Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!

Toyota Camry Rattles

17810121315

Comments

  • dan bitmandan bitman Member Posts: 158
    Hello Alan,

    I am new on this forum, and had no clue that there is a site dedicated to Toyo's rattles.

    I have a Camry 98, LE, 4 cyl bought almost new in 2000.

    Since then, I am keep having a very annoying rattle on the right side , as "solara00" put it "near the right front speaker".

    I noticed the rattle is louder on winters, and generally the first miles, at low speed, when the car is still "cold". After warming up, rattle is not that loud , but still annoying on low speed, bumped road.

    Went to a very good mechanic @ Midas , thinking that frt. rt struts/ suspension are at fault. But got negative!

    I also hate to see the dealership disassemble the entire door panel for this, and charging hundreds.

    Anyone else had this and know what the fix is?

    I would really appreciate. Can reply directly to my e-mail varsity96@yahoo.com

    Thank you!

    Dan
  • lydnjesslydnjess Member Posts: 1
    Hi. I just recently purchase a 2003 Camry LE still under warranty and the exact rattles are driving me crazy. I've taken the car in 3 times. No help. I would like to put my name on whatever list you are compiling. Please email me and I will send my info. Thanks...

     

    Rebecca Martin
  • magoo4magoo4 Member Posts: 2
    I think the problem with rattles probably has more to do with the cars design than it does where it was built. I have a 2000 Toyota Avalon that was built in Kentucky. After driving it 5 years and 88,000 miles, it still hasn't developed a single rattle. It is the first new car I have bought, that I didn't have to take back to have rattles fixed shortly after buying it. Maybe I was just lucky with this one.
  • carcrazy99carcrazy99 Member Posts: 4
    Hi Rebecca. I was happy to read your posting. I would have replied earlier, but, I had not visited this site for a while. I think compiling a list of names of people who are having trouble with these rattles and sending it to Toyota is the best way to go. And this is an invitation for all people who want to bring these rattle defects to the attention of Toyota. Please feel free to contact me and give me your name, car's model, and a brief description of the exact problem. I dont know if it makes sense to provide the VIN? We need to make Toyota understand that these rattles are defects in their cars and they need to fix them and if they aren't able to fix them, then the affected customers must be compensated somehow. Any other ideas anyone might have are most welcome. Thanks.

    Ali Rehman

    my email is:

    callmealee@yahoo.com
  • beemerweenerbeemerweener Member Posts: 2
    yeap, I have a '92 xle v6 with 180K miles and guess what? It still rattles, you never get used to it!

    Otherwise, GREAT car!
  • 74357435 Member Posts: 40
    i have a 2004 camry purchased in jan 2004 made in kn. the first week i drove it i heard a rattle in the dash or in between the windshield and dash. the dealer took off dash put in foam it did nothing to fix. toyota regional teck listened and thought it might be the pins that hold the dash to body. he had them put tape on the pins. it did not fix. toyota says they would like to fix the rattle squeak whatever but do not know where the problem is. i see that some of you are talking about a service bulitan for a windshield cowl, clicking sound that is what i probably have .help me, give me some info so i can show it to the service mgr at stevenson toyota east in aurora ,co the clicking is driving me up a wall. phil- denver, Co
  • hank2hank2 Member Posts: 76
    I hope others will post to this problem. This rattle has been discussed in the Problems forum. There was lots of traffic around 2002 or 2003. Try searching for rattle, windshield, and TSB to locate the thread. There is a TSB for the 2002 (or 2003 ?)
    that should help the Service mgr.

    Sorry I can't give more specific help. Maybe the Host can help, because others have asked recently.

