Mine is a rattle trap at 8k. Dash Heads up Display vibrates over every bump in the road.

And some mystery rattle that I've had forever and can't figure out. It's almost constant unless on a perfectly smooth road not accelerating or decelerating. As soon as I start breaking or gasing it's there. More of a ticking/rattling. I've even shut the engine off on the road and I hear it.

 

I have one that comes from the front passenger door up near where the dash is. It only sounds on certain bass notes when listening to the radio. Still extremely annoying on a car with less than 500 miles. I plan on opening up the doors when I replace the speakers and hope to find the culprit.

 

Rattle

I have a 2014 XT and I have a kind of thumping /thad nose from around center dash close to the windshield and the rattle from the passanger side door when I drive on rough surface. I'm a worried of trying to open the areas involved in the winter because the plastics snap in no time.
By hitting the spots with my hand will not create the noise.
Will see at next visit to the dealer if they can't find it I will.

Laszlo

 

I've got plenty of rattles on my Forester, and only 2,000 miles on the clock. Definitely the rattliest car I've ever owned, but I still love it.

I've come to the conclusion that:

a) Subarus rattle
b) Subaru doesn't put much emphasis on interior NVH (though they are supposedly getting better with the new generation Foresters)
and
c) Ultimately, you need to learn to live rattles (cars aren't made from one piece of plastic after all) or else you will go insane! Lol.

 

This is my first Subaru with rattles and I'm not the type to turn the the radio up not to hear it. First I will drive the dealer nuts after if it is not fixed will take the darn thing apart and apply automotive silicon and or heavy undercoating to the possible loose areas.
This would not be the first time.
Yes the car is made up of multipple pieces of plactic but so as other cars-all cars. There is little excuse but cost saving by using cheap plastc snaps without foam washers and no screws.
I'm certain that the rattle in the door is a broken pin just by the sound of it and the dash could be a bent or inproperly fitted plug keeps something loose.

 

I've got an SJ XT 45000km now and been getting an annoying rattle that sounds to be coming from the drivers side b pillar area. I've taken it apart and put foam to try and fix but it comes back. When sit in the back seat cannot hear it so if must be ear level b pillar or above. The another annoying thing is the seats squeak when cornering or bouncy from speed humps or uneven roads... Anyone got a fix?

 

I have the same problem but on the passenger side. Did you found a solution for this B pillar rattle?

 

I suggest you to go to a car parts store and get an automotive stethoscope (like what the doctors use but it has a long rod attached to it) and have someone drive the car while you can test the source of the sound with the probe. For 10-15 bucks you can get a lot smarter and can put up a fuss with the dealer by pointing the source out.
I fixed my noise . It was in the dash speaker and deflected off the wind screen. You can pop the speaker grate out and see if the noise is there. I used some automotive silicon and closed cell foam. It worked. Noise also can come from the mud flaps because of plastic plugs can get lost. That will sound like it comes from the door. Get the tool, it is cheap and very practical.

Laszlo

 

Thanks Laszlo9 that I didn't know about. Can you send an image of your scope so I can see what it is? Thats a great idea!!

 

There was a Tech Tip published by Subaru for the previous (SH) generation that had an issue with rattling speaker grilles. Might be worth looking into it - it could probably be fixed in a similar manner:

 

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-52500-Mechanics-Stethoscope/dp/B0002SQYSM[/ame]

Here it is. But I got it in an automotive parts shop for a few dollar more.

Laszlo

 

had my front passenger glass rattling and also you could hear the metallic sound when going
over rough road, turns out it was the passenger sun visor, stuffed a microfiber in to shut it up,
so just putting this here in case this might be it for some ppl.

