Man, I've got this rattle that's driving me nuts
 

I know there have been a few thread about this so I thought I would post to see if there's some good advice out there to help me with friggin rattle. The TT is an 03 that has a rather loud rattle coming from passenger side of the front dash near the windshield. It gets really bad when the temperature drops below 50, or so. It sounds like a bunch of metal cables rubbing against one another. It does not appear to be associated with the steering as I can drive the car straight without moving the steering wheel and it still rattles like crazy especially when on an uneven road. I took the glove box out as well as the headunit and cup holder/vents, which gave me access well into the dash and could not find anything that was loose. One of the posts talked about the windshield gasket being dried out that was causing a rattle. This doesn't sound like a dried out gasket to me but what do I know. I thought about purchasing some rubber reconditioning spray solution and applying to the outside and inside windshield along the bottom where it seals against the gasket. Could it possibly be this gasket? I don't want to pull the dash as this would likely cause more rattle after its put back in. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

I have heard that sometimes the windshield will rattle as the tight suspension breaks the butle holding it in place causing it to vibrate. Nobody's ever leaked but redoing the adhesive that holds the windshield in place fixed the rattle.
Plus depending on your insurance carrier you can get it fixed for free or just paying your deductible as its a "safety" issue.
Hope this helps I hate rattles as much as I hate electrical bugs you can't figure out.

Fixing the gasket would seem to be the easiest option now as opposed to removing the dash not knowing if that's where its coming from. I'll give my insurance company a call and see if they would cover this. Thanks for the reply.

They will it's part of the structural integrity of your car. If you have glass coverage on your insurance. Just tell them you hear wind noise when you drive;)

Thanks!

TSB # 7018 is mentioning a problem like yours...May be it will help.......

I reviewed the schematics when I was thinking about pulling the dash and after reading several posts that did not seems to be a good idea. I had very good access to the area where I thought the rattle was coming from when I removed the glove box and headunit and upper vents and cup holder. The only items that were pliable were several wiring harnesses that run through this area of the dash. The harnesses did not have the tape separating. Everything else was firmly mounted including the air bag, fan and fan housing, braces and everything else that is located from the upper center console to the passenger side of the dashboard.

The top strut mount is only inches behind the area you describe. Just a thought.

it's great to know that tsb7018 acknowledges a problem exists. i will always hear that clicking differently now. :p i've emptied my glovebox more times than i can count, to no avail.

thanks for posting it!

I had a rattle in mine and it was the forward speaker grills on the dash. I tightened the screws and the noise disappeared.

I have a rattle somewhere near the sunroof area. Doesn't rattle all the time, and it's seemingly random as its happened at multiple speeds at multiple rpms. I thought it was the plastic housing of the dome lights or the ir sensors next to them getting loose or even my radar but it's not. It's friggin driving my nuts.

Ok ok some people will complain about my TSB's but I have to post it just in case :) There are 2 TSB's for the sun roof. here they are!

Is that only for 2001 model year cars or all Turbos? I have some occasional noise from the sunroof as well.

Do you know how this would be checked for wear and its location?