Dashboard Rattle - Solved!
#42
Holy crap, thought this was just me or the car. Basically at any low speed (parking, etc), and the steering wheel is turned all the way, I get the same vibration. Guess I need to bring my new (old) car in...
#43
There are no dumb questions! There is a notch in the lower portion of the fuse panel cover, sized for a screwdriver or key. Simply pry the cover up at this point:
The cover is held on by 3 metal clips (in the 12, 6 and 9 o'clock positions as shown below. This pic also shows the notch at the bottom for prying off the cover:
As you can see in the pic above, my 2011 S4 has an emergency sunroof removal tool. 2012 model years may not have this tool. If you have it, it can be a source of rattles, so wrap it with cloth or electrical tape to prevent any potential for rattling. This pic also shows that the fuse panel cover has a rubber strip (illustrated in red) that should suffice as a rattle reducer. In my case, it wasn't enough to keep the panel from making a buzzing sort of rattle. I added some cloth tape to the forward edge of the panel as shown.
In the following pic, you can see that I added a small foam pad over the fuse clips, and in addition, I added some foam tape all around the panel opening and where the panel cover clips are located. My intent was to prevent any metal to plastic or plastic to plastic rattling. Since I've made these additions, I have been rattle-free.
One final observation: I determined that the rattle was coming from this area by rapping the bottom of the dash with the palm of my hand and hearing the same buzzing rattle sound I heard when hitting road bumps. While driving the car, the rattle sounded like it was coming from the tweeter area in the driver's door, near the inner rearview mirror cover (where the switch for the Audi Side Assist is located). Hope that helps!
The cover is held on by 3 metal clips (in the 12, 6 and 9 o'clock positions as shown below. This pic also shows the notch at the bottom for prying off the cover:
As you can see in the pic above, my 2011 S4 has an emergency sunroof removal tool. 2012 model years may not have this tool. If you have it, it can be a source of rattles, so wrap it with cloth or electrical tape to prevent any potential for rattling. This pic also shows that the fuse panel cover has a rubber strip (illustrated in red) that should suffice as a rattle reducer. In my case, it wasn't enough to keep the panel from making a buzzing sort of rattle. I added some cloth tape to the forward edge of the panel as shown.
In the following pic, you can see that I added a small foam pad over the fuse clips, and in addition, I added some foam tape all around the panel opening and where the panel cover clips are located. My intent was to prevent any metal to plastic or plastic to plastic rattling. Since I've made these additions, I have been rattle-free.
One final observation: I determined that the rattle was coming from this area by rapping the bottom of the dash with the palm of my hand and hearing the same buzzing rattle sound I heard when hitting road bumps. While driving the car, the rattle sounded like it was coming from the tweeter area in the driver's door, near the inner rearview mirror cover (where the switch for the Audi Side Assist is located). Hope that helps!
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