Reading the interior sticky again and noticing the quantity of q's regarding the annoying squeak that seems to originate between the dash pad and the trim under the windshield reminds me of the noises I had when I got my 95 (along the the noises in a friend's 97 Z). I've cured mine (it was the first thing I did) and can share my methods if anyone is still in need of any help. If it would benefit for me to post the steps I used, let me know, I'll be glad to post them....I'd be happy to help out! They may not help everyone, but they worked for me.
Ok, I didn't know how many people had this problem, and I don't know if you've got the same issue in yours that I had in mine, but I'll go through the steps I went through in mine to fix it. Hopefully it'll help you out somewhat. Mine was so annoying that it nearly took earplugs to make it possible to make a quick trip to the store for a gallon of milk (or just a little more right wrist action on the ol' volume knob would serve the same result for many of us as well
).
The first thing you really have to do is to locate the source of the noise. Mine sounded like it was between the dash pad and the trim strip between the pad and the windshield (which I soon found out, as many of us have, that's actually part of the dash), but was actually between the dash and the firewall.
First, I pulled the top off of my dash. I had noticed that I was able to push on my dash (or pound on it, as long as I didn't hit it too hard) and recreate the squeak, so I could use the good ol' armstrong method to try to locate the noise. Many people may have to slowly disassemble the car and drive down a road known to create the noise to see where the noise is coming from in order to stop it. Note that a test drive is usually best taken after disassembling each part if you can't recreate it by hand (this makes this step seem to take FOREVER....).
Once you've isolated the actual source of the noise, look closely for reasons why it would be squeaking or for things it's squeaking against. Things it might be squeaking against could be wires, other body parts that may have simply come loose over time (look especially for broken mounting screws on those other body parts, my '95 has had a bunch of 'em that have caused many, many noises), broken plastic from those other loose body parts, and so forth.
In the case of my '95, my squeaky dash was caused by the firewall mounting screw just to the left of the center defroster vent right under the trim strip that's above the dash pad. Either that screw was tightened down too tightly at the factory or the mounting boss at that location was damaged in an accident the car was involved in, but at any rate the plastic was destroyed. I was able to cure the squeak by padding between the dash and the firewall with a rubber washer and then putting a rubber washer in between the screw and the dash itself (since it would conform to the contours of the remaining plastic and help to pull the dash to the firewall again). I've not had any squeaks from that location since that time.
I'm still locating and eliminating the remaining noises, but I think most of them are from the kids in the back seat (mine, not anyone else's). Hope this helps!
No problem at all. Hope it helps you out. I know not everyone's problems are the same, but I've heard the exact same (sounding) squeaks in several 3rd gen cavs that seem to originate from similar locations, so I have begun to wonder if it's not similar symptoms that are causing them. Hope I've been able to help you solve yours! I look forward to hearing how it goes and what you find....
Let me know if you run into any problems.
