Glove Box Removal

How is it accomplished? I have a 2018 with a buzzing noise coming from the glove box area. It could be the ECM but it might also be something else. I need the glove box off to see what's back there. I tried removing some screws already to remove the glove box but that wasn't enough to get the box out.

 

Isn't it under warranty?

 

Yes. Problem is the buzzing is intermittent. I don't imagine the dealer is going to be much help, so I'm trying to fix the issue on my own first.

 

A leaf in the cabin filter...

 

I had something similar happen years ago on a newer vehicle like yours. Turned out to be a bad bearing in the fan blower motor for the heat and A/C. Perhaps have this inspected also. Just a suggestion....

 

Did you ever figure this out? I have the same issue and would like to address the ECM buzzing problem myself.

John

 

Still working on it. I've had a hard time coordinating a time for a friend to come for a ride with me to feel around down there to verify that it's definitely the ECM. Though based on other comments/videos, I'm about 99% certain it is. I can say in my case, putting a clamp on the ECM and various other fixes have not eliminated the noise. It's constant when the truck is cold, and then it quiets down and becomes more intermittent when the truck warms up. It's been a cold one here the past night, so I'm going to try to get my friend to come for a ride with me in a little bit as the truck has been sitting all night. Hopefully she sings for me and I can at least figure out the culprit. I'll report back when I've made progress.

 

You can open the area behind the glove box to access the cabin air filter very quickly. I don’t know if that will help you much or not. Have you taken any videos of the noise when it occurs to show the dealership? That’s what I would do to document the issue. I would also video the mileage of the truck on the video to serve as a date stamp.

 

Yeah, I've taken that off. I do have a video where you can hear the buzzing, I'll have to continue to document it that way.

Update from today is, I picked up a friend to come for a ride with me....and she was mostly quiet. It's very frustrating, and I was unable to confirm the source of the buzz as the ECM. His theory was that perhaps it was a few different groups of wires below the glove box that could have been vibrating together. I zip tied a few different groups of wires to tighten things up to see if that helps, but I'm relatively certain I haven't fixed the issue yet. I suppose I should consider myself lucky that it's at least an intermittent issue and not doing it 24/7 with no way to fix. I'll keep on trying to figure it out.

 

Well I hope you get it. Mine is all buzzing/tapping the time, thanks to Pennsylvania wintertime.

John

 

Another update: My friend came for a ride with me for another attempt. This time the truck was making the noise. He got under the glove box to see. In my case, it's not the ECM. The noise is coming from the blower motor. It's worse when it's cold, then when things warm up, the noise quiets down and almost goes away entirely. I had thought all this time it was the ECM, but he said the noise wasn't coming from it, and attempts at manipulating the ECM made no difference. So at least now I have a starting point, I just have to figure out how to fix it, and if not, I'll have to hope the dealer can help. It's not a loud noise, and it sounded an awful lot like the noise the ECM makes based on a video I saw posted in another thread. I can say even though I haven't got it fixed right this minute, it's a whole lot less annoying just because I at least know where it's coming from.

 

Wondering if you got any updates on this.

I seem to have a noise similar to what you described.

 

Welcome from NY.

 

Thank you.

This a great forum.
Recently picked up my Tundra and really enjoying it...except for a couple annoying unwanted interior noises

 

No resolution for me. My noise is a slight buzzing/rattling that goes away after the truck warms up. It sounds similar to the videos I've seen of buzzing ECM's, but I've been able to determine that it's not the ECM. The noise is coming from somewhere near the blower motor, when the motor is on it must create enough of a vibration to buzz. It's got to be some type of plastic piece that has just enough of a tolerance when it's cold to buzz. It's not too bad, if I've got the radio on I don't notice it at all and then when it gets warm it's gone. I think it's going to have to be something I have to live with.

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/dash-creak-squeak-rattle.18946/page-3

Post 65??

