Just when I solved the rattles (DIY repairs using the TSB posted here), fate takes a cruel turn...

Now that its gotten colder, my '02 SE dash is creaking whenever I hit a tiny bump. Not a huge deal, but annoying nonetheless. I traced most of the noise to a couple of areas. The first the plastic face of the non-Bose head unit; the second is the center vent assembly. The vents are especially bad - you push in them and they creak like crazy. Directing the heat through the center vent to heat it us doesn't seem to help all that much. I think its just due to the cheap plastic that Nissan used in the vents (the new Altimas must be noisy).

I'm going in on Friday for my twice backordered steering column replacement and have a question. Is it worth complaining about the creaky vents? Has anyone experienced this and solved the problem?

 

there was a thread about this very same topic a few days ago...
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....highlight=dash

btw i have these rattles too. The cold weather seems to make the rattles a little worse.

 

I'm going in tommorrow to the dealer for the creaking vents. I'll post here and let you know hot it goes.

 

I had seen this earlier, but have fixed the A-pillar rattles and had already determined that the creaking wasn't from the cupholder, door panel, glove box, or sunglass holder. Its due to the vents, and that wasn't specifically addressed in the cited thread.

SHPatel is going in today for the creaking vent problem. It will be interesting to see what they say because this is certainly reproducible, but I fear its "normal for the car" because of the low grade plastic used.

 

OK I went to the dealer but I myself could not hear the sound of the cracking vent over the wet roads and rain/ice falling on my car. So the dealer told me to come back on a cold dry day. I had a few other things I had to do so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

 

I just brought my car in for an oil change and had them check on a rattle coming from my dash. I hear it loud and clear everytime I drive in sub 40 degree weather. The dealer said they heard nothing. I found out why when I picked up my car. The radio was tuned to a station I don't listen too, so they basically took it for a joy ride probably with the music cranked. I'm not going back to that dealer again.

Cabowabo

 

My Non-Bose HU creaks everytime I push in a button. I have 3.5k miles on it, and live in Chicago. Does everyone else experience this? I'm actually embarrassed to push those buttons in when I have other passengers with me. Thoughts?