    HTH,

    -hank2
  • hank2hank2 Member Posts: 76
    Check out post #2218 around April, 2004 in Problems & Solutions :

    In Rattles,
    333 of 384 canoe2 and andrelaplume by amphipri0n
    Feb 19, 2004.... Posted the following:

    andrelaplume: you can download TSB.zip" target=_blank>http://www.tt-cc.com/ratko/TSB.zip open it up and the noise issues all start with the letters "nv"

    -Hank2
  • motownusamotownusa Member Posts: 836
    Thanks Hank, that is a very useful link. I guess I got lucky with my 03 V6 LE or I am losing my hearing :} . I am very satisfied with my car and I am sure most Camry owners are as it consistently rates much better than average in reliability. Btw, how is your Camry doing ? Is your MPG slowly improving.
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    the cowl repair does make a difference but does not quiet all the pops and crackles completely. Anyway your dash is filled with them! Very sad. I must say though that my little stuffed doggie (see my post a few ages back) is making many of those crackles and pops that were eminating from around the passenger dash speaker disappear. The dealer did try to put some foam or something in there but it really made no difference. For now the doggie is back in his place!
  • 74357435 Member Posts: 40
    hi thanks for all the info on the windshield rattle i have a 2004 camry le with a terrible clicking between winshield and dash. i gave this site to two toyota dealers in denver. neither of them had ever heard of TBS NV 002. or could they find it in their tbs file. neither of them could find that their dealership had ever ordered a replacement cowl US made 55708-06030 old part no. or 55708-06031 new part no. or the japanese part 33030. can anyone print the TBS NV002 and fax it to me at 303-639-9412 or emil it to me at pbraun3219@aol.com

    i would appreciate it. the sound only goes away when the car is wet after going through the car wash. and it is driving me crazy.
  • cam2003cam2003 Member Posts: 131
    Check your email, I have sent to you NV002 (top windshield noise) and NV005 (bottom windshield noise.
    Good luck!
  • holloween59holloween59 Member Posts: 2
    I have a 95 Camry LE which had the same exact symptoms as yours. The solution for mines was the ignition coil. Check the Primary coil resistance. It should read .4-.5ohms. Use a digital meter. The secondary coil should read around 12.5-15.5ohms. My primary coil resistance read .1ohms and secondary read 13.5ohms, so the secondary was in range. This may explain why mines never stalled, but had an undesirable rattle/shake at idle(stop)with transmission in drive or reverse. If this is too technical, go to Autozone website. They have repair procedures on-line. When removing the distributor with an internal ignition coil, make sure you follow directions carefully. Make sure you turn the engine to TDC and rotor button faces #1 on distributor cap. Do not be surprised if removing coil is hard. I had to buy needle nose vise grips because the would not move with a phillip screwdriver. Good luck and please let us know if this helped.
  • 74357435 Member Posts: 40
    cam2003,
    thanks for the info. i called the dealer he said my 2004 is not covered under the tsb nv005 because that covers 2003 camrys
    i ordered the cowl anyway and i called the regional toyota guy and told him i expected toyota to pay for the part and labor which cant be more then 50. lets see if the cowl fixes the problem. when i called the parts guy he told me he has ordered 6 other cowls in the past few months. must be a lot of people read this site. i think it is great.
  • slim2slim2 Member Posts: 20
    Where did you put the stuffed doggie ? How do you get into the speaker area to do this ? My speaker area rattle is either there or in the area of the passenger airbag. I can press on the airbag cover and the rattle seems to stop when I do. Please describe in more detail what you did . Thanks.
  • lexusrockslexusrocks Member Posts: 56
    My 2004 Toyota Camry is a base model with a V6 engine. The build quality is overall good, except that when I am travelling at highway speeds I hear a lot of wind noise near the front passenger window. The windows were all rolled up.
    Any ideas as to what it could be. Is there a crack between the glass and door frame?
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    Funny story. When the rattle/vibration/popping would start I made my wife push down on the speaker grill on the dash. The noise appeared to quiet almost all the time....not that there are not possible other noises in the dash, along the windshield, by the radio etc etc. Well, I could not get her to sit in that position for extended trips nor was so so keen on accompanying me everywhere I went so I thought I try to cram something in there. It needed it to be something that could compress and conform to shape of the area. This meant one of those HARD fill stuffed animals would not do. I happened to have a VERY soft little doggie who was just the right size. Maybe 6 inches by 6 inches. I squeezed him directly on top the speaker grill (he covers a good portion of it) and wedged him up against the windshield. I pushed him in really far and tight. This resolved the noise almost 100% (at least in the cold weather--have not hit warm weather yet) Since the dealer removed him and tried to quiet the area with some felt (which did not work) I put him back but it appears he is now only 90% effecient. Good try fr the delaer but I likely should have left well enough alone...OR keep after them to correct it. Now if this was the only rattle I'd keep after them but even if they get this one there are more. Still, having the cowl replaced, having some insulation put in around the radio, having the door seals kept lubed and having the little doggie has made the car probably 40% better than it was. Still it is sad that they put out a car like this.

