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Fixing the god-awful rattle in the Driver's footwell

holomatrix

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Well boys and girls... the moral of the story is definitely that $tealerships are useless twats (if you want to say 'some' here so as to resolve the argument some people will make that their chosen dealership is awesome... please do so and don't spend your time telling us all how wonderful so-and-so's Holden on such and such road is).

The $tealership that I got my Opel Insignia GSi/Holden Calais-V/Vauxhall Insignia Elite/Buick Regal GS (otherwise known for our purposes as the Opeladore) through had 'tried' to fix the dash rattle in the drivers footwell (a known problem Holden and Buick have both issued recall /repair notices for)... mostly by removing insulation and foam lining and fiddling with the wiring looms so badly that they had caused shorts in the smaller drivers-side door wiring loom. The rattle remained AND new issues with the drivers door speaker cutting out when I went over bumps and the keyless door button not working intermittently had ensued.

I decided I had had enough today. I removed the plastic panels in the footwell and from the door skirts and went through and checked and tested all the plugs, wires and linkages until I identified the ones in the rubber tube going from the body to to the drivers door that were shorting, and fixed those.

And then I went after the rattle.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the audio system 'computers' would be behind the touch screen for the stereo in the dash... it seems not so much. The first 'box' you encounter after removing the plastic panel with the headlight switch on it under the dash is a box that on removing the cover, appears to have two slide-in circuit boards that sit loosely held in by two small torx screws. One appears to hold the controller for the touchscreen and radio unit, the other I can only assume was either the Bose audio processor or the WiFi/bluetooth/USB controller. Anyone with more info can possibly shed some light or correct me on this... I can only conclude they were the controllers for the audio system from what I saw and what happened when I even jiggled the wires going into them). All of these parts of the central wiring loom seemed to end up there. The two circuit boards were held so loosely in place that even a slight wiggle of any of the wires would cause the touchscreen and audio system to 'go blank' and 'reboot'. So I removed the box, modified the box just enough to hold them more firmly in place, put it all back and reset the BCM (body control module) and audio system and took it all for a test drive over some typical rubbish pothole riddled roads (the standard fare around here right? :)). Voila. No more cutting out of the drivers door speakers... and no more random rebooting of the audio system.

And no more motha fracking rattle!!!!

Proves one thing at least... The muppets that work for some dealerships aren't worth the effort it would take to scrape them off of your shoe in the pet park. A fairly average engineering mind (I have a first degree in computer science and electrical engineering that I have barely ever used in my working life) can outwit them at something they should have been able to fix... especially when Holden and Buick have both put out simple step by step picture-based instructions on how to resolve the rattle (presumably without causing extra damage to the customer's car?).
 

Paul Smedley

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Congrats on fixing the rattle! Thankfully there's no sign of a rattle in my Calais V, but I'll keep this in mind!
 

Pablito

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Well boys and girls... the moral of the story is definitely that $tealerships are useless twats (if you want to say 'some' here so as to resolve the argument some people will make that their chosen dealership is awesome... please do so and don't spend your time telling us all how wonderful so-and-so's Holden on such and such road is).

The $tealership that I got my Opel Insignia GSi/Holden Calais-V/Vauxhall Insignia Elite/Buick Regal GS (otherwise known for our purposes as the Opeladore) through had 'tried' to fix the dash rattle in the drivers footwell (a known problem Holden and Buick have both issued recall /repair notices for)... mostly by removing insulation and foam lining and fiddling with the wiring looms so badly that they had caused shorts in the smaller drivers-side door wiring loom. The rattle remained AND new issues with the drivers door speaker cutting out when I went over bumps and the keyless door button not working intermittently had ensued.

I decided I had had enough today. I removed the plastic panels in the footwell and from the door skirts and went through and checked and tested all the plugs, wires and linkages until I identified the ones in the rubber tube going from the body to to the drivers door that were shorting, and fixed those.

And then I went after the rattle.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the audio system 'computers' would be behind the touch screen for the stereo in the dash... it seems not so much. The first 'box' you encounter after removing the plastic panel with the headlight switch on it under the dash is a box that on removing the cover, appears to have two slide-in circuit boards that sit loosely held in by two small torx screws. One appears to hold the controller for the touchscreen and radio unit, the other I can only assume was either the Bose audio processor or the WiFi/bluetooth/USB controller. Anyone with more info can possibly shed some light or correct me on this... I can only conclude they were the controllers for the audio system from what I saw and what happened when I even jiggled the wires going into them). All of these parts of the central wiring loom seemed to end up there. The two circuit boards were held so loosely in place that even a slight wiggle of any of the wires would cause the touchscreen and audio system to 'go blank' and 'reboot'. So I removed the box, modified the box just enough to hold them more firmly in place, put it all back and reset the BCM (body control module) and audio system and took it all for a test drive over some typical rubbish pothole riddled roads (the standard fare around here right? :)). Voila. No more cutting out of the drivers door speakers... and no more random rebooting of the audio system.

And no more motha fracking rattle!!!!

Proves one thing at least... The muppets that work for some dealerships aren't worth the effort it would take to scrape them off of your shoe in the pet park. A fairly average engineering mind (I have a first degree in computer science and electrical engineering that I have barely ever used in my working life) can outwit them at something they should have been able to fix... especially when Holden and Buick have both put out simple step by step picture-based instructions on how to resolve the rattle (presumably without causing extra damage to the customer's car?).
Nice work mate, glad you sorted it.
It's a shame it came down to you having to fix it yourself. I can picture the dealer attempt........some noobie pulling off panels and yanking things around. Send the customer on their way and hope for the best.
 

Immortality

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That's fairly poor engineering but then in Europe (for the most part) I remember the roads been better so only 2 screw required to hold in a part is enough maybe?

Anyway nice fix and maybe a Holden tech will read this and actually put the info back into the Holden black hole...
 

tuckerbag

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That's fairly poor engineering but then in Europe (for the most part) I remember the roads been better so only 2 screw required to hold in a part is enough maybe?

Anyway nice fix and maybe a Holden tech will read this and actually put the info back into the Holden black hole...
The ol GM pox. Didn’t take long
 

VS 5.0

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That's fairly poor engineering but then in Europe (for the most part) I remember the roads been better so only 2 screw required to hold in a part is enough maybe?

Makes you wnder what else has been under-engineered for Aus conditions.
 

Immortality

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I guess we'll find out in 3-4 years when there is little to no factory support for these cars and they all end up in the scrap yard.
 

Sabbath'

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Your beef overall is with GM. Not Holden as it's not their product, and not the dealership as fixing engineering issues isnt their problem.
 

tuckerbag

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Your beef overall is with GM. Not Holden as it's not their product, and not the dealership as fixing engineering issues isnt their problem.
Badged Holden. Sold as a holden. Dealers selling rubbish not fit for purpose
 
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