Dragline Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Over the past few months, I started noticing a sound coming from behind the passenger side dash area. The best way I can describe the noise is like a loud hard drive cranking away. Another way to describe it is that it sounds like the CD player when it's changing between discs. I've isolated that it's not the stereo, heat, or A/C, as the noise continues when those are turned off and not in use. I noticed the noise while driving or parked, as long as the engine is running. If the engine is turned off, the noise immediately stops. Has anyone else noticed this? Any thoughts as to what it may be? I'm driving a 2009 Mariner. 3.0 engine. FWD. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelsonlu Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Over the past few months, I started noticing a sound coming from behind the passenger side dash area. The best way I can describe the noise is like a loud hard drive cranking away. Another way to describe it is that it sounds like the CD player when it's changing between discs. I've isolated that it's not the stereo, heat, or A/C, as the noise continues when those are turned off and not in use. I noticed the noise while driving or parked, as long as the engine is running. If the engine is turned off, the noise immediately stops. Has anyone else noticed this? Any thoughts as to what it may be? I'm driving a 2009 Mariner. 3.0 engine. FWD. Thanks! I remember hearing a similar sound in my old 2001 Sable. It eventually turned out to be a broken belt, which disabled the vehicle completely for a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragline Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 I did some tests today and found that it may be related to the A/C... On one trip, I ran the A/C as I normally do. Shortly after starting the A/C, the noise started. When I turned the A/C off, the noise continued for approximately 1 minute and then stopped. Again, the sound was similar to the sound the CD player makes when it's changing CDs and is coming from behind the passenger side dash. On a second trip, I didn't turn the A/C on at all. The noise never occurred during that trip. For what it's worth, I have the dual automatic climate control option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryG Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 That sounds like the blend door that mixes heated air with A/C cold air to balance the temperature setting. The motor gear is plastic and a tooth or two is striped. Turning off the A/C will not stop the gear slamming the spring door shut when the striped gear tooth gets to that point. You can disable power from the A/C by disconnecting the harness plug but the entire A/C will not work. If the sound continues after disconnecting the plug the blend door gear is not the problem. This should be covered under the 3yr/36,000 mile warranty if it's not out. Let us know if this is the problem... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordtech1 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 That sounds like the blend door that mixes heated air with A/C cold air to balance the temperature setting. The motor gear is plastic and a tooth or two is striped. Turning off the A/C will not stop the gear slamming the spring door shut when the striped gear tooth gets to that point. You can disable power from the A/C by disconnecting the harness plug but the entire A/C will not work. If the sound continues after disconnecting the plug the blend door gear is not the problem. This should be covered under the 3yr/36,000 mile warranty if it's not out. Let us know if this is the problem... I think Gary is on the correct track. Those blend door actuators (motors) have been known to cause noise. What happens, is that those acutators have position sensors in them, sometimes those sensors have erratic readings causing the control head to command the motor back and forth. Its basicaly "hunting" for the proper position. Take it in and have the dealer look at it. There is a TSB on escapes with problems such as unable to regulate temp of heat/ac. I bet they will end up replacing the actuators. Since you have Dual tempature control, you have 2 of these motors. Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragline Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 Thanks for the responses! I'll be taking my vehicle in for its 15,000 mile service shortly and will be pointing this out. I'll post back here with how it turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragline Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 I'm taking it on on Monday for service. If it ends up being the blend door actuator, and it needs replaced, do you know if this is a long process? Some searches on Google turned up results in which the entire dash had to be removed. This was on a sedan, though. Is the Mariner the same way? Also, since I have the dual climate control, should both blend door actuators be replaced even if only one is causing the noise? I saw parts of the TSB referring to this, and it was for vehicles built prior to 12/2009. Mine falls in that category. If replacing one of the actuators requires removing the dash and the other is eventually going to be defective, it may be effective to have both replaced now if it's covered by the warranty. Thanks again for all of your replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragline Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 As suggested here, it ended up being the blend door actuator. There was a TSB for this exact issue. The TSB also mentioned the air temperature being different on the driver and passenger sides. I was also having this problem in recent weeks. It's only been several hours since the new blend door motors were installed, but the noise is gone and the air temperature seems to be fine. Thanks to everyone for pointing me in the right direction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haydn12 Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 As suggested here, it ended up being the blend door actuator. There was a TSB for this exact issue. The TSB also mentioned the air temperature being different on the driver and passenger sides. I was also having this problem in recent weeks. It's only been several hours since the new blend door motors were installed, but the noise is gone and the air temperature seems to be fine. Thanks to everyone for pointing me in the right direction! We appear to have the same issue. Noise started behind the dash a couple weeks ago. We've also had the issue for awhile with the passenger side temperatue being quite a bit different than the driver side. Time to take the car in. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggs32 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 We noticed the motor noise this past summer while the A/C was running but thought nothing of it. Well, the passenger side was blowing warm air and the driver's side blew cold air all winter long so far no matter what we set the DEATC to. They replaced both blend door actuators under warranty per the TSB this past Saturday and everything works perfectly now. Took them about 2 hours because you have to remove the glove box and passenger air bag to get to the actuator on that side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddeeaallzz Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 Ugh, this EXACT issue has emerged on my 2009 Escape V6 Limited, so it's the blend door actuator. The problem is that it's just out of warranty with 45,000 miles on it. Has anyone repaired this out of warranty? How much did it cost? I'm sick now that this is going to be something expensive...do you think I'd have any success complaining to Ford that it's a common problem that needs to be addressed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggs32 Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 I know the motor looks like a small disc about the size of a fan inside a PC tower if you've ever seen one. The one of the driver's side was easy to get to (I watched them take it out) but the one on the passenger side required removing the air bag and glove box. If your passenger side motor is bad (mine wasn't, yet, but they replaced it anyway) then I'd be hesitant to fiddle around with the air bag. I recall the parts being reasonably priced on the invoice but I'm sure they'll get you with labor. And no, I don't think they'll buy your argument. At least not any dealer I've ever dealt with anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddeeaallzz Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 I know the motor looks like a small disc about the size of a fan inside a PC tower if you've ever seen one. The one of the driver's side was easy to get to (I watched them take it out) but the one on the passenger side required removing the air bag and glove box. If your passenger side motor is bad (mine wasn't, yet, but they replaced it anyway) then I'd be hesitant to fiddle around with the air bag. I recall the parts being reasonably priced on the invoice but I'm sure they'll get you with labor. And no, I don't think they'll buy your argument. At least not any dealer I've ever dealt with anyway. Thanks for the reply. I just noticed my passenger side air vents seem to be blowing warmer air than the driver vents. This sounds identical to everyone that has had this problem, and it always turns out to be the driver's side blend door actuator. I have no clue what I'm doing, but I'm going to attempt this repair myself. Please oh please be the driver's side...no way I'd ever touch an air bag system... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggs32 Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 Thanks for the reply. I just noticed my passenger side air vents seem to be blowing warmer air than the driver vents. This sounds identical to everyone that has had this problem, and it always turns out to be the driver's side blend door actuator. I have no clue what I'm doing, but I'm going to attempt this repair myself. Please oh please be the driver's side...no way I'd ever touch an air bag system... We noticed this in the winter so the cold air on the driver's side meant that one was bad. If you are running A/C now then the warmer side would be the bad side I'd think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddeeaallzz Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 We noticed this in the winter so the cold air on the driver's side meant that one was bad. If you are running A/C now then the warmer side would be the bad side I'd think. Oh I missed that key word "winter." That would mean the dreaded passenger side is bad. Ugh. I'm going to continue to monitor air temps closer before attempting anything though. That noise when sitting idle is just grating...is there an updated metal part that doesn't break? I'd hate to go through all this just to have it break in another few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggs32 Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 Oh I missed that key word "winter." That would mean the dreaded passenger side is bad. Ugh. I'm going to continue to monitor air temps closer before attempting anything though. That noise when sitting idle is just grating...is there an updated metal part that doesn't break? I'd hate to go through all this just to have it break in another few months. Yes, the part is upgraded. It's actually the entire blend door motor (one on each side of the dash with the DEATC) you have to replace and that's the PC fan looking thing I mentioned. There is a TSB for this which I'm going to attempt to attach below. tsb09-12-06.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddeeaallzz Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Yes, the part is upgraded. It's actually the entire blend door motor (one on each side of the dash with the DEATC) you have to replace and that's the PC fan looking thing I mentioned. There is a TSB for this which I'm going to attempt to attach below. Thank you so much for your help, baggs! It is much appreciated and so nice of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggs32 Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Thank you so much for your help, baggs! It is much appreciated and so nice of you. No problem at all. That's a big part of what these forums are for. To help others out. I never would have known all that I told you if not for forums like these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJ Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Great info! Thanks everyone, my '09 Escape may also have this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'Cal Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 My '08 Mariner too. To me it sounded like the "digital" clocks GM used to install in the dashboards of its cars in the late 70's. Kind of a steady, quiet grinding noise. I was told it was what you guys described (the blend door or similar). That was months ago. Now it's back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggs32 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 My '08 Mariner too. To me it sounded like the "digital" clocks GM used to install in the dashboards of its cars in the late 70's. Kind of a steady, quiet grinding noise. I was told it was what you guys described (the blend door or similar). That was months ago. Now it's back. So are you saying the dealer claimed to have repaired it months ago and it's now back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'Cal Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 So are you saying the dealer claimed to have repaired it months ago and it's now back? Yes. I'll be making an appointment at the dealership next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'Cal Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I finally brought it in but chose a Ford dealership instead as the Mercury "repaired" it twice. The noise had gone from intermittent to constant. I explained that this was the third time for the same problem to give them some history. When I picked it up later, the service tech explained that his mechanic made the same repair as the last two. The next day the noise was back. SUGGESTIONS??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'Cal Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I brought to a Ford dealership rather than a Mercury and they made the same repair. The next day the noise was back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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