    PS: The ironic thing is the little doggie had a rattle in it...a REAL one for when a baby would shake it. He is wedged in so tight you never hear it. GOOD LUCK!
  • 74357435 Member Posts: 40
    one of your alert posters answered my request for help with this situation. he sent me two TBS, NV005-03 and NV002-03. i called toyota regional and they played dumb never heard od the two TBS. i called the service dept of my dealer same thing. they have been trying to fix my " rattle" for a bout a year . took off the dash put in foam etc.
    anyway i reached the new service mgr. he was great made an appointment gave him the two service bulitan s. he put on the NV005-03 windshield cowl and it still clicked. he then ordered a new toyota windshield even though the TSB said the windshield fix was only for japanese made toyotas. my car was made in kn. he put in the new windshield on fri and i drove the care on sat and Guess what no creaking/clicking sound.. i know i will have to wait for cold weather . i live in denver.
    but it was such a pleasure to drive the car noise free. thank you for this site.
  • ian721ian721 Member Posts: 93
    Good news to report.........the rattle that was driving me nuts in my 04 Camry has been killed. Finally took it to the dealer for the first time since buying it nine months ago because the passenger door area was rattling loudly every time I went over any bump (and living in NYC it's kind of hard to avoid bumps). They took off the door cover and lo and behold found a window track that was loose. A couple of turns of the wrench later and the problem is solved!

    It's so much more pleasant to drive now. Nine months, 3700 miles and not one defect (now).
  • slim2slim2 Member Posts: 20
    I've had the same experience with the local dealer and playing dumb like they've never heard of anyone having these problems (rattles) . When I mention TSB about the steering wheel alignment problem, which my car also has, they said it would involve re-alignment which had an earlier warranty expiration, so wouldn't be covered. My conclusion: warranties for minor things are useless and not worth the hassle. I'm buying a used car from someone I know next time and foregoing the depreciation and useless warranty expense of a new car.
  • bernie3bernie3 Member Posts: 48
    I have a rattle that I hear through (some combination of) the passenger side air vents by the door, the passenger side dash speaker, and/or the windshield defroster vent. It's hard to tell because from the driver's seat it always sounds like it's coming from the passenger side, but when I lean my head closer to the dash on the passenger side, it sometimes sounds like it's coming from the driver's side!

    It only occurs on rougher pavement where more vibration and road noise transfers up through the wheels.

    I don't think it has anything to do with the windshield; there is no creaking, popping or the kind of deeper sound I've heard others describe as related to the windshield seal or cowling on earlier models. This sound is similar to perhaps, a coin rattling on a plastic tray. (No coin has been dropped through a vent).

    I've had the car since late December and the sporadic rattle began appearing around February when the car had about 1200 miles. Most of the rattles reported in this forum seem to be the windshield related or driver's side pillar post/ seat belt housing kind.

