A couple of days ago I noticed a loud, rapid ticking noise coming from the passenger-side dashboard of my 2000 Ford Escort (4D sedan, 4-cylinder, 2.0L, automatic transmission, about 80000 miles). The ticking noise is always present when the car is running, unless I turn off the AC blower. The noise is there with the AC, heater, and just the fan running; however, besides the noise, there's no other problems, and I'm getting plenty of cool/warm air (correctly) coming from the vents. Any easy fix, or will I need to replace the blower motor? When I first got the car at around 29000 miles in 2003, I had to have the blower motor relay replaced, and it's worked fine until now. Thanks!

Josh

You either have a leave or something caught in the blower cage or the motor itself has a bad bearing. You will have to remove the motor to determine which.




78 Corvette Pace Car For Sale-18k mi orig-Florida

That's what a typical blower looks like. As Hammer said you may need to remove it to see if something got in there. I've found those small golf pencil and biz cards - assorted things manage to get to it thru defrost ducts in other model cars but some whacked things can happen or plain bad motor as said. Critters can leave nest stuff but I think you'd have other evidence if that's the issue.

T
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Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest, Boston

I found a whole nest of newborn mice in one a couple years ago.




78 Corvette Pace Car For Sale-18k mi orig-Florida

Well, I got the three hex screws off the blower motor housing and was starting to fish it out when I spotted this poking out of the fan wheel:


(the quarter's there for scale, it wasn't in the wheel )

The stem was sticking through the fan wheel's spokes and rattling against the housing when it spun. Thanks for the help guys!

Josh

Your welcome,

Glad you got it fixed. Thanks for posting back.




78 Corvette Pace Car For Sale-18k mi orig-Florida

Thanks for posting the fix and the pic! Amazing what a silly "leaf" (no puns please) can cause for a ruckus like the thread describes,

T
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Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest, Boston