EX35 Interior "Creaking" & "Crackling/Tapping" Noises

[dividedhighw]

True enough but I think that the TSB that you referenced was for a mechanical noise, not the creaking/ticking noise that some of us have experienced when driving the car over rough surfaces.

Not so - the ACTION published in the TSB is: "Back-Flush" the heater core to remove gray silicone debris. Also, this noise isn't related to operation over rough surfaces, but depends rather on engine RPM (presumably since that relates to the movement of coolant through the heater core).

I know your symptom occurred over rough roads but drducati doesn't mention that at all.

Cheers,David

[drducati]

Okay, the noise issue is resolved. Again, it was a crackling noise that would occur intermittently, smooth or rough surface, but aggravated by hitting a bump. It was not a loose defroster grill as they had first suspected, but a loose passenger side airbag. After they tore the console apart and tightened it, the noise is finally gone!! Embarrassingly, we figured it out while driving it around after bringing it in 4 times for this when the technician put his hand on the dash while it was making the noise and pressed down hard right over the airbag compartment and that muffled the noise. Much relief now. Good luck to those with similar. Now, I'm contemplating putting Thule rack for kayak which I took off my previous vehicle vs installing the Infiniti crossbars