    I don't recall any posts here stating a positive fix for the rattle I've described. I'd like to know what success anyone has had before I take it to the dealer so I can give them some suggestions. Does anybody have some help they can offer? Thanks!
  • ian721ian721 Member Posts: 93
    What are you waiting for? Just take it in. The dealer doesn't need suggestions. I waited with my rattle for almost nine months and when I finally brought it in the dealer fixed it in one day.
  • mgregorymgregory Member Posts: 6
    six trips to the dealership and my seat belt door pillars aren't fixed yet on my 2004 camry xle. First toyota I ever owned and it will be the last. I now have a new problem, both the dealership and Toyota have insulted my integrity. We had a driving rainstorm for 2 days on March 31st and April first. My car sat parked in the driveway for those 2 days and was not driven. On April 1st at around 3 I get in my car to go to fedex an notice the driver's side carpet is soaking wet from the gas pedals all the way under the seat and back to the back seat. The door sills have beaded moisture in them. The doors and seats themselves are totally dry so there does not to have been a leaky window anywhere. I took the car to toyota and they couldn't find anything so they acused me of driving the car thru high water and tyring to get them to pay for it. They said because they had 20 cars back there who did drive thru high water I must have done the same thing . First of all if I had driven thru high water the entire floor board would be wet not just one side, secondly I have car insurance that would pay for new carpet, thirdly If my car got flooded in my driveway my entire house would be under water. Why would just one side of my car be wet? I read on the toyota truck site about a tacoma and tundra doing the same thing and they think it came thru the fire wall and trickled down under the carpet, all toyota wants to do is say nothing is wrong. AFter all the times I been down there with ratlles they just want to get rid of me and I want to get rid of my piece of junk, but it's paid for.
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    see my comments in the problems forum where you also posted. Iwill not try to defend your dealer. Dealers are in a bad position when the car's over all design makes it rattle prone. There is not much they really can do. Of course Toyota itself will never admit a problem and is thus useless. If lucky, if the and rattle is so bad and they can design a fix there will be a TSB or at least a notification to the dealer on how to fix it. Otherwise I guess the dealer is left to their own ingenuity to fix the problems...which may not be correctible. Of course you bought the car FROM the dealer so they should make good on it. I mean who does we complain to? It really stinks. Of course it sales go down or the Toyota rep takes a hit, that will insure they do not cut corners again. GOOD LUCK and let us know what happens.
  • mxandymxandy Member Posts: 1
    So, on the third visit for rattles in my wifes 2004 Camry LE they removed the entire interior and applied tape and foam to everything and put it back together. While driving it home she called to let them know she was coming back with more rattles and they can have the car until it's fixed and was told the dealership will no longer deal with her and she will have to wait for the factory rep. Well, now they get to deal with me (how fun). My wife says she bought the car because it's a Toyota and now she thinks it feels like a hyundai or a kia. I drove the car last night and boy is it annoying. I get to meet the factory rep tomorrow. Any bets he won't hear anything. Oh, the third time a mechanic told my wife while they were driving the car that they are all kit cars, they get a bunch of pieces and snap them all together to build the car. He said they all do what ours does. This doesn't make it all better though in my mind.
  • ian721ian721 Member Posts: 93
    He's wrong, they don't all do what yours does. And what the heck does "kit car" mean anyway? All cars in all factories except maybe Bugatti and Ferrari snap together from a bunch of pieces.
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    More than prior gen Camry's. Keep on complaining. If you have CR, be sure to return your annual questionaire and let 'em know about the Camry. Weather is changing where I am and my car is popin', buzzzzin' and rattlin'.
  • ian721ian721 Member Posts: 93
    Just curious, but shouldn't it pop, buzz and rattle less in the spring, when things heat up and expand?
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    Well my one noise by the speaker is gone (should be gone until the fall) but overall the car is buzzing worse 'now', in between seasons....I hope it all calms down once the warm weather is more consistenlty here.
  • mantesmantes Member Posts: 3
    2002 camry, Japan made, 30k miles on it, 2nd owner, first owner was my father in-law, I hear a rattle in my camry, can be best heard at low speeds over bumps, rattles come and go on the freeway, rattles seem to come from 2 places, the driver side seatbelt assembly where you can adjust the height of the seat belt and in the rear passenger side. The rear seatbelt is the worse. Not sure why being it is hardly used. Able to make the sound go away by pulling the seat down with the seat belt attached. I am also able to recreate the sound from the rear seatbelt by tapping the top of it with my finger. Camry is no longer under warranty due to time constraints of the warranty 36 months. Car was purchased in Oct of 2001. ;- (
  • hanomag2511hanomag2511 Member Posts: 3
    2005 SE Camry, brand new, had it about 6 months, then a strange rattling noise started, thinking it was coming somewhere around the stereo dash, I did the usual punching and pounding, then one day I finally figured it out, it was my driver side sun visor, it wasn't totally clipped into the holder, problem solved... LOL!! :D
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    yes many of us have the rattle in the seat belt adjusters...the dealer has been able to do nothing for me even under warranty so do not feel bad....
  • sanapalasksanapalask Member Posts: 1
    i have a 95 toyota camry. recently i noticed a tick noise from the bottom when i am driving the vehicle. The speed of the ticks is increasing with the car speed. i am unable to decide where it is coming from. can any one help me who has the same problem.
  • surfactantsurfactant Member Posts: 36
    check your tires for a little pebble or rock. If your car is new i bet the tires have thick grooves in them.
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    1) Hot day, step on the gas and CREAK comming from driver door area. Step on the brake and CREAK again. Open the door and do it and it goes away. Lubed everything along the driver's door. It went away, for a day anyway...though I did hear it once faintly. ANyone have this one yet?

