clicking noise in dashboard

[mslim]

My V8 '04 4R has had a mysterious clicking sound coming from the dashboard. It is hard to tell but it sounds like it's coming from the vicinity of the middle of the dash. It's a soft intermittent sound that is not speed dependent. I've tried shutting off all the HVAC controls but it's still there. It sounds a little like a noisy cassette or VCR drive. (and yes my car is probably one of the last to have a OEM cassette player in the radio). However the drive has never been used.

Any ideas on what this might be would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to go blindly tearing into the dash without some plan to troubleshoot this annoying noise.

Thanks.

 

[MONTYMTB]

My V8 '04 4R has had a mysterious clicking sound coming from the dashboard. It is hard to tell but it sounds like it's coming from the vicinity of the middle of the dash. It's a soft intermittent sound that is not speed dependent. I've tried shutting off all the HVAC controls but it's still there. It sounds a little like a noisy cassette or VCR drive. (and yes my car is probably one of the last to have a OEM cassette player in the radio). However the drive has never been used.

Any ideas on what this might be would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to go blindly tearing into the dash without some plan to troubleshoot this annoying noise.

Thanks.

I have no experience with it, but this thread might be a good place to start.

 

[mslim]

excellent referral! most appreciated. will pursue the air servo problem.

Thanks again.

 

[MONTYMTB]

No worries, good luck with it.

 

[hikenbike]

Probably a leaf or two or three

 

[MONTYMTB]

Probably a leaf or two or three

That is a thought, and would be worth checking... [MENTION=22612]mslim[/MENTION] - have you ever changed your cabin air filter? Noises can be tough to track down, and seem like they're originating from somewhere other than where you think, but the cabin filter is an easy thing to rule out.

EDIT: Never mind, read your first post again and saw where you stated it was still doing it with the fan off.

 

[tbaddest4r]

help

hey I just discovered this problem in my V8 04! did you ever figure it out??

 

[ESPY]

I just heard clicking in my wife's Runner this morning. It is not the AC or fan either. My guess is the lifters. I noticed that the lifters were a little noisy after my wife changed her oil last weekend. So when i heard the ticking noise this morning I popped the hood and listened to the lifters and it sounded exactly like the ticking i heard coming from the dash.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[mslim]

No I never did find out what was making the noise. It's not a lifter noise for sure. It doesn't seem to affect anything other than slightly annoy me. I imagine it's the air servo but I didn't want to have the dealership "technicians" (I guess they're no longer mechanics) tear apart my dash at $110/flat rate hr. to fix it.

I am religious about changing the cabin air filter so it's not that.

 

[Nostromo]

Take a look at this:

Grinding/clicking under dash - air mix servo - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

 

[2003-4x4runner]

For me, the sound is coming from the passenger side, right behind the blower fan. According to the attached diagram. It looks like I might have a bad Air Inlet control Servo motor. Which would make sense because when I turn on the window defroster, the sound would stop and also when I turn off the air recirculation the sound will also stop

 

[fdbyrne]

I tracked down the clicking in mine to one of the HVAC servos as previously mentioned. Attached is a video.

Does anybody know how to actually get in there and replace it? I don't see any visible screws. I might be able to get a little more access if I could remove the white airbox but didn't want to try until I check the online minds for a better idea.

http://www.byrnehub.com/videos/Vid 20160918 102649-1.mp4

 

[4by4runr]

Mine does it too - even when just in acc you can hear it. Turning the temp all the way up then down seems to stop it. Hard to hear when running so unless it ain't working I'm not too worried about it. Also of note that it seems to only be on the early 4th gen.

 

[mslim]

Sorry to keep this old thread alive but my clicking has gotten worse and I have no heat now only A/C.

I have followed the official repair manual and have torn my dash apart. The noise seems to to be coming from the lower servo gadget just to the left of the blower assembly just as in fdbyrne's video:
http://www.byrnehub.com/videos/Vid 20160918 102649-1.mp4

I've gotten all 4 screws out of the blower assy but when I get to the part that says "release the claw fitting and remove the blower assy." I can't find anything that resembles a claw and yet something is still holding the blower assembly.

