Infuriating rattle

[Simon Linton]

My 850R has developed an intermittent rattle under the nearside of the dash top, above or behind the glove compartment.

It sounds like something heavy is rattling and though I've taken the speaker off and poked around underneath, I can't find anything loose.

Taking the glovebox out will almost certainly break the lid retaining straps, so this is a last resort.

Has anyone any idea what it might be and how to stop it?

[SaffronC70]

Hi guy

I found some cabling behind the glovebox to be rattling.

The glovebox on mine came out easily, after undoing the 6/8 Torx screws around the 'velvet' lining.

Chris
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http://chriswhiteuk.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ava.jpg with a few go faster modifications . .

http://chriswhiteuk.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

[Andy]

Yup I know the one!!

When Nigel (RedR) had the dash top off I searched everywhere for it- thought I'd found it and now its back again :(

Could be the fan motor (another 850 thing), is it there with the fan off? Just a thought.

It was surprisingly easy to get the dash top off, just a load of torx screws at certain places.

Let me know if you find it.

Simon,

As Andy says, taking the dash top off is shockingly easy (I've just done it in order to fit my new Sat Nav :D ).

You'll need a Torx 25 bit. Open both front doors and remove the torx screws in the little air vent bit at either edge of the dash (the ones facing the doors, not the directional ones in the cabin). You can now remove those two vents. Under each vent is ANOTHER torx screw. Undo these on each side.

Now remove the two centre vents and the drivers side upper vent - easy but daunting. Push the bottom in until it won't push any more. Now grasp the top of the vent and pull out with a little gradually applied force. It will unclip and you can wiggle it up and down to get it out. Do one first and inspect - it will then become obvious how they undo.

Behind each vent is another torx screw to undo. Now open the glove box and undo the two torx screws just under the lip.

Voila! Your dash top is now ready to be lifted off. When lifting off be careful of the speaker connections. Lift up each side carefully and disconnect the speaker connection first.

If you've got any dash bulbs blown then now is a good time to replace them as getting the instrument cluster out is simple.

Good luck.

Regards

Andy

P.S. The other alternative is just to turn the volume up!

[Simon Linton]

It definitely sounds like the fan motor - the same noise a torch would make if it was loose inside the dash.

Andy, I have no confidence in my ability to get the top off without breaking something and I can't do it anyway since I have no off-street parking.

Where are either of you "dash expert" Andys? it looks like a two-man job anyway since the top is long and the bits under it fragile (instrument cluster).

I also need to put anti-creak measures in once the top is off and realign the instrument cluster which one garage left crooked, so it's a bit of a project.

Ideally, I'd like to travel to someone who has done this and enlist their help in sorting mine out.

As you know, I'm in Loughborough, so anyone in the Midlands area would be perfect.

Simon,

I'm in Liverpool and would be happy to help. I could even travel to you if you wish although the next free days I've got on a weekend aren't until Sat 19th and Sun 20th Feb. However, with no off-street parking it could be a bit of a problem. Actually, I'm taking Monday 14th Feb off work so if you're not working that day I could do it then too.

If it's the fan motor then I don't think it would be possible to get to it by removing the dash top. However, it sounds like it's needed anyway to stop the creaking and to realign the cluster. I can't imagine that taking me long to be honest.

With the creaking, do you know what's causing it? Is it the dash top rubbing on the the parts it sits on? If so, some felt tape on contact points should do the trick.

As far as the infuriating rattle goes - does it do it all the time or only when the fans are on? I'll have a look in my Haynes over the weekend for the location of the fan but I think access to that is probably from under the dash and may require removal of the glove box. The under dash panel is an easy one but I don't like touching glove boxes.

Regards

Andy

Simon,

One other thing. If you would like me to help with this we could take photos of the job as it progresses and it could be used in Volvo Driver or Technical driver as a feature showing people how to change instrument bulbs and also showing where the speed pulse terminals are for the purposes of fitting Satnav.

Brian (aka Warthog) very kindly e-mailed me the instrument cluster wiring diagram and Jim (aka Jaytee) very kindly e-mailed me an illustration of the reverse of the instrument cluster showing where the speed pulse outputs were. Without the assistance of these two people the job would have taken me much, much, much longer while I scratched my head and figured things out by a process of elimination.

It may be good to cover something like this so that VOC members (POO, I haven't paid my membership renewal yet - I must do that today) have something to refer back to.

I never took pictures of my little project because I was doing the work on my own, in the cold and dark, to a timescale because my wife gets moody when I spend too much time on the car. Therefore, the photos would have been crap because they would be taken in the dark with a flash, the job would have taken me a lot longer, I would have been a lot colder and my wife wouldn't be speaking to me yet. Come to think of it, that last point alone would have been worth spending the extra time for photos!

Regards

Andy

Ooops - I forgot to mention the two other torx screws just above the instrument cluster.

[Simon Linton]

Yes, I was waiting for someone to mention them - one of them was pulled through the shroud by the twits who took my dash top off last time - they also pulled one of the central torx screws through its mounting, so I'll have to stick some body putty or similar in the hole to give the screw something to hold onto.

Felt tape will be the thing - I hope you can get that at a car accessory shop.

But the whole point of the exercise is to get rid of the rattle, so how DO you get to the fan motor? (BTW, the rattle sounds like the motor unit or some other heavy item has come off its mountings).

Any of the dates mentioned above would be fine by me and there is a cul-de-sac next to my home which is very useful for working on the car.

If there is any expert nearer sing out, because a trip from Liverpool is a hell of a journey!

[Simon Linton]

I meant "I hope I can get that at a car accessory shop"!