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bazwill · Joined: 31 Oct 2000 Posts: 1 Location: australia

Hey guys,
my e30 possesses a loud clickin noise when engine is on; coming from behind the dash......disapears when I depress the yellow fan button.....
anyone else had this one?

cheers
bazwill
'84 e30 318

rduckwor · Joined: 09 Dec 2000 Posts: 41 Location: Bellevue, NE USA

It sounds like something in the HVAC system is clicking. The "yellow Button" should be the recirculate button that will electrically close a flap to pull air from inside the car only. This closes off the external air access. This leads me to believe that something is in the air blower compartment just above the firewall and maybe hitting the fan cages.

When the flap closes after you hit the recirc button, you can't hear the sound on the other side of the flap.

HTH

Bob Duckworth

Tony Walsh · Joined: 20 Nov 2000 Posts: 4 Location: NSW, Australia

This niose is due to a design fault in the E30 blower housing.

The fan blades are very close to the air recirculation flaps and can hit them.

Access is via the engine bay. Remove the panel in the center of the firewall. Cutting a couple of cable ties and removing 4 small bolts is all that this requires. You can then see the fan unit and recirculation flaps. There are actually two sets of flaps each side, one deeper inside the fan unit. As the housing is plastic you can move it around a bit and hopefully find a position where the fan blades don't rub.

While you have the flirewall cover off. If you every get any water inside the car after a hose or heavy rain, it is beasue of the seal between car panel and the fan unit. Filling the front edge with silicone will stop this.

If any of this dosen't make any sense, ask for more info.