Driver Side Seatbelt Height Adjuster Rattle

[kfeng]

Bumping the old thread.....

Anyone else able to fix this seatbelt rattle?? It is driving me nuts, as the noise is right at my left ear...

 

[Spoolin024]

Bumping the old thread.....

Anyone else able to fix this seatbelt rattle?? It is driving me nuts, as the noise is right at my left ear...

I had the same problem annoyed the crap out of me, no one could hear it except my left ear. Took me awhile to figure out what it was. I was about to take it apart, but I tried adjusting it first, and what do you know all the way down or close to = no more rattle. Every once in awhile it comes back and I just slide the seat belt adjuster up and back down so far so good at least with my car.

But I got other rattles to fix now :frown:

 

[07GeeTeeEye]

yeah on top of the passenger seatbest compartment rattle. i get this really REALLY annoying sort of high pitch rattle that comes from inside the A/C vent on top of the dash (the one that blows upward). planning on suffering until i buy boost gauges to put over that retarted vent that i never use

 

[conom06d]

yeah on top of the passenger seatbest compartment rattle. i get this really REALLY annoying sort of high pitch rattle that comes from inside the A/C vent on top of the dash (the one that blows upward). planning on suffering until i buy boost gauges to put over that retarted vent that i never use

take off the top of it and apply double sided tape under the mesh cover piece. It will stop that rattle rather well, not perfect, but definitely better on most roads. Only on really bumpy roads is it still heard

 

[awwsheet]

haha mine has this same issue. i'll look into it :thumbsup:

i'll take a looksie at what you guys suggested above.

 

[kfeng]

Go to lowes and buy some of this stuff:

http://www.doityourself.com/invt/0397307

I popped the panel off that was covering my seatbelt components. I figured the plastic piece that the belt loops through was rubbing on the panel just enough to cause a rattle. I placed a few pieces of this tape on the inside of the panel, where the plastic piece sits at during normal operatioin. Haven't heard a rattle since.:thumbsup:

Tried this, still rattles...

 

[amorak]

any ideas on this annoying ass rattle?

 

[pomme de terre]

Ok so Ive been having this rattle or clicking noise basically since the car was new. Took it into the dealer where the service rep acted as if he's never seen this problem before rolleyes and said they could swap the seatbelt height adjuster sliding panel to see if it helps. It didnt, and actually made the rattle much more loud and frequent... so I decided to crack the panel open myself and see what I could do.

So from reading numerous threads here about it, heres what I did:

1) Pry off the "AIRBAG" plastic logo (be careful not to break off any of the clips/legs)


2) Use a Torx screw driver and undo that one screw underneath (be careful not to let it drop inside the panel)


3) Pull the cloth covered panel off, starting at the bottom. Its basically just clipped on. You'll see this behind the panel:

I decided there wasnt really anything there that would be making the noise, so I worked on the cloth-covered panel instead.


4) It seemed like it was the plastic height adjusting clip thing (the one you press on to slide the seatbelt) hitting the panel that was causing the nose. So I unhooked the spring on the backside of the panel, to release the height adjuster clip thingy. Then I slid it off of the panel (you sort of have to force it through at an angle). Then I padded the clip with some hockey tape.

5) I also padded the backside of the panel (where the clip slides/rubs) with some hockey tape.

6) Then I just reassembled everything... heres a picture of the sliding clip thing back on the panel with the spring

7) I also added some tape to the seatbelt height adjuster for good measure. Dont add tape where the red X is. I had originally put tape there but realized it shows with the panel back on

8) Put the cloth covered panel back on by first sliding the top section on first (you'll know when you have it apart), then the bottom. Make sure to line everything up properly.. i.e. the plastic panel clips with the height adjuster



So in the 5 minutes of driving I did afterwards, the rattle seemed to be gone (or at least it was much less noticeable), so it seems that it IS the height adjuster clip thingy hitting the panel that causes the noise. Ill let you guys know if this ACTUALLY gets rid of the noise after a lot more driving, but even if it doesnt I hope these pictures will help out some of you that do plan to take the panel apart.

 

[Cayjack]

OK, I know this thread is a year old but I didn't want to start a new one.

After approx. 7-8 hours over three different days, I found the source of the F-ing noise and finally put a stop to it.

I tried every thing I could think of (spray lubricants, greases, etc.) and ended up fixing it with........toothpicks! I know it sounds ghetto and it is kinda ghetto, but it worked and it is "music to my ears" so to speak.:lol:

And no one will ever see it anyway.

So here's what you do. After removing pillar cover, remove the silver steel bolt holding the seatbelt "guide" I guess you'd call it.

You will see the piece that the bolt threads into.

You can see where I wedged the toothpicks on both sides of the "nut."
The noise was from the steel rubbing against the plastic.
Someone may have a better idea of what to use to wedge in there, but the toothpicks worked for me. I used needle nose pliers to work them down in there, and once they were in just broke off the remainder of the toothpick. Just make sure you get them in there pretty good so they don't work loose.

I also put some Dielectric grease on the little spring because it was making that "springy" noise when I squeezed the piece to adjust the height.


Hope this helps everone from going insane like I was.

One note: Doing this made it slightly harder to move the seatbelt position, but I really don't care if it didn't move at all as long as that damn noise is gone!

 

[huntley]

the problem it they break easy if your going to take it off plan on buy a new one....
try raising the height they usually break at the bottom

 

[Cayjack]

the problem it they break easy if your going to take it off plan on buy a new one....
try raising the height they usually break at the bottom

Not sure what you are trying to say???
What breaks? I have taken this apart 4 times and haven't broken anything.

And adjusting the height only stops the noise temporarily.

 

[Simmsled]

Going to look at this sometime during the week. It's driving me nuts.

 

[DaLurker]

My problem was whenever I moved the seatbelt it would squeal so as I'm driving along, the seatbelt would move and squeal a lot.

To fix this, I took the trim off and sprayed it down with a lot of WD40. Not sure if you guys have a similar problem, but something to try.

 

[phokim]

I finally tried this "fix" yesterday and what a PITA it is to put everything back together, no one mentioned that crazy post you had to line up at the bottom left of the panel. In my case the issue seems to be the bolt Cayjack referred to. I didn't have the right sized tool to remove and brace it though, so the rattle remains though it is muted after I applied some of my preferred "tape" to the assembly. I like using the fabric side of velcro tape, it worked great on the dash vent rattle and it helped here as well.

 

[MercuryECS]

Did the fix, used surgical tape. Made the rattle less noticeable, but its still here every now and again.