Creaking plastic on centre console

[santiagopilgrim]

I know there's been a few threads on creaking/rattling noises.

I just wanted to know if anyone else's centre console creaks when you push it from side to side? It also makes the same noise if I go over certain bumps on the road.

Is there any way to stop it? Does everyone else have the same problem?

I don't think there's anything loose, it's just the plastic being noisy.

I don't want to / shouldn't have to take a new car apart...!

 

[acoustic]

Just take it back to the dealer and get them to fix it under warranty.

I had to do this with a previous golf. Watched in amusement as the technicians dismantled my entire dashboard and then took the car out for a drive with with pretty much everything missing apart from the steering wheel just so they could pinpoint where to put the magic sound dampening tape.

Worked a treat.

 

[Mother]

Maybe I'm missing something, but why would you push your center console, a part that isn't designed to move, from side to side?

I do agree it shouldn't be doing it over bumps in the road though, so that would be worth a trip to the dealer, depending on the severity.

 

[Nykos5000]

Just take it back to the dealer and get them to fix it under warranty.

I had to do this with a previous golf. Watched in amusement as the technicians dismantled my entire dashboard and then took the car out for a drive with with pretty much everything missing apart from the steering wheel just so they could pinpoint where to put the magic sound dampening tape.

Worked a treat.

Sometimes they make things worst when they take a part things looking for the root cause.

 

[miko427]

I had the same issue and fixed it. Wasn't that hard. Here's a link to the thread: http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7110. My solution is on page 2. Worked wonders. Did it over 6 months ago and haven't heard it since. It's a factory defo.

 

[santiagopilgrim]

Maybe I'm missing something, but why would you push your center console, a part that isn't designed to move, from side to side?

I do agree it shouldn't be doing it over bumps in the road though, so that would be worth a trip to the dealer, depending on the severity.

By pushing the plastic I mean't gently applying pressure on it, which makes it creak in the same way it does when you go over a bump.

Thanks for all your suggestions, I'm 99% sure it's not coming from the arm rest, it's the actual plastic covering where the handbrake button is.

I have booked it in with the stealers, they'll be looking at it on Tuesday and hopefully getting to the bottom of it, for the sake of my sanity if nothing else.

 

[santiagopilgrim]

I took it to the dealers today and showed them the creaking/rattle.

The tech said they have a special grease that's engineered by NASA, sounds very fancy.

When they phoned to tell me the car was ready the young lady said they had actually found two missing screws.

Unfortunately after having the car back, the noise is still there and exactly the same.

It's annoying because it didn't do it nearly as much as it normally does when I took him for a test drive, as the roads near the dealership are residential and not nice a roads where you can get the vibrations required for it to make the noise at a significant level.

Oh well, at least they've had a look at it and I know there's nothing wrong with it now. It's probably just the way the plastic is, and it might even stop on its own one day. I shall learn to live with it haha

 

[richiekuk]

I took it to the dealers today and showed them the creaking/rattle.

The tech said they have a special grease that's engineered by NASA, sounds very fancy.

When they phoned to tell me the car was ready the young lady said they had actually found two missing screws.

Unfortunately after having the car back, the noise is still there and exactly the same.

It's annoying because it didn't do it nearly as much as it normally does when I took him for a test drive, as the roads near the dealership are residential and not nice a roads where you can get the vibrations required for it to make the noise at a significant level.

Oh well, at least they've had a look at it and I know there's nothing wrong with it now. It's probably just the way the plastic is, and it might even stop on its own one day. I shall learn to live with it haha

Mine is exactly the same. along with the passenger A pillar trim, and the rear passenger interior trim.

Now I just have strategically place pieces of card to stop the creaks. looks unsightly, but as VW lincoln seem completely incompetent and unable to fix it ( in fact make it worse), I have no other option.

 

[santiagopilgrim]

Mine is exactly the same. along with the passenger A pillar trim, and the rear passenger interior trim.

Now I just have strategically place pieces of card to stop the creaks. looks unsightly, but as VW lincoln seem completely incompetent and unable to fix it ( in fact make it worse), I have no other option.

Glad I'm not alone. I actually went back to the dealer today and said that the noise is EXACTLY the same as before they 'fixed it'. So they said they have to book it in for THREE DAYS now, and they don't need another test drive because they heard the noise the first time.

If they heard the noise the first time why did they give me the bloody car back the same as it was before?!

I have booked it in for the three day job at the end of the month, meanwhile I have been trying to locate the noise and I have located it to the plastic trim on the passenger side of the centre console next to the e-handbrake. If I hold that plastic into the console it doesn't make any noise. So I'm going to shove some foam in there and I'm sure that will sort it.

