I've solved the plasting "cracking" noise on my X-Trail's dash. I hope this solution works for others...
My Problem:
The noise was coming from the driver side speaker cover area on the dash and was driving me insane. I was worried about trying to remove the cover section piece after reading how others had broken the tabs trying to remove it themselves.
My Solution:
The speaker cover is located on the left side of the dash, directly in front of the driver side cup holder and it is covered in a dark grey fabric. The cover slides somewhat if you push it forward and pull it back...
1. If you pull it back using your fingertips so the piece arches a little in the center you'll get a slight space between where the cover's front side meets the dash.
2. Slide in a piece of foam tape (or other object, thick enough that the speaker cover piece no longer slides forward and back) in the gap at the front of the cover piece where it meets the dash.
3. It might take an attempt or two because of the proximity of the front windshield and the limited space you have.
At first I used an old parking garage ticket folded upon itself to wedge into the gap. This solved it. Black foam tape will probably work (and look better), but you'll need a thicker piece and it might be harder to wedge a piece in the gap. Wedge a decent thickness in there so the cover almost bends upward in the center.
I haven't had a "cracking" sound since.
GCC
Well Golden Cup, I'm going to give that a try. My crackle is on the passenger side, but what I've noticed is that when the weather is warmer, it doesn't crackle...still, needs to be fixed, because it too, drives me nuts....
I also had a 20 lb bag of sand that I bought and put in the back for the drive home. As I was driving home, the sound of the back floor panel, moving back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, over and over and over again, because of the weight of the sand moving the panel, resulted in my pulling over, and moving the sand from the back to the floor behind the front seat....now, isn't that what cargo areas are for????? I'm beginning to think that Nissan is about 1 cm off on a few things...waiting for the weather to warm up, to check that one out...sigh...for us noise sensitive people, this is a big deal...
The plasting "cracking" noise on my X-Trail's dash - still here
Last time, one month ago the dealer at Nissan Morrey has tried to fix it by replacing a:
VB14AA RPL one front pillar garnish.. or something
The noise comes on the next day.. I give up (put it on hold)
But every morning the noise brings me to the edge of mental breakedown he he...
Wal, did you try the foam fix first described by EJM above? I showed it to my dealer hoping he could do better, but he didn't want to attempt it. "You fixed it good," he said.
Sometime later, the cracking came back for a while, and I suspect it's because the foam became too stiff to do its job of holding the front edge of the dash down. I replaced the foam strip with fresh stuff (and this time went all the way across the dash for appearances' sake). That made it go quiet once more.
Last edited by ecrase2500 : Apr 5th, 2005 at 07:10 AM.
Wal, did you try the foam fix first described by EJM above? I showed it to my dealer hoping he could do better, but he didn't want to attempt it. "You fixed it good," he said.
Sometime later, the cracking came back for a while, and I suspect it's because the foam became too stiff to do its job of holding the front edge of the dash down. I replaced the foam strip with fresh stuff (and this time went all the way across the dash for appearances' sake). That made it go quiet once more.
No, I was afraid to brake something.. I always do
But thanks for remaining, I guess eventually I have to do it by my own
Well I went nuts this weekend again....Valboo (Marc) and I noticed last year after our initial install, that the X-Trail under the rear seats have exposed metal with some sound dampening material...but not much... Well we purchased more last year but I only got together with Marc last Friday to split the package of Damplifier.
So I lifted the seats and went nuts again. It is not completely coated and Just this alone has made a huge difference in road noise!! Now I have again more bass in my system. When I have more time... I am going to strip all of the carpeting in the floor and do this as well.
Now that I have the ESM the one place I realy want to do is the rear inside of the wheels. I am going to remove the coverings and do this area as well.
This investment of money for the Damplifier and my time and yes more blood and blisters from the install.. is worth it.
I also received my Amp which along with my HD Tuner, Ipod Adapter have to still be installed...sigh.. I wish I had more time.
I had a vibration sound coming from what sounded like the middle of the dash where it meets the front windshield. It sounded like the windshield wasn't seated properly and was vibrating against the dash, or maybe the glass shield over the instruments was loose. The sound was bad when I was accellerating or at moderate speed on rougher pavement.
I had my passenger press down along the dash along the windshield while we were driving to see if we could eliminate the vibration, but it didn't help.
However, when I was adjusting my rear view mirror yesterday, the sound went away.
It turned out that the plastic piece (square flat piece) that holds the rear view mirror onto the roof of the car was not "clipped" or "seated" into place (it looked seated, but wasn't). All I had to do was push up on it to secure it. It "clicked" into place. Problem solved!
