Chrysler Problems: My Dash Squeaks.

"Milky" (jordanmielke) 11/21/2014 at 11:42 • Filed to: Annoying, Crossfire, Chrysler, XF, Interior, Emma Watson, Emma

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So its winter now and before my car warms up the dash squeaks over every. Single. Damn. Bump. Can I take it apart and retighten everything, or am I just stuck with it?

It sucks because a big reason why I bought the car was for its Mercedes parts. Everything below the line in the photo is Mercedes and everything above is Chrysler. The squeak is somewhere in the circle.

You had 2 jobs Chrysler! The sheet metal and the roof, how'd you fuck that up?

For your time.

EDIT: oops, forgot I had this actual nice photo of my own interior. Too late already PS'd the other one.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Milky 11/21/2014 at 11:43

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My uncle pulled the dash from his Skoda for the same reason. It all went back together nicely with no complications... But the squeak was till there.

Milky > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 11/21/2014 at 11:46

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Well thats disappointing …..

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Milky 11/21/2014 at 11:48

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Yep, he still hasnt worked out why it squeaks. Hes kinda OCD with his cars so its driving him mad haha.

Milky > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 11/21/2014 at 11:50

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I think I may still try one of these weekends. I'm not on OCD levels, but I just want it to shut up, lol.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Milky 11/21/2014 at 11:54

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Yeah worth a try, you might be more lucky than he was.

crowmolly > Milky 11/21/2014 at 12:01

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I think you have a better change of making it worse if you take it apart now.

Maybe try to shim it with wedges?

Brian Silvestro > Milky 11/21/2014 at 12:07

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You think that's bad?

Theres a piece of plastic inside the passenger side of my dashboard that a very annoying and audible sound every time I hit any kind of imperfection on the road. It's driving me insane.

#rallycrossproblems

Rico > Milky 11/21/2014 at 12:10

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Pull it, add some felt and that should in theory be enough to solve it.

Svend > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 11/21/2014 at 12:15

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It seems to be relatively common as several people have said on the Skoda forum that their dashboard squeaks often with no remedy.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Svend 11/21/2014 at 12:17

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Strange, his might just be due to age though. It's a 2002 fabia.

Kaizer Soze > Milky 11/21/2014 at 12:20

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Modern dashboards are not really able to come apart. You can remove some things for HVAC access and whatnot, but usually they are put into the car, pre-assembled, by robots and don't come out. If you were able to take it apart it would probably be worse than when you started.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Milky 11/21/2014 at 12:33

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My 2014 FieSTa does the same thing when it gets cold (below about 40 F) even on relatively smooth roads. :P

My 2011 Hyundai Elantra touring had 58K mikes of Vermont back roads on it when we parted ways and not a single interior squeak, even in -35 F weather :|

My 1992 Alfa Romeo 164-S with 430K miles of Vermont on it started to squeak a little the last year and 20K miles I owned it.

After being in an accident that totalled it (it really was trashed, it was just a miracle that the cooling system was still in tact and it was drivable (but pulled to the left), airbags fired and everything...) my 2000 Toyota Corolla CE with 79K miles on it started to squeak over rough roads.

I Love my FieSTa, don't get me wrong, but it does nothing to reinforce the idea of "quality American interiors".

Every Volvo 240, 740 and 940 I've ever owned or ridden in sounded like a kid's toy noise-maker on the inside, so I guess the Americans have that going for them... but then again my '98 V70AWD was silent as a tomb even after 200K of Vermont roads...

Svend > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 11/21/2014 at 12:37

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Not necessarily. It's been brought up on the forum for Mk1 and 2 Fabias, Mk2 and 3 Octavias, Yetis, Roomsters, Mk1 and 2 Superbs, Rapids, etc... in Finland, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Holland, U.K. etc... not a massive number but still mentioned asking what to do about it and whether it was a common fault.

Maybe some people have sensitive ears or others don't notice it for some reason but my car is (Mk2 Superb) is whisper quiet.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Svend 11/21/2014 at 12:40

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I'm not that sensitive to it since my car makes all kinds of noises. You can hear the fuel sloshing about in the tank and the hvac fan whines because the vents are all full of dirt and dust. I wonder if it's actually a quality problem or just most cars are that way.

Milky > crowmolly 11/21/2014 at 12:46

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I was worried about that, but do they make shims for car interiors? The only ones I've seen are huge and for appliances, lol.

Milky > Brian Silvestro 11/21/2014 at 12:47

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But at least your car has a reason, I don't rallycross (yet)!!

Svend > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 11/21/2014 at 12:49

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They all seem to be localised to where the dashboard meets the A pillar on one side or the other but not both.

crowmolly > Milky 11/21/2014 at 12:51

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I was kind of thinking you'd make your own. Take some soft plastic or rubber, a utility knife, and some sandpaper and cut to fit.

LappingLuke > Milky 11/21/2014 at 12:54

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Tape a piece of cloth or felt or something on the edge of the dash or the door or something to keep the plasticy parts from touching

Milky > Rico 11/21/2014 at 12:55

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Well thanks for this comment. I googled "dash squeak felt" and came across a post from the Crossfire forums. A couple comments on how people went to the dealer for work and it came back squeaky then they went back to the dealer and they fixed it. Another comment on how one guy took it apart and used felt to fix it.

