[Dirtrider216]

For the last several months i have been dealing with a clicking coming from what sounds like underneath my glovebox on the passenger side. It sounds almost identical to a leaf being hit by the fan. This the rate of "clicking" varies with the fan speed. I have changed the cabin filter and to the best of my ability verified that there is nothing that i can feel stuck anywhere its supposed to be. I thought this may be from the AC servo motor but upon reading about it more, it sounds like in that instance the noise stops when using defrost only but in my car the noise remains constant regardless of which vents are being used. Also regardless of whether the AC is on or the heat is on or if the recirculate is on.
What else could it be coming from?

[twa318]

Have you tried cycling the temp from full low to full high several times?

I experienced the same exact thing, I thought for sure it was a leaf stuck somewhere but it was indeed the servo, cycling the temp from HI to LO a few times fixed it for now.

[Dirtrider216]

Ive cycled it about 5 times today and it made it quieter but just barely.
Tried cycling it on all the different vent settings

[gaber6]

My cabin filter started rattling the last time I checked it and it has sort of a random click sound at certain air speeds. Could be that.

[Samm25]

It's an issue with the re-circulating air actuator. Have you tried to turn off the re-circulating air option to see if it stops? This is a known issue with the 4th gen 4runners. Mine does it as well as my dad's. There's a little white trigger behind the glove box and the clicking noise usually means the motor is going out or already gone out. The higher the fan speed the louder it'll get. I've learned to just live with the noise

[Dirtrider216]

Originally Posted by gaber6

My cabin filter started rattling the last time I checked it and it has sort of a random click sound at certain air speeds. Could be that.

Happens with cabin filter removed....

[Dirtrider216]

Originally Posted by Samm25

It's an issue with the re-circulating air actuator. Have you tried to turn off the re-circulating air option to see if it stops? This is a known issue with the 4th gen 4runners. Mine does it as well as my dad's. There's a little white trigger behind the glove box and the clicking noise usually means the motor is going out or already gone out. The higher the fan speed the louder it'll get. I've learned to just live with the noise

Re-circulate button doesn’t make a difference but now upon listening I can no longer hear the actuator going when I turn re-circulate on or off and I used to be able to hear a minute split second whir as it kicked on or off

[riverwolf]

OP, with the Limited, you've actually got 4 servos under the dash with the potential to go bad and click or grind. If you got to somewhere like Partznet, you can find the parts diagram. You've got air mix servos for passenger/driver sides that control the mix of cooled/heated air to maintain set temp. There's a mode servo that routes air to dash/floor/windshield/etc. And finally, there's a servo for the recird door.

In my case, it appeared to be the passenger side air mix that started clicking first. Makes sense given the air mix doors probably get the most movement. Right before my dash replacement came in, it started grinding like the gears were completely gone. From time to time, I also got some clicking from my driver's side servo.

In the end, I first attempted to replace them myself, but the passenger side appears unreachable without removing the blower motor. So, I handed my new servos over to Toyota while my dash pad was being replaced under warranty. They still charged me $300ish...claiming the dash removal only chopped off a couple of hours of the shop time to reach the passenger servo. %!@#$ highway robbery...anyway. Good luck.

[Dirtrider216]

I believe in my case I have isolated the sound to coming from the blower motor
I unplugged the blower and the noise stopped
I removed the whole blower assembly and if I spin it quick enough I can hear an occasional click
I’ll be disassembling the blower unit today sometime and worst case scenario I can order a replacement for $50 on rockauto

[46runner]

2 servos replaced. Notes here DIY: Replace Servo Sub-Assy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dubsea]

Thanks for the info guys. My 2007 V8 just started doing something similar! Ill going to chase it this weekend.

[hoodlm]

This thread isn't too old so I thought I'd share my experience via video. I just fixed mine yesterday. Works great now. After reading through this and not finding any vids on how to fix it, I recorded my work. Hope this helps! 2000 3rd Gen 4Runner Heater Not Blowing Hot Air - YouTube

[twa318]

Nice video hoodlm

Just an update, the servo still isn't chirping 5 years later after "fixing" using the HI and LO trick.

I also started having a problem with the blend door making a horrible sound (its trying to open when its already full open) which I "fixed" by never using the recirculate button.