Rattling annoying sound from dashboard W204

[dad4geer]

Yes, it's been coming from my dashboard for last 2 weeks or so... initially I thought it will go away and maybe because I was driving on an uneven road but it did not go away and I am experiencing it more often than before .. it is not loud, just small chripping rattling noise.... feels like if I am driving an old cheap little car...it appears to come from central console/Aircon area and I have tried to give some small punches on dashboard whilst driving but had no joy! It is getting a bit annoying now..

Is there any particluar thing which I should check? I am going to take it to a mechanic soon so thought if anyone has any pointers I may share with mechanic then that would be great!

 

[Aero]

Does it vary/stop/change noise with changes in ventilation fan speed? Also worth playing with ventilation direction to note any dif at all?

If it does turn out to be the ventilation motor fan, not sure what easy fixes there are (if any).

 

[CowleyStJames]

My aircon fan was making a slight noise, bit like a dull rattling sound.
Lubricated the bearing and it's quiet as a church mouse note

 

[dad4geer]

It is set on Auto with A/C button pressed (switched on) .. I don't think it is related to ventilation. I have just come back from a test drive with mechanic sitting next to me and he confirmed the sound is definitely coming from central console. He is going to have a look at it tomorrow and will take off dashboard and will re-screw everything again... Anything I should mention him besides Lubricating the bearings?

 

[dad4geer]

Left it in the garage today and the mechanic told me it was one or two lose screws which he found after opening up the cetral console and that was the main problem. He has lubricated all of them as well. It now sounds very quite

 

[Fatneck73]

Mine is doing the same so I'll have to get my screwdriver out by the sounds of it. Cheers.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

This is a common W204 problem that has been mentioned a lot in the past, with AFAIK no positive solution that covers most cases. There was lots of talk about lots of cars spending a lot of time back at the stealerships, with little or no success. I did get the impression from the rattlers v the no rattlers that it may have been down to the specific factory where the car was produced. My W204 (without rattles) was built in Sindelfingen, but they're also built at Bremen. The only real way to know for any specific vehicle is to use the VIN decoder at VIN Decoder - All vehicles (US and EU).

 

[dad4geer]

My VIN decodes to plant 'Sindelfingen / Tuscaloosa AL' so I am not sure if the factory logic is true but yes it did get fixed and no more noise.. I tested it drving on a rough surface