On my '01, I have this noise coming from the passenger side of the dashboard. It sounds exactly like a vent setting motor trying over and over again to do something. It's a repetitive buzzing noise that cycles over and over, not all the time, but has been happening for months now. It doesn't do it when the car is stopped for some reason, but only when I am moving.

I keep forgetting to post about it because it hasn't caused anything not to work. When I adjust the heat/cool settings on the pass. side, or the vent settings, it semi-goes away, so I think it could be something with the vent settings servo/motor, but am not 100% sure if it's coming from inside the car or outside. I do know for a fact it's coming from the pass. side behind the glove box.

It sounds like it's stuck and is trying to do something over and over. The Heat and AC work fine. All of the vents work fine in all positions, blowing cold and hot air when set properly. I'm thinking maybe there is some kind of electro-magnetic interference causing the vent servo to want to move since it only happens when moving.

It's gotten a tad bit louder over the months.

Has anybody ever heard or scene of this happening? I have read some things on here about the servos going out all together, but not sure if this is what it is.

 

Did you try the recirc and see if it goes away?

 

Good question. I have, but only to open and close the vent to reset the position. I never thought of doing it to remedy the problem. I usually have it open. I'll try closing it and see if it goes away.

If that's what it is, what's the solution?

 

Long labor to most likely replace the motor. Haven't replaced one yet though.

 

I'm assuming any of those are really hard to replace. Can you get to any of the servos by removing the glove box, or does it require taking the entire dash apart?

 

I will check into it for you.

 

Thanks. It's not the recirc. It's definitely either the pass. side temp control, or the vent setting. I adjusted those two back to floor/mid setting and both to cold and the noise came back. I drove with the defog on at medium temp settings last night and this morning and the noise went away. Recirc was set to both settings using the defogger and no noise.

I have a feeling it's the vent setting servo because when I adjust the setting, it seems louder then it was. If the fix for this problem is to avoid the standard dash/floor setting then I will if it means not burning out the servo. I would HOPE you can get to it through the dash and radio and not have to pull the entire dash apart.

FYI: I do not have automatic climate control. Mine is manual, although I've been tempted a few times to swap it out with the ones that pop up on eBay occasionally.

 

I will see if I can find any repair info on it.

 

Well, you were right. The noise does stop when recirculate is on and the vent is closed, no matter what setting. when it's off/open, it only happens mostly when the pass side is set to cold and vents are sent to floor and dash vents, ironically what I have it set to 99% of the time. When set to defog/floor, it happens but maybe 10 to 20% of the time.

So it seems like it's not opening all the way. Is it possible some debris got into the air vent from the outside and it's preventing the vent from opening up all the way? I dont know why it would only happen on certain temp/vent settings but at least now I know how to stop it and it's not what I oringally thought.

 

I would think maybe possible but not sure. Have you checked the pollen filter lately?

 

No I haven't. I keep forgetting to order that. From what I read, you have to take a cover off where the pass. side wiper is to replace the filter. Is that correct? I'm going to order one today.

 

OK. FCP has two different air filters for my car. One is the standard air filter which comes in charcoal and regular, and there is another that says ECC Cabin Air Filter with "secondary cabin air filter" in parenthesis. Is there really two? I'll wait for feedback before ordering. I never saw anything on the forum about their being a secondary one.

 

I did some more digging. I guess that secondary air filter means its the filter for the automatic climate control system? Pro Street says there are different filters depending on if you have automatic climate control or manual. Does that sound right?

 

That sounds about right.
The filter is inside the car. Remove the lower dash on the passenger side. Then on the bottom of the climate box you will see a black cover going straight up. Remove the 4 t-25 screws and see which filter you have.
Some people will upgrade to the bigger filter.
You can upgrade but not downgrade.

 

lower dash meaning the glove box has to come off (i did that once and it was a pain) or is there a panel that just comes off under there?

 

A panel comes loose under there.

 

Cool Thanks!

 

No problem.