Fixing a Rattling Garmin eTrex Vista HCx

The eTrex Vista HCx is a fantastic little GPSr. The one that I currently have is from Matthew who loaned it earlier this year when our Dakota malfunctioned. After being out in the Roaches, the eTrex suffered an impact injury and began to rattle. Fortunately this was easy to fix as it was only a cover of the speaker inside the GPSr.

To begin, remove the batteries and battery cover. Now remove the black rubber casing band around the GPSr. When you’ve removed this completely you will see some clear plastic tape of which there are three layers. Remove each clear tape label in turn and then carefully keep them to the side as you’ll need them afterwards. You will then have your GPSr open as shown in the photo below. Unclip the top from the bottom gently as this will make reattaching the broken piece easier.

You can now see the piece that has broken off (if you’ve broken the same piece as me that is). If you’re lucky you will be able to clip it back into place. Failing that then reattach it and super-glue into place but be sure of leave two sides open so the speak still works correctly. The image below shows the speaker without its case attached.

Carefully put your eTrex back together and it’ll be as good as new. You can also use these instructions for opening your eTrex for anything else you may need to.