Joolander

So today headed home from work, I noticed an odd behavior in my car

Whenever I turn the ignition to the ON position (starting or not), there is a rapid clicking that comes from behind the instrument panel behind the speedometer, and it lasts about 2 seconds

It's not throwing any codes, and runs perfectly otherwise


So WTF is happening?

99GTvert

A/C on or off?

Joolander

On. HMm hadn't considered that.

The A/C works great though

jwog666

turn off climate control completely anc see if it goes away. sometimes the elecric blend and mode door motors will make noise durring their test sweep on startup.

Lethaldosage423

the blend door actuators (motors that control your HVAC blower doors for hot/cold or air direction) are little plastic stepper motors. the teeth break or strip on them causing them to just click and make an annoying noise. that would be my guess. not an uncommon issue.

turn the key on and air on. now play with the hot/cold **** and see if the noise changes or if your air temp changes.
now play with the air direction and see if the noise changes or if the air direction changes. this should help narrowing it down

cruisin5268d

I have the same issue on my 2010. It's time to sell her and I should probably fix it, but haven't seen any guide to replacing it/them.

kenthicken

Blend door actuator. 100%.

Joolander

Yeah the issue doesn't happen when the heater is on, only when I turn on A/C. So blend door actuator makes sense

Can I just go into a shop and say "blend door actuator"? I have a feeling they'll think I'm speaking mandarin

Derf00

Que?



They will understand...if they don't...freeze, turn around, slowly, and quietly walk back out....

jpplaw

If the noise is from the center area of the dash behind the center stack up high, you have to isolate whether it is the drivers side or passenger side actuator. To figure out which one has gone bad, you may have to reach up under the dash and feel the motors while someone operates the controls to replicate the noise. There are actually 4 actuators - A, B, C, and D. Actuators B, C, and D are accessible from the passenger side, A is on the driver's side. A & B are the ones that make noise behind the center stack up high. Rock Auto carries them.