    2) I hope this one is more mechanical. When going over a roughish surface and turing I hear a metalic echoey noise coming from the passenger wheel well (?) area. Any ideas.

    THANKS!!!
  • mantesmantes Member Posts: 3
    Good news gentlemen. I have found a work around for this problem. By always having the seatbelts clicked in the rattle vibrating sound has been terminated. Every great once in a while on a bad bumpy road I will hear it, but it is very faint if anything at all. Hopefully this trick will help some of you out there who have had the same problem since Toyota will not help. I had to get service done on it this weekend and was told that they could not hear anything. GO figure.
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    Do you mean the rattle/vibration noise in the seat belt adjusters was eliminated by USING the seat belt and plugging in the passenger one if a passenger is NOT present. In my case I wear my belts but still hear the noise...though not at all times.
  • cam2003cam2003 Member Posts: 131
    I had exactly same thing as you described in (1) when my car was on only 1K.
    First I thought it came from the door or seat belt area, but it was not. It was the plastic along the body panel that made the noise. When you are braking, the whole body got flexible, and the plastic rubs again the body.
    Here is the solution, use a can of silicon spray along the the plastic panel. If it does not work then remove scuff plate, spray silicon into open holes.

    Let me know how it goes.
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    The creak is gone for now until the silicon wears off. Funny, my 1st three oil changes they siliconed the hell out of the door jams to eliminate pop, vibrations etc. On the 4thh I asked what silicon they used and they said they do not reccomend that anymore; it was actually getting sticky over time and making things worse. I'll have to ask them what they use now. Me, I sprayed with a special silicon I got at the auto store...something different than a WD -40 type thing. I guess I should keep some in my glove box.
  • mantesmantes Member Posts: 3
    This was for the seatbelts in the back. Unfortunately it seemed to only temporarily fix the problem. I still hear the vibration/rattle in the back. Occasionally I will hear it from the driver side seat belt adjuster. It seems to have the least amount of noise when it is at the lowest position
  • cam2003cam2003 Member Posts: 131
    "The creak is gone for now until the silicon wears off"

    Well, it should last for long time. I had it close to 2 years, I have not heard any creak noise.
  • cam2003cam2003 Member Posts: 131
    I suggest you to open B pillard and stuff foam inside. It works for me
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    If that creak goes away for 2 years I'll be estatic...do you remember exactly what you used?
  • doosaiwolfdoosaiwolf Member Posts: 7
    I have read the posts thoroughly in this forum and I must say I am suprised that I am not the only one, I purchased my 2005 Camry LE a month ago and have had everything from noise to fit and finish issues.

