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Noisy A/C Fan

595 views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  TDK 
#1 ·
My E82 123d seems to have developed a noisy A/C fan. It sounds like a low frequency clicking sound as the fan spins, getting faster as you turn the A/C fan up and stopping when you switch it off - a bit like lightly holding a piece of paper against the blades of a desk fan as it goes round. The noise has been getting louder over the past few weeks and at first I thought it was the engine getting rattly and starting to sound like an old clapped out diesel taxi, but found it was the A/C fan when I turned it up to de-frost the windscreen the other morning - it's driving me mad!

Has anyone else experienced this or know what the issue is? I'm assuming that the fan is buried fairly deep in the dash and a pain to get to in order to investigate/fix?

Thanks...Simon.
 
#2 ·
Could just be something stuck in the fan, maybe a leaf or something similar.
Whip the fan out and have a look, if it's goosed you can pick them up on eBay relatively cheap.
Just look upwards in the passenger footwell and remove the lower dash trim, the fan is behind that.
It just unplugs then twists out of the housing, 10 minute easy job.
 
#4 ·
Great, didn't think it'd be that easy to access - thanks. I'll try removing it later and see if I can determine what's up with it.
 
#5 ·
Ok, so I don't it's the fan that's making a noise as it's running nice and quietly when dropped out of the dash and tested in the footwell. The only other moving parts appear to be two motorised ducting blades directly above the fan that divert the air to different outlets, depending upon the requirement. They seem to be slightly loose at one end and I think they're rattling in the airstream created by the fan. The annoying thing is that I can't see how to get to them as they're mounted to the top of the housing that the fan is inserted into and the only screws I can see appear to be fixed from the top, so I'm guessing you have to go in from the top of the dash, which I think would be a nightmare.

Not sure what to do next, but the constant rattling is driving me insane! :x Any suggestions please?

Simon.
 
#7 ·
As it turns out it was the fan motor that was causing the noise after all. There was a bit of play in the main shaft so I tightened the screws that hold the motor to the plastic case, lubricated the shaft with some silicone spray and that seems to have done the trick. :)

Thanks all for the advice!
 
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