issue The Interior "Snap, Crackle, Pop" Thread

[CounterMeasure]

My truck is VERY quiet....But I do get two of the very loud pops from behind the center LCD display and at first I too thought it was a rock hitting the windshield. I attribute it to just a nuance of these 100 degree Texas days and as the inside cools down the close tolerance fit of plastic parts do a little shifting.

 

My Denali does the same thing. Its the two parts that are silver and black respectively below the LCD screen. There's a lot of flex in there on mine if you press on it, which is dumb because anyone with a UX background like me knows that the reason that area sticks out and is flat is because its a base for someone to balance their hand on while interacting with the touchscreen. As such, it should be solid, and especially not flexible enough to potentially pinch the user between the two pieces. I am sure the ergonomics/UX engineer in charge of it had good intentions but was overruled by the cost savings guy.

 

I asked a dealer about it months ago, and they wouldn't try to go in there and fix it because that whole assembly is listed as one piece. Replacement was out of the question as they called it a "design characteristic". I know it can be fixed, just like fitment of other pieces I have had to do myself can be done they wouldn't touch because "its a mass produced truck" as they said. It just requires getting in there, and really seeing what's going on. Its on my weekend TODO list.

[Eddie 70]

Where did you buy this tape at? This is probably the worst noise in my truck currently.

 

A more permanent fix is to put some transparent or Teflon/PTFE-impregnated sticky tape on the edge of the plastic trim so the leather rubs on the smooth tape and not the plastic. I had some PTFE sticky tape I got from Amazon leftover from another project, put it on the inside edge of the trim peice, and haven't had any noises from any of the seats since.

 

 

 

 

 

[jeffsig]

 

My Denali does the same thing. Its the two parts that are silver and black respectively below the LCD screen. There's a lot of flex in there on mine if you press on it, which is dumb because anyone with a UX background like me knows that the reason that area sticks out and is flat is because its a base for someone to balance their hand on while interacting with the touchscreen. As such, it should be solid, and especially not flexible enough to potentially pinch the user between the two pieces. I am sure the ergonomics/UX engineer in charge of it had good intentions but was overruled by the cost savings guy.

 

I asked a dealer about it months ago, and they wouldn't try to go in there and fix it because that whole assembly is listed as one piece. Replacement was out of the question as they called it a "design characteristic". I know it can be fixed, just like fitment of other pieces I have had to do myself can be done they wouldn't touch because "its a mass produced truck" as they said. It just requires getting in there, and really seeing what's going on. Its on my weekend TODO list.

Keep us posted if you find a fix. It's a small quirk thats annoying me too.

[CounterMeasure]

Where did you buy this tape at? This is probably the worst noise in my truck currently.

 

Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/CS-Hyde-Optically-Silicone-Adhesive/dp/B000REI90W/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1449332206&sr=8-13

 

There's also a brown-colored one that's slightly cheaper. You'll have lots left over. Use some on the feet of your computer mouse.

[silveradosid]

I took my radio out on the weekend to install new aux switches, on two of all the screws were tight

[Eddie 70]

I took my radio out on the weekend to install new aux switches, on two of all the screws were tight

Was it hard to remove to get to the radio screws?

 

I may need to look at this too.

 

I found some more screws on my truck that were loose yesterday while piddling around in the truck. The tray under the passengers side dash, only had one screw in it and it was making a noise when I bumped it. I took the remaining screw out of it. I pulled down on the tray and saw where it comes close to hitting something and placed 2 3" strips of foam tape in an attempt to kill any noise. So far that seems to have done some good for me. I mostly think it was replacing the missing screw. I am getting closer to making the truck like it probably was when new on the inside.

[Geiser100]

I'll start by saying that I haven't read through this thread the whole way, but temperature causes things to expand and contract. I don't think too deeply when I hear interior noise.

[Eddie 70]

 

A more permanent fix is to put some transparent or Teflon/PTFE-impregnated sticky tape on the edge of the plastic trim so the leather rubs on the smooth tape and not the plastic. I had some PTFE sticky tape I got from Amazon leftover from another project, put it on the inside edge of the trim peice, and haven't had any noises from any of the seats since.

 

My tape came in today so I spent about 10 minutes and put it on the back side of the plastic that surrounds the bottom of the seat and guess what, no more squeak from that spot. Glad I found your post. It is getting awful quite in my truck now. Thanks for the tip, CounterMeasure.

[jeffsig]

I'm confused as to where to actually put the tape. Can you post a pic?

[CounterMeasure]

I'm confused as to where to actually put the tape. Can you post a pic?

 

Don't have a picture handy, so let's me see if I can explain. The plastic that wraps around the bottom of the seat where the seat controls are makes contact with the bottom seat's leather material. If you press down on the out bolster of the seat, you can see where the two parts rub. Attaching the tape to the top edge and inner side of that plastic shell allows the leather to slide on it instead of the plastic and gets rid of the noise. You don't need to remove anything to apply the tape; just pry the plastic away from the seat and stick the tape in there.

[CounterMeasure]

Keep us posted if you find a fix. It's a small quirk thats annoying me too.

 

Weather was good today so I tackled this annoying noise. Was easier to solve than I expected. All you need is a trim removal tool, a bit driver and torx bits, and some clear tape (if you solve it my way).

 

First, the LCD and center controls come out as one piece. To remove, follow the excellent video at

.

 

Once you've done that, put the unit LCD screen down on a towel. You'll see a ton of gold torx screws on the back.

 

 

You will need to remove them all to get the back cover off.

 

With the cover out of the way, you'll see a ribbon cable running from the LCD to the control area making the noise. Remove on the LCD side. Lift the little tab up and pop ribbon cable out.

 

 

At this point, the LCD screen simply lifts out. Do that and put it somewhere safe.

 

You will also see six more gold torx screws holding the radio control board in place.

 

 

Remove those.

 

Now the radio controls will easily fall out, and you can see what is causing the problem. There's three plastic pieces at play here; the big black face piece, then a small silver trim piece, and then finally the radio control piece.

 

 

All three of these pieces just rub on each other with no real locking support to each other. And there's little plastic standoffs built into some of the pieces where they really rub. Bad design in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

What I did to fix this was to apply PTFE sticky tape I keep on hand on the edges where the three pieces meet. Hard to see in pictures though as its clear.

 

 

 

The tape is uber slick, so any movement is now tape-on-tape and not plastic-on-plastic.The tape also caused them to tighten up against each other, so there is less wiggling if you press on the pieces.

 

So far, no more popping when driving around.

 

Hope this helps others!

Edited December 25, 2015 by CounterMeasure

[jeffsig]

Great write up! thanks!!

[SkiDooNick700]

Does anyone have a high pitched squeak coming from the passenger side dash area? No idea what this is, seems to do it more when the cab warms up. It drives me nuts though. Will take a tech for a ride when I am due for the next oil change if I can;t figure it out before then (doubt I will).

 

The sound is really weird too because when I hit a bump the squeak is very noticeable and then it quickly fades a way. It is different than a headliner rattle, which I also have.

Edited February 2, 2016 by SkiDooNick700

[cmysstailights]

When someone rests their arm on center consol it squeaks and its annoying. Have to call dealer with it.

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[CounterMeasure]

When someone rests their arm on center consol it squeaks and its annoying. Have to call dealer with it.

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

I had the same problem. Another cheap design by GM that causes this. The center console lid has only two soft stoppers in the corners. Weight on the lid easily compresses them allowing the plastic on the underside of the lid to rub on the trim it touches. I solved it with some small stick on felt to do the job the rubber stoppers should be doing.