beachfront

thanks in advance.

06 GS430 has started making this loud clicking noise when we start the car ... not all the time but very often ... it almost sounds like a jackhammer and is extremely loud. Goes on for a good 20-30 seconds then goes away.

The location sounds like it is coming from the glove box area but not really behind it, more below and behind it..

does anyone have a clue what his could be .. we are supposed to take a road trip in this car on Friday and I need some help.

Thanks again.

___

beachfront

Well, after looking around I think I know where it is coming from but still need some help on what the hell it is ..

under the glove box and the passenger knee airbags.. to the left side right by the Main/2nd tire reset switch there is an opening with a piece of white plastic inside.. that seems to be the noise source.

The opening almost looks like it is there on purpose so you can pull out the white piece of plastic to get to something ..

The description above is the best I can do ..thanks for any help.

BinaryJay

Sounds like the recirculation door on the cabin air filter access. Sounds like somebody broke it.

Does the noise go away if you turn auto climate off and just choose recirculate or non-recirculate (one or the other). Sounds like the door is off the gears and that's whats causing all the clacking.

What you probably don't want to hear is that from reading previous posts about this thing, it costs a lot in labor to fix... like 4 figures.

beachfront

Hey thanks..

Just went out and tested your theory and yes the

noise stops when the ac is in recirculating mode...

let me know if that helps and if it would be ok to go on a 4 day trip with this problem.. (it just started doing this on sunday)

sagikun

[QUOTE=beachfront;5420581]thanks in advance.

06 GS430 has started making this loud clicking noise when we start the car ... not all the time but very often ... it almost sounds like a jackhammer and is extremely loud. Goes on for a good 20-30 seconds then goes away.

The location sounds like it is coming from the glove box area but not really behind it, more below and behind it..

does anyone have a clue what his could be .. we are supposed to take a road trip in this car on Friday and I need some help.

Thanks again.

a jack hammer LOL. nice description. i knew exactly what you mean. yes you can drive it like that for as long as you want. but if you remove the lower cover under the glove and stick your head under you can probably see whats causing it to get stuck and free it.

BinaryJay

That's fine, just keep it in recirculate mode. The noise is happening because when you have it on auto or fresh air mode it is attempting to close the door, and one of the gears is probably broken and it is slipping causing the bang bang bang sound of plastic on plastic.

I'd rather have it stuck on recirculate for a 4 day trip than otherwise because at least you'll be able to use your AC properly that way. You can always crack a window if you start feeling like you're running out of oxygen.

artkrime

I am having the same exact problem! Why could this happen? normal wear and tear ? The only thing that comes to mind is when I took the car in for an oil change and they took out my cabin air filter, even though I did not tell them to. Now I am wondering if that had anything to do with it! Does anyone know which part exactly needs to be replaced ? also why the 4 figures to fix, is it the labor or parts?

AudioBob

I think that it is so expensive because they have to take out the entire dash in order to fix it.

Gregz_IS

Labor time listed is about 9 hours... its major dash surgery.

actuators are about 200.00 each




normal wear causes gears or actuator motors to fail.
doesn't matter if its a Lexus or a Ford or other working inside the dash costs $$





.

PJ82ND

nahh not big deal 9 out of 10 the guide for the recirc came off track u can put it back in place remove glove box and next to the cabin filter there should be a phillips screw actually 2 holding the servo loosen it up n place the white guide ithe track tyightn up n the noise should be gone
i would try to put some pics up lots of luck

SC4Hundred

That's the case in my in law's is350 and in my case it was the actuator went bad.

BinaryJay

I wish it was that simple.

yanefski

Like an earlier poster, this started happening after a recent oil change where they checked the cabin air filter. it was fine as they replaced it this past summer - but it sounds like if you force it back in that it can break the door or knock it off of the railing. I don't want to blame them because I don't *know* they did it, but it certainly seems more than coincidental. What I'm curious about is the typical lifecycle of the actuator. Is it normal for them to break this early? (07 with 41K miles) - or is it highly abnormal making improper maintenance a more likely story? Scary to be looking it such an expensive repair when I just went in and asked them to change my oil

Thanks,

John

tekkie

Posts on this issue pointed out that you must put the climate into re-circulate mode before turning the engine off to change the cabin filter. It could be that the one who is changing your oil and checking the filter forgot this step. This is an expensive mistake some members had made.

shytown350

Would this make the passenger side middle and outside vents blow hot, even with the temp on LO? I don't have any noises, just blows hot on that side. The drivers side side blows cold