I posted last night that my driver's headrest has started to rattle. I can't tell if it's the posts that extend into the seat or the swivel mechanism in the headrest that's rattling. Anyone else experience this and have any success fixing it?<p>Kyle

 

My passenger's headrest was rattling, and even lowering it all the way didn't help. The 2 metal shafts go into different types of plastic bushings. One bushing has a spring loaded clip which is supposed to "lock" into bumps on the shaft to maintain its height. The other shaft has no bumps, I believe, and the bushing has no button. On both my headrests the bushing without a button is nice and tight, but the bushing with the clip is useless. The clip doesn't lock into the bumps in the shaft very well, and I can pull the headrest up and down very easily (especially the side with that shaft) without pushing the button in.<p>Anyway, I complained to my dealer about the rattle. When driving over bumps (even fairly small ones), the impulse of the bump would cause the headrest to rattle front-to-back. The metal shaft would slap back and forth on the insides of the bushing with the clip - creating the noise. You can check this by just grabbing the top of the headrest and wiggling it front and back. If you hear a "ticking" sound, that's probably it. (Listen to the character of the sound to see if it's the same as the rattle that's bothering you. If it's not the same pitch, it may not the same rattle.) In my case, the dealer ordered new bushings and replaced them. The rattle went away, but I have a feeling it's more due to the amount of grease they put inside the bushing than anything. The feel of the bushing with the clip is the same - very loose. At least it doesn't rattle anymore.<p>Jim Meyer<br>'98 2.8QMS (built in March 98, if it helps)<br>