The windshield noise doesn't occur as reliably as the rear deck noise so it's harder to determine whether an attempt to silence it is successful. This noise would occur mainly in cold weather and I took advantage of some low temperatures last week to run some experiments.

I followed most of the TSB that suggested trimming the windshield clips but stopped short because I didn't believe it was the source of the noise in the TCH.

It seems that, at least in my car, the dash has some vertical play in it that was perceptible when pushing down on it. The windshield, on the other hand, would not budge even when I put all my weight on it.

I decided to insert shims between the windshield and dash. I started with paperboard and it didn't even come close to fitting in the gap. Next, I cut several strips of corrugated cardboard. They were intentionally long so I could easily insert and remove them while driving. As you can see from the picture, the gap is big enough that it required two pieces in some areas.

The noise never recurred and I eventually left only the center shim to be replaced by something shorter that will not be visible.

From my observations, I concluded that the noise is from the dash bottoming out and not from hitting the windshield. The windshield is only involved in placing a shim which puts pressure on the top of the dash and prevents it from moving vertically. The dash is basically preloaded so it stays bottomed out instead of bouncing up & down minutely, creating noise.

In conclusion, the noise appears to be gone but it will take more driving during cold weather to be certain. The next step is to create an unobtrusive shim. I will also look into easy methods of removing the dash and fixing the problem at its source.

 

Thanks for all your hard work! I will certainly be doing many tweaks after I get the car. I agree, removing the dash would be the best fix. Let us know if you make any additional progress on this.

 

I would recommend this stuff, which I found at my local Lowe's Home Improvement store:



Cut a strip as long as you like, then fold it in half so that the sticky sides stick together, and push that down between the dashboard and the windshield. It should work very well!

 

Bought a box this evening^ Thanks thoots

 

Thoots

I can't see your picture from Lowes for your recommendation to use to reduce the dashboard rattle. Do you have more info on this product? Also, has anyone found the permanent solution? Is it worth taking to a dealer under warranty?

Thanks.

 

It has just turned cold in my area, and sure enough, I am getting this noise too.

I think I read in a previous post that the dealer will have to take the whole dash apart to fix it, and I wonder if that might not create more problems, and tie up your car for a considerable time. I might try the shims.

In my case, after the car warms up, the noise either quits or is qreatly reduced.

 

My fix with felt from Lowe's is described at https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...33/index2.html

 

Mine had the same problem and Toyota removed the entire dash to fix. It was covered under warranty and I read the TSB regarding this noise. Fairly common on the early models. Let Toyota fix it.

 

This is also happening in my car... and have made an appointment for next week for them to fix it.

I really don't care if they have to take the dash apart... this car cost nearly 30 grand, and it shouldn't sound like it's falling apart after just 9 months of use.

I love the car- but yeash... my 98 never had such quality issues.

 

I wasn't willing to risk getting the interior or dash scratched or dirtied up, or more rattles introduced, and lose a couple of days use of the car for something I could take care of so easily.

Looking forward to your reports of how it went, and what condition everything's in when the work's done.