    My Drivers side door rattled at ear level and it took me weeks to figure out if I wedged paper between the door and the inner rubber seal/trim (the one that covers the edge of the seatbelt pillars and headliner) that the noise changed. I had various other issues with the door panel itself, creaking and making various noises. The dealer explained there is a service notice out on the door panel and they were able to fix this (mostly, it still creaks once in a great while) but the door noise I had to diagnose myself!! The door noise where the metal frame of the door meets that rubber trim has by far been the worst of any car I've ever owned. I was able to stop the noise by temporarily removing the inner rubber trim.

    I later took this to the dealer to demonstrate the problem, and their reply was that my doors on the driver side seem misaligned and were sticking out from the frame of the car. "SOLUTION: Set the doors deeper in the frame giving it a tighter fit against the rubber seal!" (It seems so far not to be making the noise).

    I have had various other noises including noised from somewhere inside the dash (this is mostly noticeable when driving the car on not such a fresh smoothly paved road) and it is annoying. I must say I like the car, less the noises.

    Toyota has a factory rep coming in two more days, who is supposed to inspect my car further as since they have adjusted the doors they look crooked in the frame. I don't think they should make noise, but I also don't think the visual finish should look like crap either. (Where is the middle here people?!)

    ------------

    I have had two other issues with this car, one is the passenger side front and rear door dont line up well where they meet.. one door is set higher than the other. (Something else the factory rep is supposed to look at!) The other issue is that the drivers side headlight was mounted poorly during manufacturing, the light toward the center grille stuck out almost an entire half an inch from the body (this wasn't apparent on the passenger side headlight)... this was of course an easy fix as it simply needed the center bolt on the cross beam to be unscrewed, push the light back toward the body and tighten the bolt. ("WHY CAN"T TOYOTA PAY MORE ATTENTION TO THE QUALITY OF FIT AND FINISH WITH THIS CAR!?!!?")

    What bothers me more about the headlight is when I bought the car I noticed it before going to work the deal and sign the papers, all of the camrys that were on the dealers lot had this same issue with the same headlight, and the same issue with the passender side front and rear door. (I test drove the car and there were no noises during test drive so I figured these other issues were minor adjustments that could be made, boy was I wrong.)

    ---------

    To date I have been to the dealer four times and it is just frustrating having to take the car back for a fifth visit so the factory rep can look at it, I hope he doesn't just simply disregard the issue... I have also filed a compliant with Toyota's main Customer Service for their manufacturing, they state if my car does not get fixed after the factory rep makes the inspection that I must resort to arbitration and/or claiming lemon law under the state legislature.

    And to top it off, the last time I picked up my car, they drove it into something so there is a one inch scratch that goes almost all the way through the bumper... (the dealer of course promised to fix this and apologized for driving my car into something, they claim the service mechanic who worked on my car drove it into the back of a truck and hit the exhaust pipe just barely and that this was their fault.)

    -----------------------

    Has anyone else had this much of a problem? I bought the Camry at Ventura Toyota in Ventura, California. By far their Head Director of Parts and Service "Rob van Neumberg" tells me that he feels my car should be fixed and that they need the factory rep to see this repairs to advise how they need to be made as they involve repairs that are not normally made by the dealer. He also explains that they can only attempt to repair/adjust these problems so many times before their policy dictates that the factory rep must be involved.

    Toyota really needs to open their eyes and see that allthough only a small percentage of people nation wide have problems with their cars that it should still be enough to be concerned about!
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    The dealers are somewhat in a bind because, generally speaking, they can not re-engineer a cheap design or materials. Also, many times ripping the sucker apart only creates more noises. Toyota likely will do nothing until their sales go down. It is sad. Everyday I sit and wait to see if that damn rattle in my ear from the seatbelt adjuster will be active, if not that one then another. Only If I could get rid of them. Can you elaborate on you adjuster area solution a bit more? Mine sounds like a rattle or vibration from inside the area where you adjust the seatbelt height.

