I have a CX-50 Premium Plus with the normally aspirated engine. After a few hundred miles the dashboard started to rattle, minor at first but it got progressively more frequent and louder. It can best be described as a rapid buzz. I was able to stop it by pushing down on the horizontal part of the dashboard below the central display. I took it to my dealer and they had it in their workshop for a total of 6 weeks to fix it, but without success. I was so fed up with it that I changed it for another CX-50 (identical model - different color). I test drove it to ensure it was rattle free, and it was. I’ve now put 300 miles on this new vehicle and the identical rattle has started up again. Has anyone else experienced the same or similar rattle and if so, has your dealer been able to fix it?

 

Rattles are not uncommon with vehicles manufactured starting from about the 2005 era. Unfortunately, these are not necessarily a defect and most of the time need to be found by the owner. If it as you said and you are able to stop the rattle by applying pressure, then you may need to place some material to deaden the sound. I suggest poly fill (Butuze Polyester Fiber) the same material used in the stuffing of pillows. By carefully stuffing it in areas under the dash and other area's that unwanted sounds are coming from you can eliminate them. Remember that many sound are temperature regulated. That is to say that cold and hot can affect the sound levels as well if they make noise or not. Often times colder temperature will bring out all the Gremlin's of rattles and undesirable little noises from your car while higher warmer and hot temperatures will eliminate those same noises.


Here is one rattle that irritated the sheeeet out of me for a few weeks!! I swear it came from the front part of the inside of the dash. But as you can read turned out not even close. LOL

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I have also resolved several dashboard rattles by stuffing various area's under the dash on the driver's side with the Poly material, over the last couple years.

 

Thanks, Callisto. Do you happen to know how to remove the central display? There are no visible screws so I assume it’s a snap-in module, but I obviously don’t want to just pull on it and hope. I’m thinking that if there is an opening behind it, then I can probably reach in to feel around for what might be the cause of the rattle.

 

Directly on your model MAZDA no but you can find factory service information on the internet.
I would suggest NOT to remove the panels or any dash pieces and simply go under the dash area to do the suggested way of ridding rattles. It has been my experience that you can easily create more lose fitting dash and panel parts by removing them and to only remove them when a parts replacement service is required.

 

I’ve looked at the car and it is impossible to reach that part of the dash from underneath. The only way to access it is to remove something.

 

My sunglasses sometimes vibrate when stored in that handy overhead compartment. This drove me nuts until we figured out where it was coming from. Sounds from inside the car can be very difficult to pinpoint.

 

Cutting a piece of felt the shape of the inside compartment and adhering it cures those rattles.

I completely *disassembled mine to paint it and also added a few sound deadening material to a couple of out of sight area's as well.

 

This rattle is definitely coming from the dash below the center display because every time it rattles I can stop it by pushing gently on the dash just in front of the bottom edge of the display. It’s not hit or miss because it stops it every time. I do have sunglasses in the overhead compartment but I keep them in a soft case to prevent them rattling. I’ve eliminated them as the cause because the rattle is still there when the compartment is empty.

 

NO it not , but it is a challenge on laying on your back and reaching under the dash. Yes you can install the poly or any material that will buffer the sound you are hearing without removing any of the dash panels. Just remember no one is ever going to see under then so even if you jam pieces of thin cardboard in contact areas between 2 or more parts is fine.

Please don't make me show you how much added electronics' , wires and sound material I have under mine....... I will if necessary. LOL

 

The felt material I installed in my overhead. No sunglasses rattle... lol