Clicking Sound From Dashboard - R33 Ii

[harryg]

My car makes this clicking sound from the dashboard. It seems to come from behind the two aircon vents in the middle of the dashboard. Only sounds on when the car is started and/or the air con fan is on. If i start is without the fan on it doesn't make any sound but when I turn it on, it makes clicking noise 4-5 times and then stops.

Is this a relay of some sort behind the vent or somewhere else? Its been happening for the past two weeks on and off. Now its a bit more regular.

Any help would be appreciated.

I tried to open the dashboard panel (the complete piece which goes right hand vent and to the stereo/ac side) from the driver side by first removing the gear box panel. But the middle part is stuck because of the stearing column. I have seen an electrician pull the stearing column down by releasing the black lever underneath the steering column. How the hell do you release it? I can't see any sort of a locking mechanism on it. If somebody can tell me this then i can have a look myself and try to diagnose what is going wrong.

Thanks again.

HarryG

[frankxinyu]

i think its your aircon gate thing inside the dash, it tries to shut itself every time you start your car but since it was not put back properly after the dash was striped, it keeps hitting the vent.

that is my understanding of the matter, have seen quite a few R33 doing this.

Edited May 7, 2006 by frankxy

[harryg]

I had my dash ripped out when I got the stereo fitted but that was last year august/sept and it's only started to make this sound only a few weeks ago(2-3).

[shmiddy]

isnt it something to do with the heater core or something playing up? makes like a bubbling boiling kind of noise? mine does it to, turn the radio up

[harryg]

Thanks frankxy, I think I know what the problem is now. When I have the ac on and i change the mode of the airflow from head and feet (two arrows) to feet only I get the clicking noise. That means when it's closing the top vents it's getting stuck somewhere. The vent does close because there is no air flow there but the sound is annoying. So i will get it checked out.

Would appreciate if somebody can comment about the steering column release lever.

[R33S2]

Steering adjustment lever is under the dash next to column, its a lever that pulls down to release.

[Quinny]

I have the clicking problem as well when I have the aircon on, and when the car first starts up, and when the turbo timer kicks in. Mine has an aftermarket headunit as well, so when I change the headunit, I will look at the vents to work out what the problem is.

[teamplasma]

Mate i can tell u exactly what it is, well not the name of the part but yer, it's a part of ur aircon unit, they tend to go when it's old or not unsed on a regualr basis, they make the clicking noise when the air con unit changes speeds, it will only get worse. To fix the entire dash must be removed and the questionable part replaced, i had mine done at an auto electrical and air con place for around $600 bucks, most of this was labour pulling aout the dash, it's now back there with the same prob cause the car was left to sit for 9months in a shop for custom work and not started, will be alot cheaper cause the dash is out, just the cost of the part so u have a choice, big labour cost or pull the dash out yourself then take it to an auto elecy, dash in and out is a big paint in the arse, trust me, do it 3 or 4 times and u become an expert tho!

[Quinny]

I will be pulling the dash apart this weekend or next to change my headunit, exactly what needs to be done to fix this problem, it is annoying me...

[teamplasma]

hey mate, u must pull out the entire dash, not just the surround be to replace the headunit, entire thing, the part is called a blend door actuator, once ur dash is out, if u plug the aircon back in and make it change speeds, (from 4 to 1) works best, u will see a little "arm" move as to the speed it's at, the actuator is attached to that, expensive and hard to get, i was quoted 250 out of japan plus tax and shipping but was lucky enough to get one from a wrecker for $88

[frankxinyu]

looks like i have to strip the entire dash then......

does it matter if i just leave it like that?

[RANDY]

I beleive there will be no harm. Mine's been doing it for 8 months or more. The actuator detects when the lever is at its end, so when it goes faulty, the mechanism doesn't stop trying to move the arm. Eventually it times out and stops anyway, so it should be ok.

[Xizor]

Mine has just started doing this as of yesterday! I've just hit the f**king thing each time and it stops. Been perfectly fine for the 2+ months ive owned the car and i use the aircon frequently. Weird... ???

[teamplasma]

Guy definatly called the blend door actuator, got my new one in problemo fixed

[OZ_Pomy]

i actually done this job last week my car had been doing it since i brought it.then my heater core died so fixed both probs at once. there is no easy way to do this and the whole dash must come out .with the actuator what happens is it strips the plastic gears inside and when it trys to open the vent door it wont move and just makes that clicken noise. we had never done one b4 so we was carefully when pulling the dash apart it took about 4 hrs we marked every plug to make sure things went back together as they should. and prob the same to put it back together but we had to fit the new heater box as well witch took a bit extra time .honestly if your not condident in doing it yourself then pay someone cause its not hard to break some of the plastic clips ect ect

its a big job and lots of patience is required

cheers good luck

Edited May 18, 2006 by iLEC

[Xizor]

Any harm in just leaving it for a few months? Mine is like others have mentioned clicks for about 5-10seconds then stops, alway when car starts. Only started a few days ago. I cant afford to spend any money so would really like to just leave it...

[benl1981]

Mines been like it for a year and a half. Still works - no probs.

[teamplasma]

can't see a problem with leaving it if u can put up with it, the worst that could happen would be the gears strip off an u can't use the air con/heater

[shaun123]

my skyline r33 does this aswell... so the whole dash has to be pulled out and this arm replaced? damnn

[Xizor]

I have been advised that the piece making the noise is a common problem and is not even a necessary component to the functioning of the climate control system. Apparently Nissan stopped including it after some point anyway. So the advice i have received is they can remove it and bobs ya uncle.

By the way, this advice came from PowerPlay!