 

Here is a good link for rattle fixes..http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f77/dashboard-rattle-fix-310954/

 

I found to fix rattles and noises of plastic the best 5 items to have are:
An automotive stethoscope (like what the doctors use but it has a long rod attached to it). It is under $20.00. It does make to find the noise location easier.
A tube of automotive black and a clear silicon. That works on metal, glass and plastic and can take abuse.
And some closed cell foam weather stripping.
I also have a plastic stick that is used by glass shops to pry things without chipping or marring surfaces. (8 inch long, 1/4 thick and 3/4 wide with flat wedge edge on one end and sort of rounded flat point on the other).
All these are not expensive but functional tools.
I like to put a small dab of silicon on the plastic plugs because you can still pry them out if you need to. Also small drops on the weather stripping. The dash gets really hot in the summer and silicon can handle it better than foam.
DON'T forget to check your mud guards. The plugs can come out relatively easy and you end up with noise that carries around and difficult to find. The plugs are bigger but lots of times there are regular plugs are in them. Silicon comes handy and a few spare especially in snow country.
Another crazy noise maker is the cargo cover. The spring inside can make noise like it comes from the quarter panel. So take it out and drive around for a few days without it. On my Outback sport I removed all door covers hatch cover back seats and floor cover and side covers to the horror of my wife and the dealer. It was the cover. It took 6 months to find it.

 

I found my issue was the rubber seal on the door trim. It was rubbing against the metal frame and made a sound like you would hear when two different materials run against each other.

Fixed it with a rubber conditioner. Have to do it every few months to keep the rubber subtle and not stick and cause running with the metal frame.

Give it a go and see if this works for you.

 

I believe to have the same/similar problem. What conditioner did you use? I am not sure yet whether it is rubber seal against metal frame, or loose window against rubber.

I am thinking of removing door panel (can someone share an instruction for SF 2014?) and check whether the glass is mounted properly. However first I may give a chance to the conditioner you use. Few times I sprayed silicon lubricant all over the seal, but it helped for 20 minutes.

 

I used AUTOGLYM VINYL & RUBBER CARE 500M. A quick search and there's a lot of other options like meguires and mothers etc... I used a microfibre cloth to apply it to all the rubber surround on every door. For me I took apart a lot of panels and it did nothing the conditioner worked a treat!

 

Thank you for the piece of advice.

I stopped yesterday in local store and bought meguiar's vinyl and rubber conditioner. Then spent on a parking lot 30 minutes just for the driver's side door. Effect lasted exactly 19 minutes, when I started to hear squeaks again. Nevertheless I ordered today morning Autoglym VRC500US Vinyl & Rubber Care from Amazon to see how it would work. I have been dealing with this problem since last year April (14 months). I' ve been to 3 dealers and none of them helped - they adjusted window (what I think can be the issue as well), removed B-Pillar trim, checked seat belt attachment to the frame. Nothing.

Every time I drive through uneven surface (when car experience twisting of the frame, eg. one wheel higher then the rest) I hear those noises. Generally speaking, it is every day for an hour on NY's local roads. On a highway this problem does not exist (nice flat surface), or it is too loud to hear.

Still putting my hope in Autoglym..

 

Try give your metal frame a clean and even a quick wax to take the stickiness away... Make sure to apply the conditioner but don't dry it off.... Wish you luck to get it fixed. Mine lasts at least a couple months. Good luck.

 

In my case this is not a problem of rubber seal. Here is a short video of my issue https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9xhU4hrIk9jZUY1RF9mOS1BcWM/view?usp=drivesdk

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

That's a good video of the noise. That is not what I heard on mine. You should take to the dealer and get it checked out. Good luck:grinning:

 

I already was at the dealer but he don't want to solve this under warranty... :-( He was told me that it is normal... that this could be welding on the B pillar...

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

Just to share, I managed to resolve a rattling noise for the front door panels of my 2016 Forester XT.

The sound is a very light high-pitched ticking sound. I wasn’t sure whether it was plastic-plastic or metal-plastic contact sound but it definitely came from the area of the front door handles/lock mechanism. I’ve dismantled the doors so many times until I lost count to apply dynamat, felt tape...

Lo and behold, the noise was caused by the small, rectangular plastic cap which covers the screw of the door lock mechanism! The plastic cap was rather loose and if i tap on the cap using my finger, it will make the ticking sound. Strangely, it doesn’t make any noise when i banged the door using my hand to discover the rattling source...

I applied some 3M double-side on the underside to secure the cap and also some felt tape on the top after it’s secured. Voila, no more rattles!