 

Hey guys, just an FYI. For those that are still getting the rattle/buzzing around the glovebox area, I just resolved mine this morning. There is a screw that is directly behind the upper part of the glovebox that was half way out on my Tundra that was causing the rattle/buzzing sound. It's the one screw behind the glovebox that keeps you dash secured. The only way to get to this screw is to remove the glovebox completely which is a pain but once removed, you will see the lone screw. Mine was about half way out which caused that rattle/buzzing sound at around 60mph with the RPM's revving around 1800. It was loose enough and far enough out to just touch my glovebox. Anyways, I hope this info can help some folks because I know this rattle/buzz sound was driving me nuts...

 

Thanks for posting this m0wens. Was your rattle intermittent or always there at 1800rpm?

For me, I reluctantly took it in to the dealer last week. I was able to reproduce the buzzing with the tech in the car. After a few hours they gave the truck back with a few new scratches which they took responsibility for. They claimed they solved the rattle by insulating a bunch of wires under glove box. But they didnt actually figure out the source of the rattle. Interesting.

So as soon as I left the dealer the sound was there .

I went home and tried the zip tie solution which didn't resolve anything.

Then I tried wrapping the ECU under glove box with rubber and a pipe clamp. Thst didnt do anything.

Next I used a small c-clamp to squeeze the EUC. I am not sure if this has fixed the issue but it has been a few days and no rattle (except for one time after leaving the car wash - strange).

I will monitor things and provide an update.

 

Yes, my buzz/rattle was consistent at 1800 rpms around 60mph. If you have already tried the ECM fix I would check the bolt behind the glove box. I know it's a pain to remove the glove box, but if it does end up being the bolt, it will all be worth it. Worse case, take your truck back to the dealer and have them check for you. Tell them it's the screw that's behind the upper part of the glove box.

 

For those wondering which screw/bolt I'm referring too that was loose in my Tundra, here is a pic.

 

Would you be able to provide some brief instructions on how to remove the glove box?
I haven't been able to find any on thr net so far.

 

^ curios also

 

So I have zip tied the ECM and the vibration went away. But now I have yet another annoying buzz behind the glovebox at the same rpm at any speed. I will remove the glovebox like you did to see if there is a bolt loose. Thanks for the picture!!

 

For anyone still trying to narrow down the source, check if the ac/heat is on or off next time you here it.

Ive seen it mentioned a couple times that the blower has been the culprit of similar complaints.

 

No worries, let me know if it ends up being that same screw like in my issue. Definitely curious.

 

Honestly, this was my first time disassembling the glovebox. It was all trial an error along with info that I looked up on the web. It took me a couple of hours but I'm sure I can complete the job in under an hour now that I've done it. Anyways, here is a quick summary of what I did.

1.) Remove the floor pillars by the passenger door.
2.) Remove plastic cover piece on the side of the dash. Should pop right off.
3.) Remove kick plate from under the glove box. It should just have plastic push pins and a couple of screws.
4.) Remove another trim piece which I believe had two or three bolts holding it in place.
5.) Carefully disconnect the airbag. You will see it connected with the yellow wires.
6.) Remove screws from underneath glovebox, I believe there are three.
7.) Remove 3 screws from the top of the glovebox.
8.) Pull and remove glovebox. You should then see the lone screw that's attached to the dash that's in my pic above.

I wish I would have taken pics during my glovebox uninstall but at the time, I was just wanting to fix that darn rattle/buzzing sound...

Hope this helps!

 

The blower is a contributor to my noise. However, she has been very quiet lately.

 

My bolt was solid.

 

It seems that the c-clamp method did the trick. Haven't heard that rattle for quite some time now.

I finally ended up removing the glove box. It was simpler than I had anticipated. Once all the nuts are removed, the trim pieces just unclip with a slight pull.

 

Alright, I got a hose clamp, radiator hose, and clamped it like this picture. This is NOT the root of the problem. I have traced it to these metal tubes that bring hot antifreeze into the cab for the heater. The rattle/buzz is most noticeable with the heater on. As soon as I turn it off, the noise goes away. It doesn't do it with the A/C on nor just the fan. *Note: this happens between 1400-1900 rpm in gears higher than first.

I also noticed the black vent tube was loose so I zip tied it to the chassis. I also wrapped radiator hose around one of the silver tubes and zip tied it on to help eliminate the rattle/buzz. Now I'm going to wrap the other silver tube and zip tie them together to see if the sounds goes away. Anybody have any ideas? This is super annoying.

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