    Another thing that helps, lube all your door seals. This helps make some of the pops and creaks go away.

    Do complain to Toyota though. My car is an 02. They told me all the rattle issues had been fixed in subsequent model years (mine being the first redesign year, there were bound to be some bugs); yet they could only decribe one design change,(a windshield cowl replacement - which I had installed on my car but only helped a little bit in eleviating rattles / pops seamingly eminationg along the upper dash).

    Many will have you believe rattles were only predominant in the 02/03 models. I see more and more 04/05 complaints; in the same locations, which is logical since they have not really changed anything. I guess we learn to live with them or buy something else. Long time owners will remain loyal. Newbies will look elsewhere next time. This is where Toyota will eventually suffer.

    Its sad because the car is fine in many other repsects.

    PS:

    For the radio area rattle have them add some felt. It helped a bit on mine.

    For the passenger dash speaker popping in cold weather: they can add some felt, though it did not help me. I now wedge a little stuffed animal in there and it seams to quiet the noise.

    For the door popping be sure to lube the seals, especially after you wash your car. This will quiet the noises for a few weeks.

    There is a TSB if you have the Sunroof rattle.

    Door rattles, I know of know fix other than a home made remedy that involves removing the door panels -- there was a nice post sometime ago...still I am not about to rip apart my car!

    For the seat belt adjusters, I know of know permanant solution. If anyone has one please post! Please provide more info on your solution if noise appeared to be coming from inside the adjuster mechanism.

    THERE IS A CURE FOR ONE RATTLE THAT IS NOT TOYOTA'S FAULT. Add some foam to your sunglass holder--you'd be amazed how many times glasses can be the culprit!

    Good Luck!
  • cam2003cam2003 Member Posts: 131
    Welcom to rattle world!
    You are still lucky with the warm climate, since the rattle will be much worst at cold temperature.
  • doosaiwolfdoosaiwolf Member Posts: 7
    I have heard the noise from inside the seatbelt adjuster. I am bound and determine to fix my problem and if I come across more information I will be glad to share.

    The noise from inside the seatbelt adjusters sounds like a metal on metal buzzing noise in my car, I can hear it both in the driver and passenger side. From what I can tell this is very apparent as the newer camry has this hollowed out seatbelt housing that makes the pillar look flush as where I think their old design was a little better, allthough somewhat cluttered looking.

    Personally the buzzing noise doesn't bother me AS much as other noises, my plan is to insulate the interior of this mechanism once I find resolve for the other issues in my car.

    Inspecting the car doors closely yesterday after dropping off the car for a factory inspection I noticed that the passenger front door recessed behind the windshield piller as compared to the drivers side which is almost flush with the windshield piller. (When I describe the windshielf pillar I am referring to the frame portion between the door and winshield right above the sideview mirrors).

    As it is recessed on the passenger side it seems to me to fit much tighter than on the drivers side.. which is why I am still hearing a rubber/metal noise around the door seal on the drivers side. This is really a structural issue and after inspecting several cars on the lot, only a handful of camrys seems to have even fits on both sides, especially the ones that were assembled in japan (identifyable by their VIN numbers).

    I will post again as I hope to achieve a solution to my situation in hopes to help others. I really love the camry, especially the 2005 model due to the minor bumper and light changes, but I think the manufacturing quality and build tolerances are clearly unacceptable for a toyota product. I came from a 2001 Corolla before this car, and with that car I had absolutely no problems, no noises, no nothing, which to me allows there to be no excuse for any Camry newer than 2001 to have less of a build/tolerance quality than a 2001 Corolla.

    -------------------

    I will keep you posted as I am waiting to hear from the factory tech regarding my car today.

    Thanks for the support!
  • doosaiwolfdoosaiwolf Member Posts: 7
    Okay, so I have gotten my car back one again from the dealership. And still the noise is not fixed. The factory guy adjusted the passenger side front door for aesthetic purposes as it was visually misaligned. Other than that nothing else was done by the factory guy.

