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hi all,
everytime when i get on the bumpy road or uneven surface, i can hear something rattles or sqeaking from the passenger side console, i think it's inside the gloves box.
i m not a great expert on car. would anyones knows how to go about this kind of issue or would anyone please direct me to correct channel/repairer who can fix this ? I living in sydney north shore area.
many thanks !

Me Too, Sounds like something very loose between the glove box and the firewall. Can't get my hand in there to check

The obvious question would be, is there something loose in the glovebox...spare change or or bits and pieces....

The glove box is held in by a couple of philips head screws along the bootm edge. Empty the glove box, remove the screws and it should drop into your hand. Takes all of 3 min to do.

In my experience rattles in the engine bay can sound like they are actually in the cabin. So I would check there first.

Finding/fixing rattles is good way of getting up close and personal with your car.

J

Thanks Juffa, Will pull the glove box tomorrow

You got A/C?

Jules

The NA model dash top has a habit of cracking just to the right of the glove box area. It's caused by body flex and generally results in a moulded plastic fitting breaking off under the dash in that area. It could be that.

If your car is an NB then three squeaky things I've had in my car around that area were:-

1) the striker plate for the glovebox was loose. It was loose from the day I drove my car home from the dealer and took me about 3 years to find it.

2) the evaporator wasn't fitted properly with one of the brackets not attached to the mounting bolt. This prevented it fitting proprly to the fan housing and heater box causing squeaks and air leaks.

3) the little Phillips head screws that hold the plastic dash to it's metal frame were loose and periodically reloosen no matter how tight I screw them up. They are a pain to get to and involve removing the glovebox and hanging upside down under the dash with a torch in my mouth. But after I tighten them up everything is bliss and happiness for a few months until they eventually work themselves loose again. There is one scew behind the head unit, one up near the top corner of the dash near the door and one beside the headunit about half way up the centre stack.

Failling that it could be all sorts of bits and bobs that haven't been secured properly behind the dash.

Gotta love Mazda build quality. Have a look behind a newish Honda dash and everything that could move around is secured to something substantial and anything that could squeak is covered in felt. Makes the MX5 look pretty under-engineered in comparison. No wonder they rattle so much.

Time to upgrade to a rattle free NC Garry.

Sounds like you've got a fetish when it comes to sqeaks and rattles Gary.
I use to own a DC2 integra and that thing rattled more than anything ive ever dríven. Mazda arnt the only people that are dodgy.

C'mon guys. It's not a Roller. It's a raw sports car.

Jules

JBT wrote:The NA model dash top has a habit of cracking just to the right of the glove box area. It's caused by body flex and generally results in a moulded plastic fitting breaking off under the dash in that area. It could be that.

Just to follow on from JBT said. If you notice a small bump forming on the upper dash surface above the glove box try the following;

1. remove glove box as per above instructions.
2. Look up under dash for a small plastic bracket connecting the underside of the dash to a metal frame
3. Remove the screw connecting the bracket to the underside of the dash

I chose to remove the bracket as two of my previous MX-5s suffered from the dash crack.

J

Time to upgrade to a rattle free NC Garry.

bwhahahahaha JBT. I've experienced a \"rattle free\" NC. It had more rattles than a rattle factory, and reading some of the posts in the NC section of the miatanet forum it sounds like the NC is anything but rattle free for a lot of people.

And yes, I HATE rattles and I did say a newish Honda BOOST. I've experienced a DC2R and it was probably even more rattly than the MX5. My sister had a CRV and I was very impressed at the lengths Honda went to under the dash to secure everything.

In all honesty Garry, I can say that after 6,000km, our NC only had one rattle/buzz at about 3000 revs and that was found on one of the 3 or 4 times it was dríven with the top up. The plastic cover over the top latch handle was the cause - seems to be a common complaint with the rag top versions. Fixed it with a small bit of foam until the 10,000km service.

Apart from feeling a bit \"crashy\" over rough roads, the NA had one occasional buzz from the dash/glove box area but it was good for a 12 year old sports car with 160,000km on it I thought.

Sounds like you got a couple of good ones JBT. I've had extensive experience with 3 NA's, 2 NB's and 1 1/2 NC's and all were rattle traps. I was probably disappointed with the NC's the most seeing as the chassis is so much stiffer than the earlier models. I was hoping Mazda may have engineered a bit of refinement into their latest model.

i'll take you for a spin in a rattle free NC at Natmeet '08 garry