Alfa Romeo Stelvio Forum banner

Cracking sound from middle console

22K views 40 replies 18 participants last post by  Billias  
#1 ·
Anyone who has a squeaking/cracking sound from middle console where the controls are located? It sounds like plastic or wood decoration of middle console moving against each other with road bumps and creating such intermittent sounds. It is not loud but little bit annoying. Any solution for that?
 
#2 ·
Surprisingly enough I noticed this same kind of notice today it self after 7 months & 10K miles. LIttle concerning. Exactly as you said not loud but little annoying enough. I hope its not permanent.
Does it have to anything with cold weather?
 
#3 ·
Anyone who has a squeaking/cracking sound from middle console where the controls are located? It sounds like plastic or wood decoration of middle console moving against each other with road bumps and creating such intermittent sounds. It is not loud but little bit annoying. Any solution for that?
Surprisingly enough I noticed this same kind of notice today it self after 7 months & 10K miles. LIttle concerning. Exactly as you said not loud but little annoying enough. I hope its not permanent.
Does it have to anything with cold weather?
No is not related to external cold weather if that is what you mean as I live in a hot country and I don't think it is related to A/C temperature inside the cabin either.
 
#4 ·
Yes, I took delivery of my Stelvio a few months ago and it’s had it since new. Going to make an appointment to bring it in soon. Mine is pretty loud and annoying. I’m on Long Island and the NY roads are pretty bad so I’m pretty much constantly hearing the creaking noise while driving.
 
#5 ·
Anyone who has a squeaking/cracking sound from middle console where the controls are located? It sounds like plastic or wood decoration of middle console moving against each other with road bumps and creating such intermittent sounds. It is not loud but little bit annoying. Any solution for that?
Yes, I took delivery of my Stelvio a few months ago and it’s had it since new. Going to make an appointment to bring it in soon. Mine is pretty loud and annoying. I’m on Long Island and the NY roads are pretty bad so I’m pretty much constantly hearing the creaking noise while driving.
Thanks for sharing your common problem. Mine is still in the first couple of weeks of driving too. It would be great if you can share once you get to a solution. Good luck!
 
#7 ·
Hi RossoLusso,

Please be sure to keep us updated on your dealer's findings. If you are in need of any additional support while your Stelvio is in service, please know that our team is just a private message away and more than happy to help.

Mark
AlfaRomeoCares
 
#9 ·
Silicon lubricant shouldn't do anything to the wood besides needing to be cleaned off.

Regardless hope the issue has been taken care of.

I was worried I was developing a rattle, but took all the change out of the cupholders, and found an empty water bottle under the passenger seat...it went away...
 
#11 ·
I have an 2018 Stelvio and a couple of months after delivery I noticed the popping crackling sound while driving obviously. However, I would notice this sound only when playing music at lets say volume 30 etc.. No matter if I switched the USB to Pandora or vice verse certain songs will ignite the crackling. So, essentially I took the SUV to the dealer here in Jersey for inspection and they called themselves “adjusting” my bass.. Needless to say, that did not end the crackling.. As another added measure, I contacted another dealer in Jersey and the service tech concluded it’s a known defect as the manufacture provided cheap in other words speakers etc.. in the vehicles and in order to remove the sound I’ll need to remove the manufactured speakers.. I didn’t do it yet but will.. If you guys are experiencing the same sounds 9 times out of 10 it’s the speakers and sound and try to raise this issue with your dealer to gauge their insight. etc.. Hope this helps
 
#13 ·
Unfortunately the dealer didn’t fix mine either. They called me and told me that they were able to hear the creaking noise when they moved the center console around with their hands but weren’t able to duplicate while driving. Then they told me that they actually had a Alfa North America rep at the dealer that confirmed the creaky assembly is as designed and that the center console is just designed that way. They told me over the phone that the tech did “make and adjustment to it”, but I noticed on my service sheet it says nothing about the adjustment, it just says cannot duplicate. Definitely not the service I was expecting. Making sure everything is tight is only half the battle and it seems Alfa doesn’t have the level of service that other luxury manufacturers do. In contrast, I have owned several Mercedes Benz. When they have a rattle, Mercedes corporate actually sends them this felt like material that is used especially for taking care of rattles. The techs there take whatever is rattling apart, add some of the rattle dampening material and then put it back together; rattle gone! I was expecting Alfa would do the same but no such luck. I also only have about 1,300 miles on the car and I hope I don’t have to live with this rattle forever.
 
#17 ·
I clean out the cracks and crevices in my car with a can of compressed air, then wipe down with a rag saturated with lexol for vinyl, let it sit for 5-10 minutes and wipe the excess off with a dry rag.

Procedure I've been using since a month or so for years to not have plastic in plastic noise.

Don't know if would help, but maybe..? The lexol keeps the plastic from drying out and getting creaky is my theory.

If I don't keep the tracks for the cup holder cover clean and lightly lubricated, I have noticed a creak starts coming from there in particular.
 
