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Originally Posted by ginoitalo OK, I'm getting all my stuff ready to tackle this job
Would anyone happen to have any images/directions on the assembly on the dashboard for a 95 SL2 to something close, just so I can see the best route to the screws and so on.
Thanks again
g. |
Okay, I'll do my best to tackle this one from memory.
Since your rattle seems to be around the glove compartment, I'll aim for that area.
First off, remove the dash pad. It's not really much of a pad, just a very hard piece of plastic that's pretty well insufficiently mounted in my opinion. On top of the dash you will find two plastic rectangular covers near each windshield pillar. Carefully pop them out with the flat blade of a screwdriver. Under them, you will find two 7mm hex head screws. Remove the screws. (Oh yeah, find a safe place like a coffee can to hold all of your fasteners. It's amazing how easy it is to lose one or two of them by the time you are ready to reassemble everything.)
With the two screws removed, the only thing holding the top of the dash in place are a handful of friction fittings. Your next step is to pop the top of the dash up from one side of the car to the other. I find it easiest to start on the passenger side. You can carefully use that flat screwdriver again to release the friction clips, but I find that a stiff putty knife is a bit safer. Just stick it in to the crevice at the edge of the dash panel and pry the pad upwards. You'll know when the friction fittings release because your first thought will probably be that you just broke something. LOL. Just be sure to get it loose all the way across the front before you try to do anything else.
With that done, you should be able to lift the top edge of the dash up from it's position by a few inches easily. Just lift it up a little, get a good grip on it with both hands, and pull it towards you and away from the windshield. There are four friction clips holding the edge of the pad to the rest of the car just beneath the glass. They're not difficult to deal with during removal. Just remember that once they're free, the entire dash top is kind of awkward due to it's size, and it will take a bit of patience to get it out of the car.
Now, remove the plates on either side of the center console at the front. One covers the fuse panel and the other covers, uhm, other stuff. They should just pop off. After you've removed these two panels pull the bezel off of the center of the dash. The one that surrounds the radio and climate controls. There are two air vents in the top of it, they will remain attached to the bezel when you remove it if you're lucky. (The other option is that they'll fall off and magically disassemble themselves, like they always do on my car.) The easiest way I know of to remove it is to grab it at the bottom edges on either side and pull outwards. Work your way up the sides of the bezel from there and it should practically fall out when you reach the top.
Now, with those few simple steps, you'll be able to see lots of the bolts holding the glove compartment area together. Don;t do anything yet! Start up the car and go for a drive. Do whatever you did before that made it rattle and see if it still does it. If it doesn't, then the rattle was coming from one of the panels you just pulled off. My guess would be the dash top. If it still rattles, check all of the fasteners to make sure that they're snug. Don't over-tighten any! Just make sure they're not ridiculously loose. Test drive it again and see if it's still there, if it is, post back here and I'll guide you through additional steps. (My poor fingers)
Now, what I'm guessing you'll find is the same problem I've seen on at least four first gen. cars. Either the clips on the dash top are loose, missing their original felt pads, or are just plain broken. I can't stress enough how big of an engineering dog turd I feel that the interiors of the first gens. are. But that's not the topic here. Follow along as I ramble through putting the dash pad and bezel back on so that they won't rattle again. (At least, not for a while.)
If nothing seems to be broken or missing, you may proceed to reassemble the car. If you look closely at the four friction clips near the windshield, you'll see that there was once a layer of some sort of thin felt-like material there dampening vibrations. More than likely, they aren't in very good shape. Your options here are pretty limited. I have yet to find a good substitute for the pads, but, smearing a little bit of vaseline on each of them does help with re-installation and any squeaks that they may produce while driving.
Next, examine the two spots where the 7mm hex head screws hold the dash down. You'll see that here, too, was the same kind of felt material. Here, however, is where you can help stop rattles. Before you re-install the dash top, put a little square of foam tape around the screw holes. I've found that a 1X1 inch square with a hole punched in the middle seems to work wonders. Now, what you want to avoid is using a thick foam tape. Make sure that whatever you use is no more than 1/16th of an inch thick! And don't use double-sided tape, either. It might work, but it'll make removing the parts in the future a real pain in someone's ass. Go ahead and fix a couple of pieces of the foam tape to the bottom side of the dash top near each of the friction fittings, too. It helps to snug things up. Once you've done all of that, re-install the dash by moving it in to position and pressing down as evenly as you can across the windshield edge of the dash while to shove it in to place. The idea is to make sure that the four friction clips actually grab the dash. There always seems to be one that doesn't line up right, so this may take a few attempts. Once that is done, the front edge of the panel should line up where it's supposed to, and a little firm pressure and light tapping should lock all of the friction fittings back in to place. Start the two screws in to the dash panel to make sure that everything is lining up alright, then unscrew them again and pull out your silicon sealant. If you look closely at the tips of the screws, you'll notice that they had this snotty looking goo on them. THat basically helps to keep them anchored in place. Doesn't work too well after a few years, though. I don't know what the goo is or where to get it, nor have I ever wanted to find out. If you carefully put a little dob of silicon goo on the tips of the screws, it will coat the threads when you screw them in to place and will help to achor them, thereby preventing vibration from loosening them. (Hey, it's worked for the last few months in my car.) Just don't get any sealant on your interior.
Anyway, my cold medicine is making this sort of difficult. I'm beginning to hallucinate. I'll check back o this thread in the morning. Just let me know if you have any questions or if I left anything out.
Dash gives off bad vibrations 
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