Can you post pics? What is the stuff called at home depot.

But most importantly......... I have a squeak near right pillar that is almost making me sell the car. I need help please! Dealer has seen it 7 times and has not fixed.!!!

What other thread mentions the felt pads?

 

we need pics!!!! where are the pics???

 

I'll try and take pics tonight. Below is the link to the other thread about the foam backer rod. It looks WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY more visible in his pictures than it does in my car. The flash from the camera is turning the windshield into a mirror so thats one reason it looks like that. Maybe he didn't push it down as far either. I'll post my pics as soon as I take them. Also, I tried just the piece across the entire dash first but you could feel that there was still a void in the center section. So I pulled it out, and put about a 30" long piece in first and then the piece that went the whole length of the dash (like is mentioned in the post below).

http://www.passatworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170040&highlight=foam+backer+rod

 

Little advice don't put to much pressure on the windshield.

 

Little advice don't put to much pressure on the windshield.

Sounds like you had a bad window experience! I take it you cracked one? Anywho, there is very little pressure put on it. In fact, when I was puting it in, even with the second piece of backer rod, I kept thinking "there is no way this is going to fix my problem". It just didn't feel like it was enough pressure to stop the dash from rattling. But hey, it works. What can I say.

 

Glad my post has helped some fellow B5'ers.

 

Anywho, there is very little pressure put on it. In fact, when I was puting it in, even with the second piece of backer rod, I kept thinking "there is no way this is going to fix my problem". It just didn't feel like it was enough pressure to stop the dash from rattling. But hey, it works. What can I say.

I think it works because the dash is not rattling by tself, it is rattling against the windshield, and the foam prevents it from touching and scrubbing against the windshield.

 

I think it works because the dash is not rattling by tself, it is rattling against the windshield, and the foam prevents it from touching and scrubbing against the windshield.

No it's not rattling against the windshield at all... it is just that a slight bit of pressure keeps the dash tight and prevents any inner vibration.

 

No it's not rattling against the windshield at all... it is just that a slight bit of pressure keeps the dash tight and prevents any inner vibration.

At this point I'm just glad it works. And it doesn't require taking the dash apart.

 

Here are the pics

From the outside. As you can see, its not visible.

From the inside

And the dash attachment by the passenger door where I put the felt

The cover just pops off

Here you can see the 4 torx head screws that you remove. Once you remove them, pull the plastic dash away from the metal frame with one hand and insert the felt pad with the other. Then just put the screws back in (I acutally put the flet square over the screw hole and screwed thru the felt to put it back together.

EDIT:
One more thing. If you look closely you can see part of a blue shop rag in stuffed up under the vent on that last picture. A while back while I was trying to track down this noise, I noticed the vent made a noise/moved when I would press on it with my hand. I had stuffed this blue shop rag under the vent to hold it in place. It did seam to help but didn't make the noise go away completely. I think I will try and remove it and see if any noise comes back. My point is, if you still have a small noise from this side of the car, this vent might be where it is coming from. I will let you all know what happens when I remove it.

 

Here you can see the 4 torx head screws that you remove. Once you remove them, pull the plastic dash away from the metal frame with one hand and insert the felt pad with the other. Then just put the screws back in (I acutally put the flet square over the screw hole and screwed thru the felt to put it back together.

Looks like you repeated a picture v-mann (dash9.jpg) instead of the actual one. Can you post the right one? Thanks for the pics...I will definitely do this in the coming weekend. The foam doesn't look outta place at all!

Now will this fix the rattling noise I hear when I pump up my tunes too loud? Sounds like the speakers are rattling...

 

At this point I'm just glad it works. And it doesn't require taking the dash apart.

You got that right brother :thumbup:

 

Looks like you repeated a picture v-mann (dash9.jpg) instead of the actual one. Can you post the right one? Thanks for the pics...I will definitely do this in the coming weekend. The foam doesn't look outta place at all!

In the words of Homer Simpson "Doh" h:. Sorry about that. I fixed it. Figures I would not only get the pictures wrong, but I left out the most important one.