Agreed, they're bloody useless at this sort of thing. Best thing to do is deal with it ourselves.

 

[richiekuk]

Glad I'm not alone. I actually went back to the dealer today and said that the noise is EXACTLY the same as before they 'fixed it'. So they said they have to book it in for THREE DAYS now, and they don't need another test drive because they heard the noise the first time.

If they heard the noise the first time why did they give me the bloody car back the same as it was before?!

I have booked it in for the three day job at the end of the month, meanwhile I have been trying to locate the noise and I have located it to the plastic trim on the passenger side of the centre console next to the e-handbrake. If I hold that plastic into the console it doesn't make any noise. So I'm going to shove some foam in there and I'm sure that will sort it.

Agreed, they're bloody useless at this sort of thing. Best thing to do is deal with it ourselves.

My centre console noise is coming from exactly the same place I think. I have wedged some card in there, but it doesn't sort it completely. I need a lot of pressure to make it stop.

I have been back to my dealer 4 times for the other rattles, which are now worse. I've actually sent an email to VW UK about them, as they seem to not care.
But I imagine nothing will happen, and I'll end up sorting it out myself somehow.

 

[santiagopilgrim]

Just spent an hour driving up and down country lanes holding different bits to narrow it down. Went from thinking it was the outer/side plastic to now thinking it's the piano black trim next to the 'mode' buttons etc. I shoved some foam into the cracks where it meets the dashboard style plastic, seems to be better although not 100%.

I'd be happy if I just get it to a level where it's less annoying (i.e. only on big road bumps). I also think it might be something that will get better with time (and with the plastic getting older).

I think the plastic is very 'creaky' and noisy, so even if nothing is rattling as such it's still noisy with the slightest pressure/movement. That's why I think the foam/card helps but not 100%. It would only be 100% if there is no movement there at all.

I'm sure we'll get there one day haha!

The ultimate solution would be to take the whole centre console out and line all the points where plastic meets with felt tape, and fill any gaps with felt tape, then the plastic would hardly move at all.

I hate being a 'perfectionist'.

 

[Sonicbasher]

Sounds like normal VW build every thing in my GTi rattles I thought that it was all part of the Ownership experience!

 

[pipsyp]

Ive had several VAG group cars from new in recent years and none of them have been entirely rattle free.

Unless something was blatantly hanging off I wouldnt get a dealer to fix it.....likelihood is they strip the car apart, dont resolve the problem and give it back to you worse.

 

[santiagopilgrim]

My centre console noise is coming from exactly the same place I think. I have wedged some card in there, but it doesn't sort it completely. I need a lot of pressure to make it stop.

I have been back to my dealer 4 times for the other rattles, which are now worse. I've actually sent an email to VW UK about them, as they seem to not care.
But I imagine nothing will happen, and I'll end up sorting it out myself somehow.

I am pretty certain I have just fixed my rattle I have driven it up and down over all sorts of bumps and I can't get it to make the noise again.

I don't know exactly what I did so I will list everything I disassembled and put back together with the hope of sharing my experience and hopefully fixing someone else's rattles.

I wanted to take off the centre console, which comes off as one big piece, then I would be able to inspect it and see if I could locate the rattle.

I didn't get to take it off completely as the 'front cubbby' storage in front of the gearstick wouldn't come off (even after taking the temp dial trim off).

But what I did was completely losen the centre console from the back.

Take off the rear heater vent panel (move the arm rest forward and carefully but firmly pull up the panel, there's three clips, left middle and right). Then the two silver screws inside there, then the two smaller screws round the side (behind the little pop off panels).

Here I found a L shaped connector for the rear vent, this seemed a bit loose. I took it off and test drove the car, no noise.

I popped it all back in one piece at a time, even though the L vent connector was still fairly loose (it's just how it is). Now after putting it all back together completely, I don't have any noise.

When the centre console was really loose and only held in by the front bolts which I couldn't reach, I did give it a good shake, up and down and sideways, maybe doing this corrected whatever was making the noise.

Anyway, It's not a huge help as I didn't specifically locate the noise, but it seems to have worked for me so try doing that, it took less than 10 minutes, it's just some torx screws. You shouldn't need to take any of the front stuff off, just the rear bolts to losen it.

Good luck!

 

[ElectricEye]

If you guys didn't have your cars in winter, wait 'till the cold temps come and the plastics stiffen up - then you'll hear some noise.

You might have heard me brag about Sailkote on these forums.
If you haven't tried it, you might want to give it a shot applying a spray of it in these recesses