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For as long as I can remember, I have had an annoying plastic squeak in the dash of my 69 cutlass. I can’t duplicate it by moving things under the dash, nothing is loose, it sounds like plastic rubbing. I tried to post a short video, but for some reason I can’t attach links?
What are the odds the Olds experts in readerland have some experience with this? Any old TSBs?
The car has a aftermarket stereo receiver (very tiny compared to the heavy factory radio, it’s MAYBE a 1/3 of the depth of the factory part) aftermarket air conditioning, but the squeak has predated all of these additions. I have had the dash out multiple times, I can’t figure out what it is!!
Just cruising around town, it’s not too bad. On bumpy roads, or really long trips, it becomes noticeable and REALLY annoying.
Turn up that little radio louder... On a serious note persistence is the only thing I can suggest. Perhaps have someone drive while you go chasing after it.
Noises like this get under your skin. I learned that once you get rid of road & wind noise, the little noises come out. Plus you get very attenuated to them when probably no one else in the world can hear them.
On my ‘66 big car the cowl cover was loose and I heard it as a dash squeak. I had to recut the foam insulation to shape and use bigger screws to secure it.
Recently my mechanic found that the vent pipe in my 56 year old gas tank had broken loose from it’s in-tank spot weld. It squeaked every time I went over a bump. I went so far as to get a spare tank, then he figured out he could simply shorten the vent pipe and weld it up safely. The reason I mention this is that the gas tank was the problem and it sounded like it was coming from the front suspension. Drove me nuts for years. Very satisfying to get it solved.
I can’t recall if a ‘69 cutlass has a cowl cover, it’s the part behind the hood and in front of the windshield.
Check your CSM for the torque values on the nuts & bolts that hold the dash in place to the cowl. I find that factory specs were tighter than I would have thought. You might also loosen all the dash-to-cowl nuts/bolts, nudge the entire thing up 1/16” and retighten.
Other than that, if you’ve had the dash in/out a bunch of times, the dash pad screw holes may be worn, allowing movement where you don’t want it, other than changing the pad, you’d go for bigger screws to re-secure the dash to the pad.
If you’re like me, sometimes you rush when finishing a job like putting the dash back in or putting a clock back in and don’t tighten down the screws quite enough. Think back over the jobs you’ve done and check your previous work.
It’s not particularly recommended, but you can try shooting some Silicone lubricant or WD40 where you think the squeak might be. This is a temporary fix, but at least you can get some relief. Just shoot little squirts, don’t spray bomb. If I’m lubricating a part, I try to keep a towel or paper towel close by to keep it from getting where I don’t want it. For example, if I were shooting the entire horizontal length of the dash pad, I’d probably lay down 2 lines of blue tape just to keep it from getting all over, then encapsulate the spray tip in paper towel to keep overspray down.
Re the video, this site is not optimized to present video. I can confirm that you can’t really attach them like a JPEG photo. I did manage it once but when I get home I’ll have to figure out what I did. What I remember is that all attachments have to be less than 10mb, which means video will be highly compressed and pretty short too.
I tried to post a short video, but for some reason I can’t attach links?
Matt - You're stating two very different functions. You can post a video if it is less than 10 MB. You would post the video as you would any other UPLOAD (e.g. image, attachment, video, etc.)
When you attach a link, you must post the URL (link) to the location of the video. IOW, where the video is located on the Internet - that is what is referred to as a link - a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). It is a place where the item (video, image, whatever) exists/resides (is located).
It’s hard to know what you are chasing without being there, but I’ve had this one drive me crazy… sounds like it’s inside the car. My rear center hood bumper needed adjustment as well as some lube on the rubber. This “fix” is noted in the October 1967 Service Guild bulletin. Hope this helps,
Dave
On my 68 its the dash screws. I can (could before the repair) gently grab the dash with my right hand and ever so gently move it in/out/up/down and replicate the sound. Worse when it was hot.
It was the nut in the center of the pods and the one to the right of the tac/clock. The fix...A dab of clear RTV let it fully cure. If I ever pull my dash out again all nuts will get the dab.
If it's more towards the passenger side it could be the notorious stud/nut just to the right of the ash try...you can usually see the indentation where it stresses the dash. If its broken that will squeak.
The glove box latch will do it. So will the plastic filler cover under the steering column.
Dont rule out the seat either. Sounds can travel and throw you way off.
Good idea to take a passenger along so they can move around and pinpoint the location much better than you can while you are driving.
Other than that its game on. Happy hunting,
There are studs that hold the dash pad to the dash steel, they are all there, and all tight. I’m reasonably sure it’s not the actual dash pad (if it was I’d assume I could either feel the dash move, or change the squeak while driving snd applying pressure). I’m guessing it’s something behind the dash. I have verified that all the screws are installed that hold the gauges to the dash pad, all the clips that hold the dash harness in place are installed, the aftermarket A/C control panel is at most a 1/4 thick snd has no cables, the stereo is much smaller and lighter than factory, and the squeak has been there far longer than either of those parts.
I might play around with the steering column, that’s something I hadn’t considered.
I have a squeek from the glove box door rubbing on something. Have a passenger put their ear near the dash to localize the noise, maybed using a paper towel tube.
The squeak has been there as long as I can remember. For the most part, I have learned to tune it out. Occasionally, someone will say something, or some days it’s just really noticeable and it’s all I can hear. Very frustrating
July 27th, 2021, 12:18 PM
On a serious note persistence is the only thing I can suggest. Perhaps have someone drive while you go chasing after it.
