kmasuda557

So a couple of questions.

Every so often when going from re-circ mode to fresh air mode, there will be a very loud clicking coming from behind the glove box which from what I've been able to google is from the re-circ door.

What I can't figure out is why the majority of the time it switches between the two modes just fine, its just every so often it will do the clicking thing. Is this a sign of worn gears/servo? At this point, it only happens often enough to make me paranoid to change to fresh air cause the thing is so loud is scares the crap outta me every time it does it. When it does go into fresh air mode, fresh air actually comes through the vents.

The second question would be, is it normal for the car to change between re-circ and fresh air on its own even when the A/C is off? What about when the A/C is on and it is not in AUTO mode? Is that normal or is are the gears/servo slipping beyond some limit? Sometimes I'll be driving down the highway and it will change on its own and start clicking (talk about keeping me awake on my morning commute ).

The problem is, is that it happens so seldom and the clicking stops on it own (after about 20-30 seconds) that I can't even take it to a dealer. I feel like they would charge me just to "inspect" the car and end up only finding a bill for the inspection. Is it even covered by warranty?

I'm afraid to drive people in my car because of it...anyone have an insight?

Toymota

Is this what it sounds like?
http://youtu.be/ssVW4xQdWOQ

That is the sound of a broken fresh air/recirculate door. You're supposed to set the system to recirculate before you change the air filter. If you, or whoever services your car doesn't know and lifts up the door manually, it will break.

The system does automatically switch to recirc on its own when it's too hot, even when auto or the A/C is off.

If you need to reproduce it to get warranty work done, just keep switching between fresh and recirc and it should eventually show up.

If someone else changed your air filter, it's likely that they broke it and I would make them fix it. Otherwise, If you need to fix it yourself, this thread may help: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...g-to-circ.html

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Yep, classic issue. Did this noise start after the in-cabin filter was replaced?

kmasuda557

It sounds like the video, but a lot louder (maybe the camera they were using couldn't capture it properly).

I got the car used, and one of the first things I did was change the cabin air filter, but I did not manually open the door.

I'm not quite sure how these things can be broken, but still work most of the time. From what I've read, either it works, or its broken.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

^You did not manually open the door? Explain. Do you remember if you have the HVAC controls set to recirculate? If not, you may have damaged/broken something.

kmasuda557

I did not open it, as it was already open since I had it in re-circ.

funglenn

iTrader: (10)

what you state makes no sense--if it is in recirculate or not just means is the inner door up or down. You must still pull the black cover and pull the filter out. At no time will the filter be visible in the glove box--you must pull it out.

This does sound like the damage done by not having it in the right mode when you pull the black cover off.

The local toyota dealer checked my air filter and damaged the system when I took it in for an oil change--and they fixed it for free.