My Steering Wheel rattle fix

[pmesfun]

For the past 6 months I would get an occasional rattle from around the steering wheel/air bag rattle. It would drive me insane. Lately the rattle has happened more frequently so I took advantage of today's weather to fix it.

I could reproduce the rattle if I hit the steering wheel around 300 degrees, right around where the airbag connects with the wheel on the right lower side. When I would hit that area, the rattle would make the noise on the other side, on the cover behind the steering. If I pulled the cover closer to me(no play) there was no noise. So now that I found it, I took the wheel and air bag and everything else off and applied dynamat extreme to the contact points on both sides to be safe.

[BonzoGonzo]

how do you disable the airbag?

[pmesfun]

Disconnect the battery and wait 90 seconds. I waited 5 minutes to be safe.

[BonzoGonzo]

yeah - that is scary. i've heard of people actually betting killed by tools they were holding when the airbag went off! you might step on the brake, after battery disconnect, just to make sure...

thanks

[BMR]

Nice DIY pmesfun.

Maybe I'm being thick-headed, but it's not totally clear to me what was rattling. Was it the plastic cover behind the steering wheel buzzing against the wheel's spokes?

[pmesfun]

Originally Posted by BMR

Nice DIY pmesfun.

Maybe I'm being thick-headed, but it's not totally clear to me what was rattling. Was it the plastic cover behind the steering wheel buzzing against the wheel's spokes?

Thanks,

Yes, the left side of the cover was. Sounded like when you close the rear doors with the windows down, and you get that sound, but very rapid. The tires on the car not the best, so on rough road surfaces, I can feel vibrations through the wheel. This plastic cover,

would rattle against the right metal piece where I put the dynamat. I also put strips of dynamat on the cover so the noise will never come back. So far, my commute to school has some rough roads, no rattles. I'm a happy camper.

The only other noise in the interior is when I'm driving solo, the passenger seat, the top part, will shake(front/back, very fast) pretty odd. I'm not sure how to fix that one. Maybe lube some part under the seat, replace a spring? It doesn't make noise with a passenger. I'll see if adjusting the seat position(i.e. reclining the top part of the seat back, or something) helps.

[BMR]

Cool, thx. My Avy has a rattle/buzz that's hard to tell where it's coming from; somewhere from the front left dash area, sounds like. I'll check this out.