V70 S70 Squeaky Dash - Another DIY

[Eddystone]

I bought a 1998 V70 in which the left side of the dash was maddeningly squeaky. Just a touch would stop the racket, but it's tough driving with your left arm while your right arm is poking through the steering wheel. The right side of the dash is rock solid.

I read several posts about repairing the broken dash attachment points as well as Robert DIY's video. You should hunt these down and watch them, too, if you are thinking about fixing your squeaky dashboard. I pulled the plastic tray in front of the windshield and checked the four bolts. They seemed tight, and tightening them further might damage the dash. My guess is that the two attachment points on the passenger side are still solid and that one or possibly two of the attachment points on the driver side are broken.

I have pulled tougher dashboards than this before, but I really wasn't up for pulling this dash and shoring up the old plastic attachments, especially since at least two hadn't broken yet. I think these break for two reasons. First, the plastic is old and brittle. Second, the dash is designed so that the end of the dash away from the windscreen is not properly supported. It bounces up and down with each little bump we drive over and eventually breaks the plastic mounting points. I am guessing that if I support the dash and stop if from bouncing, my squeak will go away and the two or three surviving attachment points will be subjected to less motion and strain. I think I have managed to do this in a fairly straightforward manner.

I started with a tip from Robert about supporting the 850 dash. The V70 dash is not the same. Here's the 850:

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Here's the opposite end of the V70 and S70 dash. My car is a 1998 V70.

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As Robert suggested, strap hangers for 1/2" copper pipe work well for this fix. I looked at various brackets that looked more "heavy duty" but in the end decided that this strap actually was the best thing to use. Anything thicker will interfere with the flexible dash pad when you reinstall it. I looked at a variety of screws and selected some self-tapping screws with wide but shallow heads that fit the smaller holes in the strap perfectly.

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I didn't take a photo of the strap in place on the car, but here's the basic idea:

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The strap fit nicely into this area since the width was appropriate. The 12" hanger was long enough to make one "strap" for each end of the dash. As you can see, there is a single 90-degree bend near the door jamb. I drilled an appropriately sized pilot hole in that (very sturdy) steel and used the self-tapping screw to thread itself. I installed two screws at the other end of the "strap" by drilling into the plastic dash. Since we are pulling laterally across the screw, I think they will be pretty strong. I had to grind the screws to a shorter length for the dash attachment. When I screwed into the unibody, I placed a couple of small washers between the strap and the metal. I was holding the dash tight when I drilled the screws in the plastic, but I can pull it a little bit tighter in the future by removing those washers, if necessary. When I reinstalled the dash pad, it did interfere with the "strap" just a bit at the metal attachment point, but it amounted to nothing.

Did it fix the problem? Yes. The dash is now tight, it's not moving at all, and the squeaks are gone. Will this last forever and will the other attachment points never break? I don't know, but it is definitely less likely to happen than it was before these supports were added.

(A word of advice: When you reinstall the dash pad, pay attention to the wire coming out of the passenger side air bag. Make sure you can get at it to reconnect it to the wiring harness. On my car, that connector is supposed to be in a sort of slot in the plastic end of the air bag waiting for the plug from the wiring harness. If this has fallen out while the dash pad was out of the car, there may not be anything to plug into when you go to reconnect the harness plug. I had replaced all of the dash pad screws before I noticed this and had to remove them all again to sort this out. You don't want to have to do that.)

[theWIFES_S70]

Eddystone, this is pretty cool. For $3 in copper straps, sounds like a no-brainer! I have to replace some dash bulbs before the winter sets in and getting rid of some rattles would certainly make the car feel better.

I always thought that a more permanent way to "solve" these rattles would be to manufacture a bracket that pushes the dash up somehow. But this is so much more refined!

[Eddystone]

Eddystone, this is pretty cool. For $3 in copper straps, sounds like a no-brainer! I have to replace some dash bulbs before the winter sets in and getting rid of some rattles would certainly make the car feel better.

I always thought that a more permanent way to "solve" these rattles would be to manufacture a bracket that pushes the dash up somehow. But this is so much more refined!

I also thought about holding the dash up vertically. I looked at putting a couple of screws through the dash lower down low into the metal on the side and saw no practical way of doing that. It would have had the same effect of keeping the dash from bouncing. What I did with these straps is not a perfect solution, but it is an easy one that may eliminate the squeaks permanently. If not, I still have the option of removing the dash and doing basic repairs at a later time.

[JimBee]

With the dash pad off and the dash-top speaker removed, I drilled a pilot hole through the plastic on the side of the dash and into the A post. Then used a 3/16 or 1/4 inch self-tapping screw that was sized slightly larger than the hole as a "hanger" that holds up the bulk of the dash near the glove box. Going on probably more than 5 years, it's still holding up. That's not as mechanically secure as the strap fix, but seems okay.
To get in there, I used Harbor Freight's right angle drill attachment (the second time I've ever used it but nice to have it just in case...!)

[abscate]

If you have a lot of noise from the uppermost plastic cracking, you can jam butyl tape between the plastic and glass abd quiet things down a lot.


Ideally this tape should under the lip though.

[patcal]

I know this is a older topic. Has anybody done this method of fix? How has it worked out? I am assuming that you cut the pipe clamp section off & make a 3/4"-1" 90 degree bend at one end. Is that correct? What type of screws did you use? Have to do this on my 98 S70. Thanks.