I have a 98 ranger XLT, about 92k miles, and recently when I turn on the fan/defrost, a loud "clicking" noise is haerd. Almost like when you used to put a baseball card in the spokes of your bike tires, or like a leaf is stuck in there. As I turn up the fan, the vibrating click speeds up and is louder. I can hear it under the hood, but am afraid to starting taking thing apart.
SOS!
That sounds like a twig or something has fallen into your fan's intake. I would just pull the fan out (Pass. side between fender and a/c evap tubes.
4 screws, fresh air recirc for the motor, and disconnect power), and see if something has fallen in there. Make sure you look in there real good, and feel around with your hand a bit.I had a loud beating air sound coming from my fan, but when that happens you just need to clean up the circulator wheel (thats what I call it) aka the fan blades. When they get enough dirt on them, it will impede air flow across the blades and cause turbulence in the fans airflow.
Ford Tech
no need to be afraid , like f t said pull the squirrel cage/motor asm. and you'll most likely find something that's hitting the blades. I found a pen or pencil one time in one vehicle that had worked it's way to the squirrel cage from the defrost vents under the winshield. ( think that was a 150 tho ).
Sounds like you got a dope bag, I MEAN a leaf or piece of paper in the squirrel cage fan. Pull the blower motor out and look. You can't imagine the items that will be sucked up off the floor when these trucks are in recirc mode.
Sounds to me like a leaf, stick, or rodent has found its way into the fan housing.
Me thinks most of the stuff in the squirrel cage falls in through the defrost vents, or through the intake. I seriously doubt that anything gets sucked up off the floor through the Recirc vents.
Your serious doubt is wrong. At least on an F-150 (which I realize this conversation was a ranger) but on an F-150 the recirc door opens directly to the squirrel cage. And they will suck things up being kicked about on the floor.
I managed a fleet of trucks for a landscape company, and I have removed dope bags, potato chip bags, cigarette pack wrappers, stick gum foil, pages from a pocket spiral notebook, you name it. During the summer, I'll bet I have the blower motor out of the F-150's at least once a week. The defrost vents do not have direct access to the blower. You'd have to go through the heater core and/or evaporator to get there. It's not likely that ANYTHING falling in a defrost vent would do anything except possibly jam a blend door.
the air volume on my 99 tahoe slowed to about 10% the other day.
I thought the damper had gone bad.....turns out a plastic grocery bag was sucked up onto the fan opening.
I must lead a very sheltered life, in nearly 40 years of driving, I've never had the Recirc suck up anything ...
Maybe you , like myself, don't put a bunch of crap on the floor to be sucked up.
Yap I have never had anything sucked up yet either YET!! But everytime I have to go out and work on my Teenage Son Mustang I spend the first 10 minutes clean the car before I'll even start working on it.
Hasnt happened to me personally, but I have seen some twigs fall into the fan intake. I have also see them celophane cigarette wrappers get sucked up from about 2ft away from the intake, them things are soo light.. And since some manuafacturers dont put screens over the intakes anymore (Ford ranger for one), it would be real easy to get a twig in there, or even that little ball off the end of your antenna... LOL
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