Squeaky Dashboard

FlipFlop · 03-07-2003, 14:43

I've read the help on fixing the squeaky dashboard. It tells me to remove the air outlet grill with hazard switch and reach to the back of the dash then insert foam or rubber.
The problem I faced when I removed the air outlet grill I was faced with the inlet hoses. I can't get past them to get to the back of the dash.

What do I need to do?

FabiaTDi · 03-07-2003, 15:53

Is there a Fabia that hasnt had this problem?

Once you've removed the air vent take a look right at the back (use a torch) and you should see the bracket that causes all the problems.

Stuff the foam between the bracket and the dash and the noise should dissapear.
Use something long enough to reach the bracket as you wont be able to reach it with your hands.

good luck!

awt41 · 03-07-2003, 15:54

If you use a long thin screwdriver or something similar, you can just manage to push some foam into the gap between the bracket and the top of the dashboard. Pack it in tight.

I know it looks daunting, especially with the ventilation cups and the metal bracket down the middle - but it can be done!

It cured the problem on mine - see recent thread.

Regards, awt41

james · 03-07-2003, 16:21

Quote:

Originally posted by awt41 in this post
If you use a long thin screwdriver or something similar, you can just manage to push some foam into the gap between the bracket and the top of the dashboard. Pack it in tight.

I know it looks daunting, especially with the ventilation cups and the metal bracket down the middle - but it can be done!

It cured the problem on mine - see recent thread.

Regards, awt41

I would gladly pay you to cure mine! 3 Skoda dealers have failed.

skomaz · 05-04-2004, 18:08

OK guys I've finally found the be all and end all solution to what to use to fix the squeek... and the answer is... half a wine bottle cork!

Seriously!

Cut it in half lengthways so it's semi-circular in profile, put a small chamfer on one end, stick it on the end of a small tipped screwdriver on offer it up to the offending bracket and then push it in with a LARGE screwdriver!

Works far better than the wooden blocks the dealer used and STAYS PUT!

bingyp · 28-06-2006, 18:25

Hi there everyone,

I've also used the cork method, and so far it is a succcess. Dash seemed to be getting noisier and was driving me potty so I gave it a go.

I didn't use the same method as the above,

slightly more unusual tools!!

On removing the vents, the bracket to wedge is central, about 6 inches in and underneath where the ridge on the dash is. I say central but I got better access from the driver's side vent.

Looking at the bracket, there is a gap at the bottom about 2-3 mm.

I cut the cork length ways. The cork is then 'D' shaped. the flat part goes to the bottom.

Thanks to skomaz' excellent advice I tried it with a small chamfer but couldn't get the cork to go in very far. So I then cut a much flatter angle, leaving the leading edge around 2-3 mm as per the gap.

To offer the cut cork to the bracket, I used a wooden chopstick about 10 inch long. Sticking the cork onto the pointy end of the chop stick firmly gave good control as the cork is put in position.

Once the cork is where it needs to be, I slowly rotated the chopstick to release the cork.

To push the cork more firmly home, I used the shaft of a small-headed hammer to gently, repeatedly knock it home. Securing the shaft with a 'pool-cue' type grip gave nice control as I tamped the cork home.

And that's it. The cork seems nicely seated, wedged in the bracket. There are now no squeaks from the dash so I can now hear all the noises from the trim/seats etc!!

It was a simple, painless job. If I can do it then anyone can.

Hope this helps someone.

Regards,

Bingy

bingyp · 02-07-2006, 22:53

It's now been a week since I jammed in the half cork and my Fabia dash is still creak free. The week includes two 'longish' - for me - trips, so I am still happy with the results and can recommend this method.

echase · 16-06-2007, 11:39

I don’t understand the description of the top hat area given here, as my Fabia 1.4, X reg seems to be a bit different. There is no gap below the top hat and the gap above is way more than 2-3 mm, too large for any rubbing to be going on there. So I have put my cork 6" in front of the greyish plastic vertical support strut. It's inside the top hat and underneath 2 diagonal plastic struts that slope down from above and then inside the top hat. These sloping struts are close enough to the top hat to be rubbing against it so the cork pushes them hard up against the top hat.

