Hi fellow srt-6 enthusiasts!

Short Q, today when I sat down to drive I heard a sound, almost like I thought the cabin fan was broken. It was a rattle / vibrating sound coming from middle of dash.
It comes on a bit when car is in idle but while driving, the motor gets gentler, no vibration, hence no sound. It is only when driving very low rpm, does not come on all the time, sounds like it could be the heat shield vibrating... when car is hot it disappears...

So what to do?

- check dash screws by dash/close to windshield
- check heatshields in engine bay
- check panel filter

Many thanks for your help

 

A loose oil pan cover? Going to investigate this later today/tomorrow so if u have any clues I would gladely listen. Weekend! hurray!

 

Any ideas from you guys? It goes away when i turn fan on max and heater on full. Or it gets better at least. The sound is like the heatshield is rattleing but front of window in middle.

 

I had something similar on my C320. Here is a link to the issue/fix. Help with DIY! : C32 Heat-shield isolation ticking noise - MBWorld.org Forums

 

I have the rattle in the dash that starts around 40 MPH. Nothing at idle. Could it be this insulation issue? It just started in the last couple of weeks. May have been after hitting pot hole during road construction. The link mentioned here talks about under arm rest. My rattle is more forward and seems to be coming from the middle of the dash. It doesn't come from hitting anything on the road at this point. Its rattling on perfectly smooth roads, but not noticeable until I am going faster.

 

After reading these posts I have come to the conclusion that significant hearing loss is not a bad thing. When I turn off the hearing aids the car really sounds quiet, and hence no frustrating search for the cause of any rattle.

 

I tend to agree, another benefit is forgetting all the mistakes I made early in life, all the more fun as people just get so shocked that I did some of these things again (especially the judges and doctors, but the meds are free as I am a veteran).


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OK, to update, yes this is ridiculous.

I was figuring, since we couldn't hear it until 40MPH or so, that maybe something was loose, that wind would cause it. Also two days ago I needed to drive through a drenching downpour. After which I couldn't hear the rattle.

Opened up the hood yesterday and as an afterthought grabbed two old hard, curled and dried leaves sitting up by the windshield over a mesh area which must be for air intake into the car. Noticed when I grabbed them that they sounded something like the rattle we would hear in the car. Sound hasn't come back, LOL. I think it was the leaves we were hearing or some part of them that dropped through the mesh and was washed away. Amazing they could make that much noise. Also, they must have been there since last fall, but just fell into a place a couple of weeks ago which was noticeable?

Glad I didn't have an extensive work done to find the problem!

 

Bit of advise : Since you found leaves on TOP of the cowl cover, best remove it and pull out their cousins underneath, and also in the fan and filter.
( you may need pullers for the windshield wiper arms, and also a couple of new tie-wraps for the O2 sensor harnesses. )

 

Thanks. I take it you are saying leaves can get into the air system and cause rattling somewhere else, or blockage? Just wonder what the potential issues you are talking about happening. Seems like the grate would only allow small pieces in.

 

You will be surprised what gets in there, mostly around the little fingers on each side, not through the grate.
Many times the debris can decompose and give you a wonderful odor inside the cabin.
Also, there are 3 drain tubes that can get clogged, causing water overflow into the fan.

 

Have never pulled off windshield wiper arms before...do we have a .PDF file for that also?