pteixei2

Hi,

I have a 2002 C230 Kompressor and I've been having this chirping sound coming from the fan under my glovebox!!....

I checked it out and added lubrification which fixed it for about 2 days....It's now back!....

I was wondering if this is a known issue and/or if there are any suggestions for a fix?...


Thanks in advance,
..Paul..

Glyn M Ruck

Likely shot fan motor bearings. It's common on older cars - what mileage have you done?

pteixei2

****!!.......I was hoping it wasn't a new fan motor that is in need!!.....
What is the actual part called so I can see if i can find it cheap online......
It's the fan located right under the glove box.........

My car is a 2002 and it's just approaching 90,000kms right now........

samaritrey

mine has had that on on cold mornings since 100k i am at 141k now and it still works fine

Carsy

Try a little more lubricant on the bearings. I use a spray can of grease with a 6 inch fine extender.Don't use much. You may be lucky.

I do not know how difficult it is to remove the fan but soaking the bearing (not the motor) in a warmed up heavy oil or grease for a period may do the trick if the bearing is not too worn.

KillerPancake

Same issue here, currently at about 144k kms. Squeak/chirp is worse in the cold weather. The blower works just fine, but the sound is REALLY annoying! How tough is it to pull the blower motor?

pteixei2

Thanks guys!....

I used some WD40 on it, but I'm going to take it apart again this afternoon and use grease and see if that does it. If not, I'll have to purchase a new one......

what is it actually called?...do you guys know?....

thanks again....so helpful to be a part of the forums...

cheers guys,
..Paul..

pteixei2

Oh, btw...

the blower motor is easy easy to pull out.....Just look under the glove box, 4 screws....then a plastic covering comes off....You'll then see the blower motor which will require another 4 screws to come off before it can dislodge......easy....

getting rid of the noise, however, not so easy....haha...

Glyn M Ruck

WD40 will not work - It's more propellant than lubricant - grease is the answer.

Cintoman

This forum is amazing....no sooner do I have an issue with my car, then someone posts a similar problem with theirs.

Well, for what seems like the past month, the weather here in RI has been freezing cold (15F / -10C) at night and barely 30F (-2C) during the day. And during this time, I've been getting a similar squeek/chirp coming from behind the glove box. At first, I thought it might have been the CD Changer, but removing the magazine and all the CD's didn't help. Then I figured it must be the heater blower. Sure enough, when shutting the fan off, the noise goes away.

On my car, it happens intermittently, occasionally when turning left when going pretty quickly (> 40mph), but most often when slowing down from any speed.

I just recently got my car back from the dealership for some suspension work (noises there too), and I'm starting to get a little tired of bringing the car back to them every few months. Thankfully, I'm still under warranty (CPO good for 100K miles or August of 2011).

So Glyn, by reading your post, it seems like just some lubricant will be necessary, and no replacement of any parts, right? Or should I just have the dealership replace the worn bearings?

Thanks,
Cintoman

samaritrey

if under warranty have them replace the blower assembly no point in putting a band aid on a problem that can be fixed for free.

Glyn M Ruck

Paul - I agree with Trey - If you can get a new one FOC do that. They don't have to tear the dash apart to replace it. If you choose to keep your blower try a relube with a long life synthetic grease. The trouble is these things are supposed to be lubed for life & it might only be a temporary fix.

Cintoman

All,

Well, I finally got around to taking my car into the dealership for this issue. However, it was another more pressing issue that crept up which forced me to bring my car in. More on that one later.

I advised them of the problem with the blower motor chirping, especially when the car was really cold. It's been regularly around 32 (0 Celsius) during the day and low 20's during the night (-7 Celsius or so). They were able to duplicate the problem.

Here was their analysis of what they found and did, based on my invoice:
---------------
Client states whistling/chirping noise intermittently from heater blower motor.
Check bearings
Defect or cause: Noise from blower at certain speeds. Needs blower regulator

Repair process: Removed blower motor assembly, replaced regulator, reassembled. Function test climate control system-OK at this time.