Grainy photo (double click on it) on my similar post at link mentioned below taken from left vent shows the top hat to right of cork and one of these sloping black plastic struts above the cork. Is this the right place?

Seems to have solved the noise though.

When pulling out the vents 4 of the spring clips detached from the vent and one fell inside. Maybe I had got the credit cards below the top clips rather than above them. (see http://www.briskoda.net/forums/technical-guides/dashboard-creak-fabia/65521/ ) Took me 3 hours of dismantling the central fascia to find it. Not helped by Halfords selling me the wrong radio removal tool.

carefree · 16-06-2007, 16:22

And then when you've wasted time cramming the dash with bits of cork and bra padding, after a little wear and tear you WILL get more rattling, squeaks, noises etc.

People allow me to enlighten you. There aint a car in the world that will always drive squeak/rattle free, I dont care how expensive it is there will never be one made.....and that is a fact.

Our roads are pretty awful, so then you take your car out, with its THOUSANDS of screwed and/or welded parts, its hundereds of moving parts, its cubby holes and its miles of wiring, and you negotiate bumps, dips, potholes, corners, rough surfaces, smooth surfaces and it will NEVER remain squeak or rattle free. Thats not just fact, thats science fact

So, I refuse to waste my time investigating something that I will never cure, life is far too short.

For those of you that refuse to believe me, I have a drawer full of wine corks you can have, be my guest, and happy padding

skomaz · 18-06-2007, 13:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by carefree

And then when you've wasted time cramming the dash with bits of cork and bra padding, after a little wear and tear you WILL get more rattling, squeaks, noises etc.

People allow me to enlighten you. There aint a car in the world that will always drive squeak/rattle free, I dont care how expensive it is there will never be one made.....and that is a fact.

Carefree...

Just to enligten you... 3 years and another 50,000mls on the clock (possibly enough 'wear and tear'?... and STILL NO MORE RATTLES, SQUEEKS OR NOISES FROM THE DASHBOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the cork works!

Oh... and please don't be so patronising in future!

Cheers

carefree · 18-06-2007, 19:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by skomaz

Carefree...

Just to enligten you... 3 years and another 50,000mls on the clock (possibly enough 'wear and tear'?... and STILL NO MORE RATTLES, SQUEEKS OR NOISES FROM THE DASHBOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the cork works!

Oh... and please don't be so patronising in future!

Cheers

Skomaz

I wasn't being patronising, I was just stating facts, sorry you seem to have issues with my opinion (based on fact). NO ONE owns a car that NEVER reacts to road conditions.....FACT

Oh, and in case you have misunderstood me, I wasn't just talking about the dash, I was including the car as a whole, which probably further strengthens my point.

If you are happy, then thats ticketty boo

ScoobyChris · 18-06-2007, 21:26

No squeaks or rattles in my Fix Or Repair Daily at 73k

Don't need to use any corks or anything either

Chris

Mattcooper79 · 05-07-2007, 17:26

I have the most annoying squeak on the panel below and to the left of the steering column, it happens over every little bump in the road and is getting worse. Its been there for about a week now. no reason as to why it would have started.

Does anybody have an ideas how to fix? is this a known problem??

Thanks Matt

reflex88 · 05-10-2007, 15:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mattcooper79

I have the most annoying squeak on the panel below and to the left of the steering column, it happens over every little bump in the road and is getting worse. Its been there for about a week now. no reason as to why it would have started.

Does anybody have an ideas how to fix? is this a known problem??

