Dashboard Noise Problem

[xnoybis]

Hi, this is my first post, unfortunately about a problem with the car. I do love the car, but need help with this problem first. I will share my general opinions about the car later in here.

I bought the car in mid March 2026, and basically since mile/day 1, the car has produced this very disappointing and irritating high-pitched rattle or vibrating sound, which to me appears as coming from the dash area. It becomes especially audible on older, grainy, less smooth asphalt when tire noise and vibrations increase.

Two trips to the Honda service center so far have yielded no permanent fix and the Honda technicians seem quite clueless about it to me. They claim the sound comes from the front overhand camera cover. So above the driver, middle, front, behind the review mirror, and so far they have solved the problem only temporarily by fixing that overhead camera cover in place better with some fastening tape. I have to admit that each time, the service center visit does fix the issue for 2-3 days, but it is quick to return. Very odd.

I am quite confused because while I admit their approach of better fastening the overhead camera cover does solve the issue for 2-3 days, that's also not the direction my ears are picking up from. I hear the noise as coming from the infotainment system, possibly from that center dash speaker that lies behind the LCD.

So trying to see here if anyone has experienced the same and may have an explanation or solution. I am extremely disappointed and irritated at the problem and considering invoking the lemon law at this point.... Thanks.

 

[Alfettaman16]

Sorry to hear about that! My new Prelude doesn't have that problem, but two of my other Hondas did: My Honda e and my CR-V hybrid. In both cases I traced the problem to the camera cover (between the interior rear-view mirror and the windscreen) which was vibrating and 'tizzing' against the glass.

I proved it by using small peices of Blu-Tack/Sticky-Tack to temporarily bridge between the plastic camera cover and the glass in 2 or 3 places. I ended up pushing the camera cover forwards (towards the windscreen) quite firmly, and also pushing a thin foam strip between cover and glass. This seems to have fixed the buzzing/tizzing. I think the key is to push the cover fully forward and then wedge it there with a small foam pad.

Useful thread here on the Honda e forum:

Annoying rattle in the overhead switch cluster

Annoying rattle in the overhead switch cluster Faults and Technical chat for the Honda E - Honda E Forum

www.hondaeforums.com

And a similar discussion on the CR-V forum:

LKAS cover between rear view mirror and windshield

On my 2016 CRV Touring I am getting a rattling noise from the dash area. Took It to Honda and found the LKAS cover on the windshield rattles loose when ever. A road bump is encountered. I push it back against the windshield and it will be okay until another bump is encountered. The. Cover is as...

www.crvownersclub.com

I guess we now have our own 'rattly camera cover' thread here on the P6G forum too!

 

[Alfettaman16]

My wife has a theory that Honda deliberately make their camera covers occassionally buzz/rattle, because they know that 'only God is perfect'...! Apparently in times past, quilt-makers would deliberately include a small error in a large, complex (and otherwise perfect) quilt for the same reason...

 

[xnoybis]

Sorry to hear about that! My new Prelude doesn't have that problem, but two of my other Hondas did: My Honda e and my CR-V hybrid. In both cases I traced the problem to the camera cover (between the interior rear-view mirror and the windscreen) which was vibrating and 'tizzing' against the glass.

I proved it by using small peices of Blu-Tack/Sticky-Tack to temporarily bridge between the plastic camera cover and the glass in 2 or 3 places. I ended up pushing the camera cover forwards (towards the windscreen) quite firmly, and also pushing a thin foam strip between cover and glass. This seems to have fixed the buzzing/tizzing. I think the key is to push the cover fully forward and then wedge it there with a small foam pad.

Useful thread here on the Honda e forum:

Annoying rattle in the overhead switch cluster

Annoying rattle in the overhead switch cluster Faults and Technical chat for the Honda E - Honda E Forum

www.hondaeforums.com

And a similar discussion on the CR-V forum:

LKAS cover between rear view mirror and windshield

On my 2016 CRV Touring I am getting a rattling noise from the dash area. Took It to Honda and found the LKAS cover on the windshield rattles loose when ever. A road bump is encountered. I push it back against the windshield and it will be okay until another bump is encountered. The. Cover is as...

www.crvownersclub.com

I guess we now have our own 'rattly camera cover' thread here on the P6G forum too!

Thank you for the very insightful and helpful response. Yes, oddly just yesterday after being so fed up at the issue, I went out for a drive determined to pinpoint it, and sure enough, it was that damn camera cover behind the mirror. Something about the acoustics created in the dash/windscreen space misleadingly place the noise as coming from the LCD/head unit area, but a more careful examination revealed it as coming from further up, leasing me to the rearview mirror area. That definitely has extended the issue: not fully realizing where the noise is coming from.

That also explains why the Honda Service Center was able to address the issue only for a few days before the noise returns. Clearly they are taping it up and fixing it in place, but it is soon rattled lose again. I suspect that a more invasive method will be needed to secure it for good. Much appreciated once again!

 

[GoZoner1]

I had that exact rattle too - from the plastic dome behind the rearview mirror. First day and I’m like “I paid for Japanese quality and this is what I get” (my Japanese wife was in the passenger seat. ). I fixed it by pushing the dome about until it seated in a slightly different position.

 

[xnoybis]

I had that exact rattle too - from the plastic dome behind the rearview mirror. First day and I’m like “I paid for Japanese quality and this is what I get” (my Japanese wife was in the passenger seat. ). I fixed it by pushing the dome about until it seated in a slightly different position.

yep, have the culprit on my radar as well. super annoying.

I think we can kiss that "Japanese quality" goodbye. as well as the "German quality" and all the rest.

this desperate push for fuel economy (which I support mind you) through weight removal has created cars that are made 90% of flimsy light plastics.

additionally Japanese automakers are being slaughtered by Chinese ones, and are cutting corners left and right to make ends meet. pretty sad, so have to sit in a brand new Honda, radio off, windows up, to assess and accept all the creaks and squeaks and road noises coming through. heartbreaking.

 

[Alfettaman16]

Dismissing the build quality of an entire nation's motor industry because of one mis-positioned plastic cover seems a bit harsh! None of my Hondas (and especially not the new Prelude) seems flimsy or overly lightweight in the slightest - and none of them has any squeaks, creaks or rattles. If they had, I wouldn't have bought them...

 

[xnoybis]

If you'll read again, and well, you will see I said the same about German cars, which are even more shocking in their quality reduction and corner cutting in materials. this isn't my opinion, it's a well known industry trend, worldwide. Honda just posted 15 billion net losses, the first loss in history. you don't think those losses weren't passed down to the product via cuts? in what world do you live in? the quest for efficiency to follow emission regulations, and the cost cutting to curb EV completion, has lead manufacturers worldwide (not just Japanese ones) to reduce vehicle weight by any means necessary and cut production costs, including in the quality of materials. the inner roof of my $45k prelude is a flimsy piece of fuzzy cardboard, the back seats are couch pillow grade cloth, I have to buy weather mats for the cargo bay floor cause the carpet is already disintegrating, and that rattling piece of plastic is milk-jug grade plastic, and it's been rattling for yeas, across multiple Honda models, and Honda has done nothing to address it. welcome to the real world. still love Hondas, saddened the industry is headed this way, all of it, not just Honda.

 

[Alfettaman16]

Tell us about your other creaks/squeaks/rattles. Maybe someone on the forum will be able to help you with those too...