunk in my subframe was such ane easy fix.

sid.

[lightrider]

Thank you!

This solved the most annoying issue with our van.
I could tell it was something flapping in the wind, but it would have taken me a long time to find this without your help.