Thanks Matt

Hi. I know this'll sound odd.. but is it the rubber on the gas pedal? Mine squeeks completely intermitently and can got weeks with out a squeek and then one day everytime i move me foot the thing'll squeak.. prob could fix it but allways forget till it does it again..

other sqeaks featured in my fabia.. the dash, obviusly! gunna fix this.
the handbraje button rattles sometimes
creak . clunnk when moving of from stand still.. think this might be an engine mount.. hope not though.
back seat if not "thumpped" back into its locked position
something in the drivers door, v quiet though.. not so bad.

rob.

ric04vrs · 05-10-2007, 23:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by reflex88

Hi. I know this'll sound odd.. but is it the rubber on the gas pedal? Mine squeeks completely intermitently and can got weeks with out a squeek and then one day everytime i move me foot the thing'll squeak.. prob could fix it but allways forget till it does it again..

.

i thought the rubber on my accelerator pedal was squeaking , after i stuck the rubber down , it still squeaked , the noise was caused by the slight side to side movement of my foot which made the pedal rub against the plastic housing by the pivot , it seems to have stopped of its own accord

the A-pillar trims creak where they touch the dash on mine , need to sort it , but just can't be bothered

03-07-2003, 14:43	#1
FlipFlop Briskodian Join Date: May 2003 Location: Preston Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Squeaky Dashboard I've read the help on fixing the squeaky dashboard. It tells me to remove the air outlet grill with hazard switch and reach to the back of the dash then insert foam or rubber. The problem I faced when I removed the air outlet grill I was faced with the inlet hoses. I can't get past them to get to the back of the dash. What do I need to do?

03-07-2003, 15:53	#2
FabiaTDi VT5 Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Warwickshire Posts: 2,016 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Is there a Fabia that hasnt had this problem? Once you've removed the air vent take a look right at the back (use a torch) and you should see the bracket that causes all the problems. Stuff the foam between the bracket and the dash and the noise should dissapear. Use something long enough to reach the bracket as you wont be able to reach it with your hands. good luck! __________________ Was: Allard Tuned Fabia vRS VT5 Turbo Conversion Now: '06 BMW 320i Auto On Order: New Audi A3 Sportback TDI

05-04-2004, 18:08	#5
skomaz Briskodian Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Sheffield Posts: 843 Thanks: 0 Thanked 35 Times in 35 Posts	OK guys I've finally found the be all and end all solution to what to use to fix the squeek... and the answer is... half a wine bottle cork! Seriously! Cut it in half lengthways so it's semi-circular in profile, put a small chamfer on one end, stick it on the end of a small tipped screwdriver on offer it up to the offending bracket and then push it in with a LARGE screwdriver! Works far better than the wooden blocks the dealer used and STAYS PUT! __________________ If everything was as reliable as a VW... My Skoda would be at the bottom of the JD Power tables! Octavia II 2.0 TDi 4x4 Estate and Fabia I 1.9 TDi Estate and Modified Mk1 Mazda MX-5 1.8iS

28-06-2006, 18:25	#6
bingyp Briskodian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Sheffield, UK Posts: 10 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Squeaky Dashboard Hi there everyone, I've also used the cork method, and so far it is a succcess. Dash seemed to be getting noisier and was driving me potty so I gave it a go. I didn't use the same method as the above, slightly more unusual tools!! On removing the vents, the bracket to wedge is central, about 6 inches in and underneath where the ridge on the dash is. I say central but I got better access from the driver's side vent. Looking at the bracket, there is a gap at the bottom about 2-3 mm. I cut the cork length ways. The cork is then 'D' shaped. the flat part goes to the bottom. Thanks to skomaz' excellent advice I tried it with a small chamfer but couldn't get the cork to go in very far. So I then cut a much flatter angle, leaving the leading edge around 2-3 mm as per the gap. To offer the cut cork to the bracket, I used a wooden chopstick about 10 inch long. Sticking the cork onto the pointy end of the chop stick firmly gave good control as the cork is put in position. Once the cork is where it needs to be, I slowly rotated the chopstick to release the cork. To push the cork more firmly home, I used the shaft of a small-headed hammer to gently, repeatedly knock it home. Securing the shaft with a 'pool-cue' type grip gave nice control as I tamped the cork home. And that's it. The cork seems nicely seated, wedged in the bracket. There are now no squeaks from the dash so I can now hear all the noises from the trim/seats etc!! It was a simple, painless job. If I can do it then anyone can. Hope this helps someone. Regards, Bingy Last edited by bingyp; 02-07-2006 at 23:04.

