Sat Nav Rattles: Guide with pics
Discussion
ALL credit to X7LDA (Lewis) for the excellent guide which I followed to do this, I've cribbed his write-up and added pics to accompany. It's easy to do (honest!). Took me 45 minutes. I used a few screw drivers and some of the "T" type fitting heads to tighten everything I could see.
1) Make sure the car is off and the key is out the ignition. Sat Nav cover should be down.
2) Use hands to manually lift up the front of the nav cover. Lift up about two inches inch and slide your other hand under. You should feel two metal prongs. Slide these away from each other (i.e. toward each door), pulling gently and they should 'snap' out the back of the cover.
First clip done
Both clips done
3) Lower the nav cover again to around two inches open. Now reach over the top of the nav cover and slide your hand in behind it and under the ski slope (palm facing the window).
Bring your other hand over and hold onto something for leverage. Now move the hand thats under the ski slop to one rear corner and pull up...hard / firm. There are four clips that hold the slope in place. One in each extreme corner.
The first corner will feel very solid and difficult to lift up but don't worry, you will not break it, the metal clip is just snug in the dash.
When you complete step three - be careful not to pull so hard you rebound up into the windscreen (Edit: I used a cloth over the leading edge of the slope to protect it)
4) The other rear corner will now pull out quite easily. But do not lift the ski slope up / off once the rear two are off.
5) Rest the rear of the ski slope back down on the dash (without clipping it back in). Now fully re-open the nav cover and repeat step three for the front two corners. You are further away from them and the start button + heater vents are in the way however with the rear de-attached the front two should pop out a lot more easily.
6) Once you pop the front out (i.e. all four corners are now detached), lift up gently, reach under and unclip the multi plug for the start button (and other buttons if you have an auto). These are just black clip in multi plugs like you get in the back of a stereo. The air vents are attached to the ski slope and come off with it therefore nothing to do on these.
The cover should lift off quite easily now and you can investigate the noise yourself. Things to check:
- The speaker behind the ski slope under the windscreen. Two bolts will be visible now the slope is off. You can tighten these up if they are making any noise.
- The air vents attached to the ski slope. They are very well known for rattling. Hard to fix however. Tighten them all up and put felt on the back of the runners is probably the first step. To find out if they are rattling: put the ski slope on your lap and use your hands to tap various places of the slope.
- The start button can sometimes be loose
- The four metal clips on the back of the ski slope sometimes rattle. Put a tiny bit of felt or tape over them before you snap the slope back into position during refit.
- The metal prongs and the back of the nav itself should be covered in tape or felt.
- I personally pad the back of every ski slope I take out. Felt, sound proofing: anything you have to hand really.
- Pad the plastic trim of the dash under the sat nav (where the ski slope rests below the air vents)
Back of the slope with all the bits to tighten marked. Some of mine were quite loose.
And where I think the noise was coming from, a set of cables knocking against interior fittings, used 3x felt tabs to stop the noise as marked.
To put it all back together just follow the above in reverse. The hardest (and by hardest I mean fiddliest) is clipping the two prongs back into the nav cover. Just all about getting the angle right. You'll feel like you are stretching the prongs but don't worry, they are spring wound at the bottom so they can take a lot of stretch without damage.
1) Make sure the car is off and the key is out the ignition. Sat Nav cover should be down.
2) Use hands to manually lift up the front of the nav cover. Lift up about two inches inch and slide your other hand under. You should feel two metal prongs. Slide these away from each other (i.e. toward each door), pulling gently and they should 'snap' out the back of the cover.
First clip done
Both clips done
3) Lower the nav cover again to around two inches open. Now reach over the top of the nav cover and slide your hand in behind it and under the ski slope (palm facing the window).
Bring your other hand over and hold onto something for leverage. Now move the hand thats under the ski slop to one rear corner and pull up...hard / firm. There are four clips that hold the slope in place. One in each extreme corner.
The first corner will feel very solid and difficult to lift up but don't worry, you will not break it, the metal clip is just snug in the dash.