    They also fixed my bumper where they had damaged it by driving it into something, but they had to repaint the whole thing and I didn't notice at first but the paint job they did is not that great, half of the bumper on the driver side is smooth, and the other half on the passenger side is textured! So guess what, I have to take this back to them again!

    -------

    In my frustration this weekend after getting my car back I have resorted to taking it apart and fixing it myself. In doing so I noticed that work they claimed to perform in attempt to repair the rattle inside my dash was in fact never done at all, they claimed to have added extra insulation etc, but after disassembling the problem area I notices that not only had they not done anything, there were also parts under the dash that weren't assembled properly in the manufacturing, namingly the insulation (which is actually burburesque carpet pad, if you can believe that), it has a sticky backing on it to help it stay in place. This piece they installed was a factory piece and wasn't even attached. There were several wire clips that were not attached to their proper mounting points.

    So the solution here was to properly attach the insulation and wire clips making sure everything was tight and not loose.

    Now when putting the dash back together, there is a black shielding that is secured in by 1 hook in the back and three friction clips in the front (it has two holes in it to allow airflow for the lower airconditioning ducts). This piece was loose beyond believe, so using black foam tape (the kind you would use to insulate a door etc, sold at home depot) I padded the front edge where it was rattling and reinstalled. PROBLEM SOLVED!!

    ----------

    Now the part a lot of you have been waiting for! SEATBELT PILLARS!! I disassembled the entire housing on the passenger side (both driver and passenger make noise) and had someone drive the car while the housing was completely apart and I was able to pinpoint the noise. It isn't the seatbelt parts itself, the structural pillar that the top seatbelt adjusting bar is attached to is hollow, behind the metal is a large structural impact beam, it is insulated with a spray on type foam that is sprayed on during the manufacturing. As this cannot be taken apart the solution here is sound dampening, so using burburesque I insulated up against the entire metal pillar covering all of the solid surface and the holes, (i slid a piece behind the seatbelt adjusting bar as there is space behind it, all pieces of burburesque were easily attached by some industrial strength double sided tape), I also insulated the upper plastic housing for the seatbelt adjuster as much as possible to prevent any noise for echoing (be careful as this piece needs to still have movability when adjusting the seatbelt, I was able to place two pieces of padding, one on top of the seatbelt hold and one below. I also insulated the lower plastic housing that sits between the the door panels (keep in mind not only did I insulate the lower plastic housing, I also insulated the metal pillar all the down behind this lower plastic housing.

    I noticed when taking this apart there were several clips that were not attached during manufacturing that may have attributed to additional noise making the passenger side sound much louder than the driver side so I made sure to attach all of the clips.

    It seems to be fixed, there is so much insulation that when the seatbelt mechanism locks from pulling on the seatbelt two times really fast you dont hear the locking pin echo in the pillar, so it is definately covering up some of the noise.

    I plan to do the same to the drivers side! Please let me know if any of you have attempted this, if not and you would like some more information I will be glad to share.
  • jbolltjbollt Member Posts: 736
    Hi all, just back from a week in a 2005 Camry LE Rental...put about 1000 miles on the car in Yellowstone Nat Park. NOT ONE Rattle! Temps were from 31 to about 50 degrees, and we had snow for several hours of driving. I am very sensitive to rattles. This car had 3,000 miles of rental driving when Ipicked it up. For the record, and I realize this is the wrong forum for this, and I will post in the regular Camry forum also, but we averaged well over 30 MPG on this trip...34.5 on first tank, 32.6 on secoind, and 33 on third. With 4 adults and a lot of stop and go sightseeing in the park. I actually thought the gas guage was broken, with the odo reading 330 miles at half tank! 4 Cyl 5spd automatic.
  • andrelaplumeandrelaplume Member Posts: 934
    you are lucky to have the ability for such an undertaking. You should send a copy of what you did to Toyota. Maybe we should all print it out and ask Toyota to call our dealers and make arrangements to fix our vehicles. Shame Shame Shame.
Sign In or Register to comment.