This has been referenced several times on this forum but I was unable to find a resolution for it. I'm into the dash pretty deep now and I don't want to give up.

Does anyone know where the claw is so I can drop out the blower assembly (not just the fan motor)? I don't think I'll be able to replace the lower servo w/o removing the assembly.

BTW the often referenced thread
(http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/171619-inside-dashboard-clicking-gurgling-fix.html)
is only a temporary remedy.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

The claw fittings are all over the edge of the blower case. Look at where it clips onto the HVAC assembly and you'll see plastic tabs that are "clipped" to to the HVAC assembly. You need to carefully pry these up enough to pull the blower assembly away.

 

[mslim]

Thanks Black Works.

As usual your knowledge is invaluable to us po' ass shade tree mechanics.

With a lot of jiggling and gentle persuasion I did drop the blower assembly enough to make enough room to unscrew the rearmost screw on the air servo bracket. I had to remove a rectangular plastic block encasing female multipin plugs on the RH side of the blower assy to create enough lateral movement to drop the assy clear. I ordered part# 87106-35180 from Camelback today. I pretty sure that's the offending servo.

Can't help but be curious what the flat rate book says about this R&R operation.

 

[fdbyrne]

Thanks Black Works.

As usual your knowledge is invaluable to us po' ass shade tree mechanics.

With a lot of jiggling and gentle persuasion I did drop the blower assembly enough to make enough room to unscrew the rearmost screw on the air servo bracket. I had to remove a rectangular plastic block encasing female multipin plugs on the RH side of the blower assy to create enough lateral movement to drop the assy clear. I ordered part# 87106-35180 from Camelback today. I pretty sure that's the offending servo.

Can't help but be curious what the flat rate book says about this R&R operation.

Did you get this fixed? I'm trying to order the servo but I want to make sure that part number 87106-35180 worked for you. The local dealership's parts counter can't be sure that that's the right part and say the part is non-returnable once ordered.

 

[mslim]

Yes it worked for me but be advised your mileage may vary. As near as I can tell there are three servos in the 2004 4R SR5 HVAC system.

Luckily I guessed the correct one. I was 90% sure I had the right one as when I operated the HVAC and pressed on the case of the servo, the pitch of the noise changed.

This was a bit of bear to do. The hardest part for me was unhooking the claw fittings to drop the blower case to access the servo.

If the offending servo is the one on the right side near the passenger's kick pane,l it looks like it can be changed w/o dropping the blower case. I think there is a youtube video that shows how to do this one.

 

[fdbyrne]

Yes it worked for me but be advised your mileage may vary. As near as I can tell there are three servos in the 2004 4R SR5 HVAC system.

Luckily I guessed the correct one. I was 90% sure I had the right one as when I operated the HVAC and pressed on the case of the servo, the pitch of the noise changed.

This was a bit of bear to do. The hardest part for me was unhooking the claw fittings to drop the blower case to access the servo.

If the offending servo is the one on the right side near the passenger's kick pane,l it looks like it can be changed w/o dropping the blower case. I think there is a youtube video that shows how to do this one.

Thanks. I'm the one that posted the video of mine twitching. In my case it's the bottom one. There are others stacked above it that are working fine.

I've compared pics of the part that you listed a number for with photos of the servo that's going bat shit crazy in mine and it looks like the same part.

 

[rando]

The claw fittings are all over the edge of the blower case. Look at where it clips onto the HVAC assembly and you'll see plastic tabs that are "clipped" to to the HVAC assembly. You need to carefully pry these up enough to pull the blower assembly away.

I've been at this for a couple of hours and for the life of me cannot see any claws or any other places where the blower assy is 'clipped' to the HVAC assembly -- no doubt it is somewhere as it just refused to budge. I have the engine, 4wd and TPS cpus removed and all four screws/nut holding the blower assy. There seems like plenty of room around it for it to move, if I could just find this magic claw/claws. Anyone have a picture?

I've got two of the 3 screws holding in my clicking servo but can't manage to get a bit or driver to grab the 3rd without getting the damn blower assy to move over a least a little bit.