Does anyone know how to safely remove this trim piece?

[Chef jpd]

You picked the optimal time to begin an unfamiliar process!

And re: the replacement speaker...
I haven't looked at mine, but I expected that the metal clips into which the 7mm screws go would have been on the edges of the opening as opposed to the speaker. Isn't the OE speaker screwed onto the plastic? rather than the screws being threaded through the plastic and into the speaker(?)

Since I have a PP with the gauges, there is plenty of space under the speaker.
I put the panel clips on the speaker tabs, undermounted it, and screwed it in from above.

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[ronemca]

Gotcha. Thank you, Sir! Did you really notice a difference with the upgraded speaker? On a scale of 1 to 10 -- if upgrading the speaker was the sole purpose for removing the cover panel -- what rating would you assign?

 

[Chef jpd]

Gotcha. Thank you, Sir! Did you really notice a difference with the upgraded speaker? On a scale of 1 to 10 -- if upgrading the speaker was the sole purpose for removing the cover panel -- what rating would you assign?

In combination with replacing the tweeters, the sound stage is vastly improved.
7 out of 10. The factory speakers are absolute garbage.

 

[JWS]

I think you’re going to find that the rattle also comes from the long black vented plastic piece at the very base of the windshield too... on my prior 2016, that piece rattled and was annoying. Anyone know how to remove THAT piece?

Disconnect the Battery (Side Curtain Airbag in there), follow instructions to remove Center speaker grill, pull the Door Weather stripping, pull the pillar cover back and disconnect the Harnesses, pull the pillar cover off, pop out the Defroster Strip.

Be careful with the light sensor. Disconnect anything in the way.

Windshield pillar covers slide onto a big groove on the end of the Defroster Strip.

 

[Boston23]

Good stuff, just found a pair online at Walmart. Thanks for the info. I need to check if the other speaker will fit in the dash of my F-150

 

[JWS]

Rattles can also come from something in the sunglasses drawer and the vsrious parts around the Steering Wheel and the Instrument Cluster.

 

[JWS]

Don’t forget leaving something in the door pockets. Sounds I thought were coming from someplace else and forgot about the obvious.

 

[geep81]

Hello and thanks for the help in this thread specifically. I am chiming in with my progress on this same issue - defroster trim piece rattle.

To be clear on my issue, if I parked the car in the sun on a hot day and then turned AC on later it would rattle like crazy for 5-10 minutes. Once temp was normalized it would stop chattering. I could place my hand on the defroster panel and make the noise stop, repeatedly, over a couple months of dealing with this this summer. One day I drove with a little pick tool wedged under it and it seemed to alleviate the issue entirely, so I am convinced it is this trim piece.

I tackled removal of all the dash pieces to get at this yesterday. I took my time and used trim tools to remove everything. Toughest bit was the A pillar but once I realized you have to angle it out towards the dash I got them out pretty easy.

Using trim tools was clutch, I did not break or lose a single clip. I did not brute force but instead slid the tools in and applied gentle pressure until the clips released.

Attached is a photo of my defroster trim piece. You can see there is felt tape on every other "fin" at parts - leads me to believe these are the areas making contact, since Ford applied tape to part of it.

I have applied thin foam tape to all the other fins and some other parts as well, and have re-installed this. I am currently letting my car bake in the sun and then am going to run a test later today with the AC and driving to see if this solves it.

I had a 2019 Mustang that did not do this at all.

When I was re-installing the defroster trim piece at first it was fairly difficult to get it aligned back in place. I learned you kind of flex it so the back connectors pop in at the narrowest part of the windshield, then I used my trim tool pieces to push each clip in place and gently pressed it in one by one.

I am leaving my dash in pieces for a few days to verify I solved this before I put back. I am also going to felt tape more areas in the A pillars and perhaps under the trim pieces just cuz I think it can't hurt, since I have everything apart.

 

[geep81]

Updating from yesterday, I left it out in the sun all morning and drove with the AC blasting at lunch. No chattering at all that it would normally do. I left it outside the rest of the day and drove it around after work to the park and such, and it was totally silent, even with half my dash still disconnected. The hot/cold cycle did not make it creak at all this time.

I am going to drive for a few more days before I finish re-assembly, but I think it's fixed. I will post here again if it comes back.

 

[Matti777]

I've got the the same rattle.

 

[geep81]

I've got the the same rattle.

Well I think I fixed mine. I will post back this week if I hear it come back at all. If you don't hear back from me, you can be sure what I posted above solved the issue.

 

[Junaidzs]

I removed mine to add a gps module to my head unit. It seems sketchy, but you just have to give it a good pull.

Can you share a pic or 2 and which GPS module you are using?

 

[Albertcado]

Disconnect the Battery (Side Curtain Airbag in there), follow instructions to remove Center speaker grill, pull the Door Weather stripping, pull the pillar cover back and disconnect the Harnesses, pull the pillar cover off, pop out the Defroster Strip.

Be careful with the light sensor. Disconnect anything in the way.

Windshield pillar covers slide onto a big groove on the end of the Defroster Strip.

I just stumbled on this as I was looking instructions on how to remove the weather strip and pillar right next to it on the driver side. I have a buzzing that I hear on the freeway and I'm sure it's something loose in one of those areas causing the buzz/rattle. Is there a way to just remove the weather strip area and pillar next to it without having to mess with anything else?

 

[geep81]

something loose in one of those areas causing the buzz/rattle.

Just asking, but do you think the buzz/rattle is above your head? I would bet anything it's the side curtain airbag harness/canister if so.

I had this on both sides of my '20, on the passenger side I removed all the interior trim to lower the headliner a bit (including the seatbelt) and I stuffed fuzzy furniture wafers, double stacked, up in between the side curtain airbag canister and its harness. That was a lot of work.

Then my driver side had the same noise, and I thought what if I just used a trim removal pry tool or two to pry down the headliner enough to insert those wafers?

Well I did that - pulled back the rubber trim, inserted plastic trim removal tools, gently moved/inserted more till I had enough space to get in there, was able to eliminate the noise without ripping it all apart.

This definitely solved my rattle/buzz that I had for the past two years.

 

[Albertcado]

Just asking, but do you think the buzz/rattle is above your head? I would bet anything it's the side curtain airbag harness/canister if so.

I had this on both sides of my '20, on the passenger side I removed all the interior trim to lower the headliner a bit (including the seatbelt) and I stuffed fuzzy furniture wafers, double stacked, up in between the side curtain airbag canister and its harness. That was a lot of work.

Then my driver side had the same noise, and I thought what if I just used a trim removal pry tool or two to pry down the headliner enough to insert those wafers?

Well I did that - pulled back the rubber trim, inserted plastic trim removal tools, gently moved/inserted more till I had enough space to get in there, was able to eliminate the noise without ripping it all apart.

This definitely solved my rattle/buzz that I had for the past two years.

Hrm... interesting. The buzzing I hear sounds like it's coming from directly behind my left ear on the driver side, obviously can't pinpoint if the noise is traveling from somewhere else and misleading me, but it sounds like it's coming from the seat belt area or above it at the corner of the window (near the weather strip or inside just above the window). It's definitely not the known C-pillar rattle and the buzz only happens on the freeway. It may be the same thing you fixed. I'll post a picture specifying where the sound seems to be coming from if you don't mind confirming that's where yours was.

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