#19 ·
You only have 1 squeak? I envy you. (y)

There are quite a few in my center console and about. I do think it depends on the temp. They tend to be worse with colder and damp weather here in PA. But I've decided not to take in for service. Unfortunately, it's just the way the interior is built. If you push and prod almost any area it will make a sound or creak. The biggest I've noticed is the super cheap center area just under Heat/Ac controls. Super thin plastic. I'm going to try and pop it out and add some felt, etc. But if the actual materials just make sound I don't think there is much we can do. :[

Top Four Areas I Can Hear On my 2018 Stelvio QV
  1. Main USB area (push and it sounds load)
  2. Bolsters touch the center console and cause squeaking. A little felt on the inside of the console did the trick
  3. Center console storage area (cracks and creaks)
  4. Cup Holders and Sliding Lid.

The new 2020 Center console looks amazing! Hopefully Alfa have resolved a lot of this. I was wondering how hard it would be to pull out old version console and retro the new one.
In the end, I bought my Stelvio for the Ferrari engine and suspension setup. Right now the QV it is the only Ferrari SUV out there. The sound of the exhaust in race mode baffles the annoying noises, but it's and Alfa and that part of its Jekyll and Hyde personality.
 
#20 ·
I just dust the seams real well (compressed air)...still no squeaks. There was a period about a year ago when I started getting squeaks...thats when I cleaned everything, especially the tracks for the cup holder cover, and stopped keeping change and stuff in the cupholders. No more noise, cold or warm. Did notice the squeaks were more noticable on cold days before the thorough dusting.

Of course driving washboarded dirt roads everyday....generally with the sunroof cracked open, means I probably get more dust in my car than most people.
 
#21 ·
Reviving this thread to see if anyone else has experienced these squeaking sounds coming from their center console area. Basically, I get squeaks from anywhere in the console area that is plastic, including the area around the temperature dials, the USB port, and cupholders. The squeaks seem to have increased, now that the cold weather has begun. My car is a brand new Stelvio Ti Sport, with 2,200 miles. Has anyone had any luck with their dealership fixing this? I'm reluctant to waste time at the dealership if this is something that is unfixable. Any DIY solutions that folks can recommend? I love the car so far, but these ever increasing squeaks are starting to drive me nuts...
 
#23 ·
Do yourself a favor and get out of that car ASAP. There is no fix for these issues. I started having them only 100 miles into my brand new stelvio QV. Took it to the dealer over 6 times in the first 9 months of ownership. They couldn’t fix a thing. I have to deal with it on a daily basis. It is a shame and a waste of money to own something so poorly built. Luckily I am getting out of the lease very soon. Good luck.
 
#22 · (Edited)
My interior creaks some in cold weather, but only till the climate control heats up. Then they go away.

I clean my interior plastic parts with a vinyl cleaner (vinyl is a plastic) and make sure to buff it to remove any residue.

Been doing this since my Land Rover LR3 which was way more plasticky then the Stelvio is. Seems to keep the plastics from drying out....and creaking. Become such a habit I don't think about it as anything different that what most people do anymore.

However...I have alway had the opinion using window cleaner will dry out interior hard plastics and make them brittle (and noisey). Which is why I never let car wash attendants do anything besides vacuum the interior and clean the windows.

(This is in addition to cleaning the seams out with compressed air. But I doubt you get dust like I do, so that may be unessessary)
 
#26 · (Edited)
Speak of the devil, I was randomly searching this forum for lithium BATTERIES and I saw someone’s post about using lithium GREASE, so I had to share:

My new Stelvio had been in the shop three days, since Monday morning, for what I THOUGHT was popping in the speaker in the center console speaker.

Bless their hard work, the technicians spent three days trying to determine what could be causing static popping in that speaker. Long story short, the dealer asked me to come back to take a ride with the technician, and it was two TRIM PIECES in the lower dash below the climate controls just barely rubbing against each other and squeaking. Both the technician and I were able to replicate the exact popping sound by rocking/squishing/pressing the trim piece. So I drove my car home, happy that nothing was broken.

I spoke with my dad this afternoon after finally getting my car back, about which lubricant to use. We both brought up lithium grease, and I’m glad to see that someone else used it for the very same application. (I’m just a bit worried the gap between the panel pieces is vertical and extremely tight, so I dunno how the lithium grease will work its way in there…)

thanks for having started this thread!
 
#28 ·
That’s EXACTLY the panel that’s squeaking. I have a service appointment on the 27th if my dad and I can’t get it to stop squeaking using the lithium grease; the technician will have to tear apart the entire center console tunnel. Nightmare.
 
#30 ·
I heard that noise for the first time today. At first it was surprising how loud it was, and I'm saying to myself, "what the hell is that?" Then I heard it again about 30 seconds later and it sounded like plastic hitting something. Then I realized, I had just put a new cold plastic water bottle in one of the cup holders. So I would suggest removing all water bottles, cups, etc from the cup holders to see if that solves the problem.
 
#34 ·
My center console under the armrest vibrates at times, only at idle or very slow-speed parking maneuvers. If I push down on the armrest or the sides of the console it stops. WD40 took care of all other center console squeaks but the area under the armrest still has an intermittent buzzing.

Any suggestions?