Rattling Sound In The Dashboard

My previous Maruti Suzuki car has a noise issue that, ultimately, could never be resolved. The car in question was a SWIFT VDI. There was a sound from the engine bay that nobody could pin point in various service stations. It was a tricky noise, hard to hear from the outside because of the thrum of the diesel engine and happened most prominently every time the engine was switched off. With its dying last, brief shudder that is common to all diesels, there was a rattling noise. The same noise could be heard while driving like something was loose inside. Anyway, like I said, multiple people from multiple Maruti service centres could not identify the source of that sound.

For me, extra rattling noises take away a lot from the driving experience of the car, and I was hoping greatly that I would have no such issues with the new Suzuki Ciaz. But unfortunately, a month into the ownership, and I have a complaint of the dashboard making a noise.
There are 2 kinds of noises that are emanating from the Ciaz dash. One is a slight creaking sound that happens persistently. You can hear it if you are driving without the music on.

The 2nd noise is much louder, though not constant. It comes from the left side of the dashboard, somewhere close to the door. Every time I go over a bump, or to be more precise every time the left wheel goes over a bump or a speed breaker, there is a sharp ‘clacking’ sound. It sounds like something hit against something inside the dash, almost like something heavy and metallic is kept inside the glove box, that gets thrown about.
Needless to say, there is nothing in the glove box and I have tried removing everything from there anyway. So the sound is somewhere in the dash.

The peculiar thing about this noise is that it does not happen when you normally go over a bump where both your from wheels go over it at the same time, i.e. a speed breaker. It happens when only the car climbs over an undulation, a bump or a speed breaker when the left wheel going over first. So you get that sight skewing or tilt in the body of the car.
A couple of service guys will have a look at the car today at home. I hope they can figure out what the noise is. Previous experience with body noises in Maruti Suzuki cars has made me quiet the skeptic.

Edit / Update: The service guys have come and gone. The person could not figure out the source of the sound. He thought it might be the outside mirrors but they are not. He finally suggested that I bring the car around to the main service station where someone else could have a look at it.

Here is the catch though.

The person driving can hear the sound coming from the left side of the car, i.e the passenger side. Where as the person sitting in the passenger seat can hear it coming from the driver’s side. Foxing to say the least…. At least till a friend pointed out that the sound must be emanating from somewhere in the centre of dash then. Brilliant conclusion, I think..
I will attempt to decipher the source of the sound on the basis of the above theory and see if I discover anything. Will keep the post updated.

Edit / Update: Upon further testing, the sound seems to be coming from the sunglasses holder that is right above the rearview mirror. I will test it further to confirm this. There is one peculiar thing about this car. In fact, I don’t know whether it is just this car it happens with other cars as well. A noise can emanate from somewhere and ‘seem’ to come from completely another place. For example, I remember when I was on one of the test drives, there seemed to a rattle coming from somewhere behind the rearview mirror. The NEXA executive was also perturbed by the source.

However the source of the sound turned out to some coins kept in the cup holders in front of the gear selector.
So as I was saying, the source of the sound was actually somewhere below, though it seemed to come from the top close to the rear view mirror.

Final Update:
The issue has been resolved. Upon further trial, the source of the rattling sound has been confirmed to  be the sun glass holder above the rear view mirror.  Nothing much to be done about that and in fact it's a relief that the source if the sound is not some nefarious rattle coming from somewhere inside the dashboard that could have been tricky to isolate and fix.

Further update. I think I jinxed it. It’s been almost a year now and the dashboard has started emitting some vibrations and creaking sounds. You can hear them the most when going on an uneven road surface, the kind that a season of monsoons presents after it’s done.  

As a point of note, the car has not been subjected to rigours of state highways and such and has been driven almost entirely gently in the city. 

Let’s see if the issue gets resolved in the next service. 

I feel dashboard is a very vulnerable area as far as noise in a car is concerned. It can be an elusive problem and difficult to solve. Taking off the dashboard, specially with the myriad of electrical connections there, is no joke. I also feel that a good build quality of any car should reflect in the sturdiness of the dashboard and as such, the dashboard should be impervious to developing creeks and groans even after long-term use.

That expectation doesn’t seem to have gone through with the CIAZ. Maybe it’s a one off issue with only my car. Anyway, let’s see how the issue gets taken care of in the next service which should be due in a few weeks time. I will keep you all posted.