When you complete step three - be careful not to pull so hard you rebound up into the windscreen (Edit: I used a cloth over the leading edge of the slope to protect it)
4) The other rear corner will now pull out quite easily. But do not lift the ski slope up / off once the rear two are off.
5) Rest the rear of the ski slope back down on the dash (without clipping it back in). Now fully re-open the nav cover and repeat step three for the front two corners. You are further away from them and the start button + heater vents are in the way however with the rear de-attached the front two should pop out a lot more easily.
6) Once you pop the front out (i.e. all four corners are now detached), lift up gently, reach under and unclip the multi plug for the start button (and other buttons if you have an auto). These are just black clip in multi plugs like you get in the back of a stereo. The air vents are attached to the ski slope and come off with it therefore nothing to do on these.
The cover should lift off quite easily now and you can investigate the noise yourself. Things to check:
- The speaker behind the ski slope under the windscreen. Two bolts will be visible now the slope is off. You can tighten these up if they are making any noise.
- The air vents attached to the ski slope. They are very well known for rattling. Hard to fix however. Tighten them all up and put felt on the back of the runners is probably the first step. To find out if they are rattling: put the ski slope on your lap and use your hands to tap various places of the slope.
- The start button can sometimes be loose
- The four metal clips on the back of the ski slope sometimes rattle. Put a tiny bit of felt or tape over them before you snap the slope back into position during refit.
- The metal prongs and the back of the nav itself should be covered in tape or felt.
- I personally pad the back of every ski slope I take out. Felt, sound proofing: anything you have to hand really.
- Pad the plastic trim of the dash under the sat nav (where the ski slope rests below the air vents)
Back of the slope with all the bits to tighten marked. Some of mine were quite loose.
And where I think the noise was coming from, a set of cables knocking against interior fittings, used 3x felt tabs to stop the noise as marked.
To put it all back together just follow the above in reverse. The hardest (and by hardest I mean fiddliest) is clipping the two prongs back into the nav cover. Just all about getting the angle right. You'll feel like you are stretching the prongs but don't worry, they are spring wound at the bottom so they can take a lot of stretch without damage.
One job off the list! 
Thanks for the advice here, it prompted me to have a go at sorting out the rattles on my 2005 DB9.
Something to note for owners of a DB9 of my vintage: the sat nav flap is not held on by clips, but snaps on to the sides of the display unit. Method is to open the satnav with the button controls, then gently pull the plastic sides apart a few millimetres (ie towards the doors). When it is free, close the satnav with the button control. Then remove key from ignition. Just don't let the flap fall shut or it will clip itself on again !
I went mad with the sticky back felt and tightened every screw in sight and have noticed some improvement. But there is a persistent resonance, set off by certain road surfaces, that has evaded my efforts so far. It "seems" to be coming from the top of the slope or possibly from the speaker or panels in front of the windscreen. So more work in prospect to (hopefully) find the source.
Peter
Something to note for owners of a DB9 of my vintage: the sat nav flap is not held on by clips, but snaps on to the sides of the display unit. Method is to open the satnav with the button controls, then gently pull the plastic sides apart a few millimetres (ie towards the doors). When it is free, close the satnav with the button control. Then remove key from ignition. Just don't let the flap fall shut or it will clip itself on again !
I went mad with the sticky back felt and tightened every screw in sight and have noticed some improvement. But there is a persistent resonance, set off by certain road surfaces, that has evaded my efforts so far. It "seems" to be coming from the top of the slope or possibly from the speaker or panels in front of the windscreen. So more work in prospect to (hopefully) find the source.
Peter
Bit demented with this today guys and hoping someone can help. Put my ski slope back together after hopefully fixing some rattles, but when powering the nav up now it can't quite fully open without me giving it a little shove. It returns back in to the dash with no issues, and if i separate it from the lid again there are no clashing issues. Therefore it must be with how the pins are connecting the nav to the lid, but I'm pretty sure I've put it back as it was. Any tips?
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff