• 1instrument cluster
• 2air vent
• 3infotainment screen
• 4door card
• 5steering wheel
• 6glovebox

Interior creaks and rattles

8 guides in this section

Interior noises are the most irritating and usually the cheapest to fix: more often it is a loose clip, an unsecured object in the boot or a dry seal rather than a failure. The main thing is being able to tell them from a suspension knock, so that squeaking plastic does not turn into a bill for chassis diagnostics.

The section covers simple ways to pin the sound down: press the trim panel with your hand while driving, empty the boot, check the body for flex when a wheel climbs a kerb. And an honest marker for when the noise really does come from below and it is time to see a mechanic.

Where the noise comes from

cabin

Narrow the sound down by questions

An interactive diagnosis tree: a few questions and the list of causes gets much shorter.

• Rattling under the car
• Knocking over bumps

All articles in this section

• A knock you only hear with the window open Window shut — silence; window down — a clear knock. Why that happens, what it tells you about the source, and how to use the effect for diagnosis.
• A rattling dashboard A rattling dashboard annoys more than it harms. Why the plastic starts buzzing, how to find the contact point in ten minutes and when the dash is not to blame.
• A squeal under the bonnet at start-up Why there is a squeal under the bonnet in the first seconds after starting: the belt, tensioner, idlers or the alternator decoupler pulley.
• Hissing under the bonnet after shutdown Hissing under the bonnet with the engine off can be harmless or serious. How to tell a cooling exhaust from a coolant or vacuum leak and what to do.
• Interior creaks in summer Why the interior creaks and ticks in summer: what heat does to plastic and seals, which sounds go once the cabin cools and which mean a loose fixing.
• Interior creaks in winter Why the interior creaks more in winter: what happens to plastic and rubber in the cold, which sounds clear after warm-up and which need checking.
• Interior squeaks: how to find the source A step-by-step method for hunting interior squeaks: locating them by hand, what a passenger adds, and when the sound is really the suspension.
• Squealing under the bonnet when cold Why there is a squeal under the bonnet on a cold engine that goes once warm: the belt, idlers, the water pump. How to find the source yourself.

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