Here are my images for my install which is applied to all my doors as well as many other areas in my X-Trail. For the doors I applied two layers.. one on the inside outer panel and the second on the inside inner panel.
Well it has been a while since anyone has posted here... BUT I thought I would bring up an interesting point that I mentioned to Valboo yesterday. Remember that famous dash squeek some of us had when it was cold outside... I did nothing about it and well this winter the X-Trail is quiet.... not a peep.... guess it was growing pains! LOL
Well it has been a while since anyone has posted here... BUT I thought I would bring up an interesting point that I mentioned to Valboo yesterday. Remember that famous dash squeek some of us had when it was cold outside... I did nothing about it and well this winter the X-Trail is quiet.... not a peep.... guess it was growing pains! LOL
hehehehe
Stephen
Well I still have it, maybe less annoing or less squeeky
Looking at Shesbh's pictures of the sound insulation in his doors....
I did this to our Pathfinder and our car, but only put scraps on the inside of the outer panels. I figured that would be sufficient to dampen the panels from resonating, but probably more would be even better.
I also left the access holes open, knowing they must be there for a reason, and knowing this would limit the effectiveness of the insulation. But since then I've decided if I do this again, I'd cover the holes. The reason being that I could always cut them open if needed, and they don't serve any other purpose normally. I see that in tuner cars, the kids always cover the holes.
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'91 Pathfinder SE 5spd (now sold)
'06 Suzuki Grand Vitara JLX-L
There was a member on this forum... not an X-Trail member who noticed my images and told me that the proper method to install was to cover all the openings... so after placing a layer on the inside of the outside panel, a layer on the inside panelas you can see in the picture.. I loved the difference in sound...
Then came his suggestion.. and I contacted my manufacturer (secondskinaudio.com) to ask him as well, so off came all the door panels and the rear hatch panel and I proceeded to cover all the open holes. I also used Aluminum tape to seal all the seams for a clean install.
What a difference it made not only in sound but in the fealing of airconditioner in Summer and heating in Winter.. As I was speaking to Roger on the phone yesterdat about this... Nissan Airconditioners are lousy.. my Altima was lousy...and so is the X-Trail... they are not as strong as other manufacturers.... BUT they do work...!!!! With the insulation the car gets and stays cooler faster and longer.. as for Winter.... I keep my car at the bottom which is 18 even in deep freeze since it is hot in the car very fast and stays warmer...
For sound and my Infinity Kappas... wow... I just love the system and the only road noise I hear now is the Damn Sunroof Reflector... but heck that's life!
Stephen
Quote:
Originally Posted by X-Traction
Looking at Shesbh's pictures of the sound insulation in his doors....
I did this to our Pathfinder and our car, but only put scraps on the inside of the outer panels. I figured that would be sufficient to dampen the panels from resonating, but probably more would be even better.
I also left the access holes open, knowing they must be there for a reason, and knowing this would limit the effectiveness of the insulation. But since then I've decided if I do this again, I'd cover the holes. The reason being that I could always cut them open if needed, and they don't serve any other purpose normally. I see that in tuner cars, the kids always cover the holes.
I might take this chance to jump on the 'Noisy X-trail' bandwagon.
Recently my exee has developed a 'rattle', on the side of the engine bay near the belts. (my drivers side) I did the trusty thing and sprayed some WD40 onto the various pulleys, with it 'apearing' to stop when I got to the auto tensioner pulley. But after 1 day, it was back. I sat there and watched this tensioner pulley and its movement appeared to correspond with the rattle ?? Should this pulley move or not.
It does appear worse when the a/c is turned on and just when the a/c fans start, so does the rattle. i have disconnected each fan, but the nosie continues.
The noise is similar to a light metal on metal rattle.
I intend telling Nissan about it at my 30,000km service, but any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks
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bas, Australia.
white TI, BFG AT 225/70r16, 40mm Pedders spring lift, Bash plate, Chaos TBS, K&N air filter, custom air intake, Alutec strut Bar, Iridium plugs, battery monitor, cargo barrier, 20% tint, grounding kit, 2.5" dual exhaust system(cat back), bonnet struts, GME TX4400 UHF, Philips Extreme +80 headlights, 4x Hella 120w spotties.
my ride: www.cardomain.com/ride/2209926
One thing is driving me nuts - the dashboard centre console rattles and squeaks like mad around the speedo area. Has anyone else had this problem? Also offside speaker housing on front rattles also. Any possible solutions please.
Previously owned a 2004 model with no squeaks!?
he he
I was afraid to brake something.. I always do 
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