[Palabra]

Greetings!

Only 8500 miles on this vehicle. Some noise from dash, door, on rough roads (and even our paved roads are none-to-smooth). What gives? Should I take it in? Has not been driven hard... Otherwise pleased with car. Suggestions?

Other data point: 25.5 mpg overall, and regularly get 30 on the highway even with yakima box.

 

[ryan_calif]

Hi!

Honestly, with Subarus, it's best to learn to live with rattles and know that they are part of the car (it'll save you much anxiety and stress). I've got a few myself (one in instrument cluster area - trip knobs I think, and one near the windshield somewhere). I just have to remind myself from time to time that cars are not made from one piece of plastic! - they will rattle.

If learning to live with them doesn't work for you, Subaru will try and fix them for free within one year of purchase. Good luck!

 

[Palabra]

Thanks. We all have enough real issues to be concerned about. The undercarriage noise I am more peeved about. Yes, a hundred miles or more of dirt forest roads, but didn't expect that to shake anything loose. I will monitor but not get stressed about. Have until April to assess....

 

[rule292]

I'd take it in to the dealer for the dash rattle. I had mine in twice.

The defroster duct and defroster grille had a severe rattle that was intermittent and loud. You could stick your fingertips thru the grille and feel the whole duct moving around and rattling. Even worse with the manual tranny because of the engine's sweet spot telegraphing vibes through the car's unibody.

The tech finally found it and used the standard Subaru "double sided tape" fix and all seems to be well now.

What was kind of funny is that the loaner Foz had the exact same rattle coming from the base of the windshield. :yell:

 

[cpmunkee]

i'm at about 7 months in with 3k on forester 2.5i with cvt. My car's been in a rear bumper accident so I'm typically stressed and freaked about the noises in my car.

I do get noise from my dash area or in front of it where I am going slightly uphill maybe 5degrees on kind of rough concrete. I typically hear it more during cold days when my car hasn't reached 190 degrees or when i'm going 30-40 mph somewhere between cvt shifting...

it sounds like a metal rattling sound...its not concistent and usually goes away from my take my foot off pedal.

 

[devildogsubie]

Have you been experiencing extreme temperatures? My 2012 Forester was rattle/squeak free unless the mercury climbed over 100F and then id get squeaks from the rear compartment. My 2013 WRX is quiet untill its bitter cold and then i can hear the entire dash flex on every little bump or expansion joint untill the heater warms the interior.

 

[devildogsubie]

i'm at about 7 months in with 3k on forester 2.5i with cvt. My car's been in a rear bumper accident so I'm typically stressed and freaked about the noises in my car.

I do get noise from my dash area or in front of it where I am going slightly uphill maybe 5degrees on kind of rough concrete. I typically hear it more during cold days when my car hasn't reached 190 degrees or when i'm going 30-40 mph somewhere between cvt shifting...

it sounds like a metal rattling sound...its not concistent and usually goes away from my take my foot off pedal.

That rattle could be a loose bracket/shield underneath the CVT. Our '14 FXT sustained $5500 in damage in an accident. I immediately noticed a rattle underneath the car after the repairs and immediately feared a bad drvetrain. Turned out to be a bracket that was jolted loose and was easily re secured.

 

[Athens Turbaru]

I had a noise coming from my dash and/or MFD, and was finally able to fix it, but you might not like the solution:

First, I took it to the dealer and had them check it out. It seemed to be coming from the center of the dash, and would go away if I pressed down on the MFD and/or dash. After I picked it up, it got better but didn't go away. I eventually discovered that they added tape (crappy foam tape double-sided tape, by the way) to the inside of the cover of the defrost vent. They had me pick it up, and said it was fixed. It wasn't.

I then gave it a go myself, and disassembled the entire MFD, which would squeak if I put any pressure at all on it. I applied 3M friction tape, which is awesome stuff, to any and all possible contact points. You have to get creative around some spots, because you want it all to still fit back together snugly. That eliminated any and all noise from the MFD.

But...the noise was still there!!!

I tried lots of stuff at this point. I re-taped the defrost vent, adding more than was there. I shoved a pair of undies under the defrost vent, which really seemed to be the source at this point, but I simply couldn't get enough compression in there from underneath to keep it from making a little clicking noise when flexing it back and forth. I wasn't crazy about pulling my whole dash off to get underneath, but if I pressed down on the dash, there's no noise...

So...finally...here's what worked: I bought a piece of 5/8" black nylon rope from HD, cut it to match the length of my dash, and carefully wedged it in between my dash and windshield, covering up the little bit of foam that's existing. It's a tight fit over the speaker grilles, but was the perfect size.

The noise is gone. I can't even force it to come back if I try flexing the dash like before.

The black nylon rope blends in surprisingly well.

In the days since this solution, I have fallen completely in love with my Forester all over again. I haven't even had the radio on because I love how quiet it is now.

 

[ScoobySnaXT]

I have 3600 miles on my XT and I hear rattles from time to time.

Same with my 48 thousand mile STI when I had it, just assumed it is part of a hatchback.

 

[spooky1]

If you have a noise from near the windshield then take it back to the dealer as Subaru have a fix for a known problem from a rattle within the A pillar. Canadian Subaru dealers are fixing this problem.