02-07-2006, 22:53	#7
bingyp Briskodian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Sheffield, UK Posts: 10 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Squeaky Dashboard It's now been a week since I jammed in the half cork and my Fabia dash is still creak free. The week includes two 'longish' - for me - trips, so I am still happy with the results and can recommend this method.

03-07-2003, 15:54	#3
awt41 Briskodian Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Summer Wine country Posts: 58 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	If you use a long thin screwdriver or something similar, you can just manage to push some foam into the gap between the bracket and the top of the dashboard. Pack it in tight. I know it looks daunting, especially with the ventilation cups and the metal bracket down the middle - but it can be done! It cured the problem on mine - see recent thread. Regards, awt41

16-06-2007, 11:39	#8
echase Briskodian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Hampshire Posts: 44 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Squeaky Dashboard I don’t understand the description of the top hat area given here, as my Fabia 1.4, X reg seems to be a bit different. There is no gap below the top hat and the gap above is way more than 2-3 mm, too large for any rubbing to be going on there. So I have put my cork 6" in front of the greyish plastic vertical support strut. It's inside the top hat and underneath 2 diagonal plastic struts that slope down from above and then inside the top hat. These sloping struts are close enough to the top hat to be rubbing against it so the cork pushes them hard up against the top hat. Grainy photo (double click on it) on my similar post at link mentioned below taken from left vent shows the top hat to right of cork and one of these sloping black plastic struts above the cork. Is this the right place? Seems to have solved the noise though. When pulling out the vents 4 of the spring clips detached from the vent and one fell inside. Maybe I had got the credit cards below the top clips rather than above them. (see http://www.briskoda.net/forums/technical-guides/dashboard-creak-fabia/65521/ ) Took me 3 hours of dismantling the central fascia to find it. Not helped by Halfords selling me the wrong radio removal tool.

16-06-2007, 16:22	#9
carefree Briskodian Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Essex Posts: 1,045 Thanks: 1 Thanked 9 Times in 8 Posts	Re: Squeaky Dashboard And then when you've wasted time cramming the dash with bits of cork and bra padding, after a little wear and tear you WILL get more rattling, squeaks, noises etc. People allow me to enlighten you. There aint a car in the world that will always drive squeak/rattle free, I dont care how expensive it is there will never be one made.....and that is a fact. Our roads are pretty awful, so then you take your car out, with its THOUSANDS of screwed and/or welded parts, its hundereds of moving parts, its cubby holes and its miles of wiring, and you negotiate bumps, dips, potholes, corners, rough surfaces, smooth surfaces and it will NEVER remain squeak or rattle free. Thats not just fact, thats science fact So, I refuse to waste my time investigating something that I will never cure, life is far too short. For those of you that refuse to believe me, I have a drawer full of wine corks you can have, be my guest, and happy padding __________________ '54' Black Magic Fabia vRS Yo Adrien I DID IT!!!

18-06-2007, 21:26	#12
ScoobyChris Briskodian Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Andover Posts: 18,101 Thanks: 15 Thanked 323 Times in 281 Posts	Re: Squeaky Dashboard No squeaks or rattles in my Fix Or Repair Daily at 73k Don't need to use any corks or anything either Chris __________________ Holding up the traffic in a little Italian..........

05-07-2007, 17:26	#13
Mattcooper79 Briskodian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: milton keynes Posts: 156 Thanks: 0 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	Re: Squeaky Dashboard I have the most annoying squeak on the panel below and to the left of the steering column, it happens over every little bump in the road and is getting worse. Its been there for about a week now. no reason as to why it would have started. Does anybody have an ideas how to fix? is this a known problem?? Thanks Matt

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