FP-Number: 230-821-64-51 Blower Regulator
Total Labor & Parts: $0.00
---------------

The chirping sound wasn't really too bad, but the other problem I had which prompted me to bring the car in sooner was with my OEM Bi-xenons.

As most of you with OEM Bi-xenons know, upon starting up the car, the lights go thru a motion of adjusting their height based on the levelness of the car. The begin by aiming down, raising up, then leveling off. Well, while driving home one night late, I noticed that my light output was significantly lower. Furthermore, the sharp cutoff line from the low beam pattern was really low. Upon testing the auto-leveling function when I got home, I noticed that they weren't moving.

So once again, another issue for the dealer to fix. Thank the heavens I have the 6year/100,000 mile CPO extended warranty on this car.

Here's what they found:
---------------
Client states bi-xenon headlights are aiming too low, not adjusting.

Defect or cause: check bi-xenon headlamp function. No movement up/down when starting vehicle. Perform quick test. Check operation of both motors with actuation - OK. Check actual values signal from front sensor below spec-is .51V. Check for power supply voltage to sensor - 5.02V-OK. Faulty front sensor.

Repair process: Replaced front axle inclination sensor. Check actual values - voltage from sensor in spec. Function check headlamp range adjustment operation - OK at this time.

FP-Number: 010-542-77-17 Sender Unit
Total Labor & Parts: $0.00
---------------

2 thoughts:
I'm curious to see how much these parts are.
I always thought the inclination sensor on cars equipped with the Bi-Xenons was on the rear axle, so as to determine how much weight was in the back so that the bi-xenon leveling would level correctly.

Anyways....my latest little problems have been resolved, and now my car is back to 100% which =

Cintoman

LILBENZ230

230-821-64-51 - MSRP $252

010-542-77-17 - MSRP $154

How many miles you have now Cintoman?

Carsy

I am interested to know what a blower motor asembly regulator is & how it would produce a chirping noise ? Thankyou. John.

Cintoman

Wow... I checked a few places online and those prices seem to be right.

My car is a 2005, and it just turned 46,000 miles.

Cintoman

LILBENZ230

If you go under the hood and take out the cabin filter box over the battery, you can see some sort of fan/motor thing easily accessible. Does anyone know what this is?

Wow Cintoman you have pretty low miles. My 2005 has 75,000.. up from 25,000 in July 08 (when I bought it).

Cintoman

Yeah, I only put about 10,000 miles/year more or less. I bought mine in Oct 2006. It had 13,025 miles when I bought it, so I've only put about 33,000 miles on it.

Cintoman

samaritrey

that is the blower motor assembly.

Carsy

Bump

Glyn M Ruck

I too would like to understand this unless the controller has a back EMF brake that effectively stops the fan from rotating. Sounds strange. The controller can't chirp!

johnand

Me too. My 07 started chirping 2 weeks ago

KillerPancake

Thanks to all for the great info. Just reporting back that I finally got around to pulling the blower assembly out last weekend and lubed up the motor. Not a peep out of it since. A major improvement to my well being has been accomplished (I didn't fully realise how annoying that noise was until it was gone! )

samaritrey

how long did the entire process take i might do mine soon?

KillerPancake

Not too long - and hour or less and I was in no rush.

- 2 screws holding the cover under the dash
- 5 screws holding in the blower assembly, plus one electrical connector

Remove the above and you have the blower assembly out. Worst part is the contortion involved in standing on your head under the dashboard. Not sure how the squirrel cage is on there, but I think its pressed onto the shaft. It wasn't going anywhere easily so I left it on rather than end up breaking it. I used the red aerosol can extender nozzle that came with the lube and fished it through the squirrel cage to the motor shaft.

You can also see the blower from under the hood when you remove the cabin filter, but I don't think it would be too easy to lube the motor that way. I chose to remove the assembly rather than get grease everywhere and have it attract dust, etc.