One more thing. If you look closely you can see part of a blue shop rag in stuffed up under the vent on that last picture. A while back while I was trying to track down this noise, I noticed the vent made a noise/moved when I would press on it with my hand. I had stuffed this blue shop rag under the vent to hold it in place. It did seam to help but didn't make the noise go away completely. I think I will try and remove it and see if any noise comes back. My point is, if you still have a small noise from this side of the car, this vent might be where it is coming from. I will let you all know what happens when I remove it.

Now will this fix the rattling noise I hear when I pump up my tunes too loud? Sounds like the speakers are rattling...

I doubt this will fix that noise. But I do recall seeing posts about noises coming from the doors and fixes. I don't know what the fixes where. A search should turn something up.

 

What if I use 3/8" foam?

 

What if I use 3/8" foam?

I don't think it will work. I think it would just sit in there (loosely) not holding anything from rattling. Hmmmmmm. I don't know. By both sizes and try it. It might work but I bet you need the 5/8"

 

Will do, thanks meng.

 

I would say 7/8" for a starter strip or two starter strips and then 5/8" for the final is optimal.

 

Hey VMANN....don't you feel like you've got a new car now? Isn't it just a huge relief not to have this damn squeak, rattle and roll gone?

Funny now, I sometimes hear other smaller noises that I didn't hear before. I swear the weirdest one yet is what sounds like a ball in a spray paint can rolling around but only for 1/2 a second. Now the worse thing with this one is that it only happens occasionally and I can never reproduce it voluntarily. I will find it and eradicate it though...somehow :hmmm: . It sound like in the rear right passenger door area....mmmmm.... back to the detective work.

Dave.

 

Hey VMANN....don't you feel like you've got a new car now? Isn't it just a huge relief not to have this damn squeak, rattle and roll gone?

Funny now, I sometimes hear other smaller noises that I didn't hear before. I swear the weirdest one yet is what sounds like a ball in a spray paint can rolling around but only for 1/2 a second. Now the worse thing with this one is that it only happens occasionally and I can never reproduce it voluntarily. I will find it and eradicate it though...somehow :hmmm: . It sound like in the rear right passenger door area....mmmmm.... back to the detective work.

Dave.

I hear ya!!! I owe you a :beer: . Forgot to give ya the credit in the first post. fortunately for me, no other noises have come up (yet). I did a quick search on you door rattle. here...
http://www.passatworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96105&highlight=door+rattle+noise

 

I just installed 1/2" foam backing from Home Depot (had to ship it, not in stores in VA). It seems to work pretty well with only one run of the backer. I would say that the noise is cut by about 75%; there is still a rattle but its much quieter and only on bumpier road, where before it seemed to be all the time. I might try another 2nd strip and see how much that improves things. But for only a few bucks and 5 minutes of install, big time results (I usually have my tunes up loud enough to not matter, really!)

 

Any way you can modify that picture of the side dash with the cover popped open and put a red arrow where the felt pad should be. Having trouble understanding it.

thanks much for your informative article!

 

Any way you can modify that picture of the side dash with the cover popped open and put a red arrow where the felt pad should be. Having trouble understanding it.

thanks much for your informative article!

Here ya go...

 

What did you use to insert the foam? Screwdriver? Fingers?

I just picked it up from H.Depot.

 

I fixed a squeak by pushing a small black rubber o-ring/sealing washer (the thick kind you can put a srew through) between the base of the center console and the lower console where they meet and rub at the back. Just pulled up on the edge of the console and pushed it in.

PureMS strut brace cured most of my dash creaks... Good excuse to buy a good part!

 

I followed V-MANN's steps and appear to have fixed my dash that had been creaking for the last year and a half. It only got down to 35 degrees today but thus far I didn't hear a peep out of it. It was so quiet I could hear the rattle of the seat belt in the back seat and the creaking of the armrest ;~). We'll see how it continues to do when the temperature drops down into the 20s and lower.

Thanks for the tip, V-MANN. I can cancel my 5th attempt with the dealer to fix this. They were going to pull out the airbag next and I really wasn't looking forward to that but the noise was driving me crazy. I think when I bring the car in for the next scheduled service I'll show 'em the packaging for this foam and suggest they may want to consider offering this as an option to other owners who complain of noisy dashes. The dealer had already tried spraying some foam inside the dash by the windshield last year but that didn't do anything at all.

Thanks again!