Curious sound

andycarter · Post by **andycarter** » 22 Aug 2003, 00:42

The car: 1996 Xantia TD with Aircon
The curious sound: When I switch on the ignition, engine not running, there is a faint whirring like a tiny electric motor coming from behing the airvents in the centre of the dash.
Bizarre.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 22 Aug 2003, 00:50

Probably the blower fan.
My '89 BX16 does it too.

andycarter · Post by **andycarter** » 22 Aug 2003, 00:55

Its far too quiet to be the blower fan. I was thinking maybe the automatic temperature control has a motorised flap somewhere that varies the proportions of hot / cold air.

Dave Burns · Post by **Dave Burns** » 22 Aug 2003, 01:00

Very common on xantias, it is indeed a tiny motor and its behind the little grill with the alarm led in it.
It has a tiny radial fan on it and is used to draw cabin air in and over a sensor for the auto temp control.
They can be got out and oiled which quietens them for a while, you probably wont want a new one as they are not cheap.
Get at them by first removing the clock, when thats out of the way you can press the plastic tags in pull the grill/motor out.
Dave

allmond · Post by **allmond** » 22 Aug 2003, 01:01

There've been comments on this before. Apparently there's a tiny fan to draw air over the internal temperature sensor. I've never heard mine, either it's really quiet, or it doesn't work.
Jamie

andycarter · Post by **andycarter** » 22 Aug 2003, 01:05

Dave -
I wasn't particularly bothered about it until now [:(!]
Now you've told me its expensive I'll just have to nip outside with the oil can...
[1 Hour Later]
Clock came out easily enough with gentle assistance from a flat screwdriver working all the way around it (Haynes says steering wheel off, stereo out etc - Bah!), there was evidence of a previous attempt to remove the sensor and it wasn't going to budge for me without ripping the front off it. However with clock removed and an extension tube on my can of WD40 I was able to squirt the motor from the side and its now a bit quieter.