All in the exact same spot. Good news!

Milky > Kaizer Soze 11/21/2014 at 12:57

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I actually found a forum thread where a guy fixed this exact problem with felt. I may fuck it up …. but damn its worth a shot!

Milky > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 11/21/2014 at 12:58

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The struggle is too real when buying American. The last 5 years have been a big improvement though.

Milky > crowmolly 11/21/2014 at 13:00

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Fucking smart, on the list of possibilities (read on the forums some guy had good luck with felt too).

Milky > LappingLuke 11/21/2014 at 13:03

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I'm hoping some felt will do the trick.

Rico > Milky 11/21/2014 at 13:03

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You're welcome, I'll send you my consulting fee in the mail.

Milky > Rico 11/21/2014 at 13:07

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Ha, have to pay for that benz somehow.

LappingLuke > Milky 11/21/2014 at 13:08

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Probably some thin fabric from the craft store will work too and take up less space. Just something soft to separate them should do it.

Milky > LappingLuke 11/21/2014 at 13:18

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Good point, thanks!

crowmolly > Milky 11/21/2014 at 13:20

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I have used the fuzzy parts of bulk velcro before, too.

Brian Silvestro > Milky 11/21/2014 at 14:09

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SOON

Twism > Milky 11/21/2014 at 14:22

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Chrysler.

Welcome to the wonderful world of squeaks and rattles.

But seriously, some felt on the right places can help, and the dash itself is not THAT hard to remove (usually).

Sweet Crossfire, by the way. that car looks absolutely fantastic, IMO (not a opinion shared by a lot of people, sadly)

Milky > Twism 11/21/2014 at 14:48

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Yea, after posting this I stumbled upon a Crossfire forum post about adding felt in that exact spot. Its a bit of a problem I guess.

But thanks! The more polarizing the better imo … Im a bit of a hipster.

Twism > Milky 11/21/2014 at 15:02

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Love that roofline...

I was soooo close to buy one, metallic black with the SRT wing, custom exhaust, chrome wheels, manual with the red leather interior...

...And then I discovered the previous owner ran nitrous at the drag strip, so I prudently backed off.

Still on the list for an inexpensive coupe someday... I have a dream that includes one of these and a Startech HEMI conversion kit.

Meatcoma > Milky 11/21/2014 at 15:19

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When the temp got below freezing this last week here, my clutch now squeaks as you press it in and release it. It's probably just the spring or mechanism that keeps it in the 'up' position but it's going to get fixed this weekend.

Milky > Twism 11/21/2014 at 15:29

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Bah, probably a wise decision to back away from that one. But just fyi, from the little bit of reading I've done on it, Merc V8's are petty much just straight bolt ins. Hemis require a bit of work to make fit, and you have to change all of the electronics.

That also includes the supercharged 55 AMGs (kind of a shitty video, skip to 1:30).

Milky > Meatcoma 11/21/2014 at 15:46

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Yea, I got some parts coming in soon, I think I'll try to tackle all of the little things I've been putting off over thanksgiving.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Brian Silvestro 11/21/2014 at 16:19

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#FieSTaOwnerProblems (though I suppose living on Vermont Roads is sort of like driving a mild rallycross every day... have you looked behind the glovebox? A pen fell down behind mine...)

Brian Silvestro > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 11/21/2014 at 16:21

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Shit that might be it. I tried to locate it through the glovebox but didn't have any luck. Also, RallyX in Ludlow on December 6th, BE THERE

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Brian Silvestro 11/21/2014 at 16:24

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We go to a six-day-a-week work schedule after black Friday... with any luck I'll keep the 16 hour days to a minimum. This is the first time I've had time to check oppo at work all week. :/

Twism > Milky 11/21/2014 at 16:27

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But there is no manual tranny that drops bolt-on with these, so there will be some fab works one way or another...

Plus, (and I will get much flak for this), but IMO the 6.4 HEMI sounds better than the 55 Kompressor.

Brian Silvestro > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 11/21/2014 at 16:30

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;_;

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Kaizer Soze 11/22/2014 at 02:02

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Wut? I take dashes apart all the time, for many different reasons and to varying degrees. They are intricate and require a good memory and concentration, but it is quite possible. Not just on Mercedes, either.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Twism 11/22/2014 at 02:07

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Admittedly, 55's aren't exactly the peak of AMG auditory experiences. 63's and 65's on the other hand are a different story.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Milky 11/22/2014 at 02:18

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Of course you're complaining about interior noises on the car that probably has the noisiest interior of any Mercedes, that was then made worse with domestic plastics by Chrysler. Usually the noises in proper SLK's come from the roof and dried out seals.

Most dealers have "squeak and rattle kits" with different types of passing and lubricants. In this instance I suggest applying pressure to different areas of the dash while the problem is gaining to see if it goes away. Do that in an attempt to pinpoint it more precisely.

As far as remediation goes, find some thin felt tape or cloth electrical tape and apply it to the contact surfaces between two components. And yes, felt is made in tape form.