For awhile, I have been getting irritating rattling and squeaky noise from the console and glovebox area whenever the car rolls on the road (yes as long as it rolls!). The dealer solution is they replaced the entire glovebox and console cage, so they have claimed. But the problem persists, and I was told I must gave allowance for the rubbing “movement”, which means I must live with the squeak 99% of the time I am in the car. It sure goes louder as I drive, and for a while, I was at the end of my wits, resorting to slotting a cloth between the left glovebox console and the gear console. Unsightly as it is, I decided to take out the glovebox with alittle adventurous, spray some OWS lubricants and vaseline petroleum jelly, and it works! At least the source is confirmed, whether the lubricant material is lasting, it left to be confirmed.

1. Open your glovebox lid

2. Remove the side panel of the dashboard by carefully pry open from the edge. The panel is plugged into the side of dashboard by the 3 stud holes as indicated in the diagram above

3. The glovebox is secured by 6 torx screws, of which 3 are at the top edges of the box, and the other 3 below (see diagram above)

4. Use a torx-20 screw-driver to unscrew all the 6 screws.

5. Once you have removed all the 6 screws, pull the glovebox outwards in the direction indicated by the diagram on the right. As the right side of glovebox is mounted on the console by studs and clips, in additional to the 6 screws (you get better idea from the next picture), you need to pull the glovebox out with a quick jerk. Tip: Hold on to the two side of the stowage compartment area, and pull out the glovebox.

6. When you manage to pull out the glovebox, you will see that the side of glovebox is mounted securely on the console via 2 studs with metal clips and 2 plastic studs (red arrow). These studs rub against the stud holes when the glovebox is not firmly mounted, creating the irritating noise even when you drive on a slightly undulated road.

7. I filled the studs and the stud holes with loads of petroleum jelly and OWS interior spray lubricant.

8. Push back the glovebox once I am done with the lubrication. The securing of the glovebox is the reverse of how one would take out the box.

To put an icing on the cake, I took out the headunit today, spray OWS lubricant at the loose headunit metal bracket, and now the metal rattling noise at the HU side is also gone! Now my car rides over humps and stripes with a tud-tud … rather than tud-tak-tek-tin-tak-tek-tud