So now I'm convinced it's A blend door, not sure how many I have, but tonight the driver side was blowing cold air, no matter what temp I dialed in, but the pass side was nice & warm.So I guess since I'm due for an oil change soon, I'll have this fixed too. Hope it was the culpprut in the rattle, I'll have to see if the noise returns while waiting to take her in.

 

there is a little guy stuck in there and he is trying to get out!

 

My 08 Escape just started doing this exact noise that past posted on page 1 after I roll over 36k miles and my warranty. I had never had the sound until right before it went out of warrant I had the dealership look at the AC and Heating system due to it sporadically cutting off and not cutting back on until the car was restarted. The said there was some pinched wires and that should have fixed it. While that problem has currently been resolved I still have this new sound starting up.

Why is it though when I cut the air off it still is making the clicking sound? Any suggestions?

 

I finally got time to take mine in this morning, and my cell recording (posted eariler) greatly helped as of course it didn't make the noise at the dealer. Anyway they call about an hour later and agree with me, it's an actauator, not instock, should have it tomorrow.
So when I get more deatails/paper work I'll post what I learn.
But a good recording of the noise maight help you too!

 

So 24hrs later, dealer calls to say it's finished. When I get in to pick her up, my manager was busy w/another customer, and me a day sleeper, didn't want to wait around to talk more.
But the paper work says: Motor Assy (Temp Blend) replace part # AL8Z-19E616*F no charge

So Google finds 1 hit for thar part #, it was like $20. Not sure how hard to replace/access, apparently not hard, the hours section has .40 for electronic diafnosis, .30 for diagnostic pin point test, and .20 for replace part.

Now temps are mild again, so time will tell if this is the noise or not. Just hope to not lose heat on a day I need it! (Defrost!)

I'm still under mfg warrenty, only have 28k and 30/mos, I also have an ESP plan, which now I'm thinking was a good choice. I didn't get to ask what the repair would have cost, or if ESP covered.

 

Any update on the noise? Mine is actually at the Dealership as we speak being looked at. I previously had them working on my AC Cutting Off Interittently and I said that this happened after they did that work on my car under warranty and they should cover this under warranty since my car is now out of warranty.

I have not been given a answer yet or an cost estimate but if they dont cover it and its expensive I am going to pitch a fit since the car wasnt making this noise until after they worked on it.

 

I just realized yesterday that mine has not made the noise in about two weeks. It's been unusually cold here so I am wondering if that has anything to do with it. During last year's cold snap it did not stop though.

 

Dealer says that "couldnt get the noise to repeat" however I drive the car daily for 3 hours a day and it gets worse throughout my commute. I guess I need to be driving it for atleast 30 minutes before I go my the dealer.

On a side note after describing it to the Service Manager he says hes 99% sure its the blend door actuator but he "cant go on assumptions" as well as he isnt sure its covered in my warranty when originally he said it was going to be covered.

VERY ANNOYING!

 

Those blend doors can be a real pain! My '02 Explorer rear A/C blend door actuator went bad at least 8 times and is bad now. Ford covered the ones during warranty and because they kept going bad after that they were covered for one year or less than 12,000 miles because of the last repair. There is a plastic gear that skips a tooth at first and this causes the blend door to slam shut making the knock. It was past the 12 months this last time so I took the Explorer to a local repair shop to disconnect the actuator. They said it would cost more to get to it but suggested they unplug the system power in the rear for a quick fix but I would loose the rear A/C. I could plug it back-in if I need the rear A/C but the noise returns. At some point the gear will strip more and I will hear the noise less. It's been 6 months since I started unplugging the wire connection and I'm not hearing the noise near as much. As far as I'm concerned I don't need the rear A/C or heater 98% of the time but would not accept this for the front A/C.

The Dealers and Ford know this is a problem and if you brought your FEH in for the noise under warranty that has now ran out, they should work with you. The last time I ran over the repair work warranty I got the Dealer to repair it for a third of the cost because of the history and having less than 65,000 miles on the vehicle. I've put all the big money into the '02 Explorer I'm going to with 90,000 miles so its patch and go for my sons school car now.

GaryG

 

Mine has been doing the 'sounds like coffee percolating noise from behind the dash' trick for awhile.

I narrowed it down to the blend door actuator (motor) which is a black cylinder approximately where your passengers left little toe goes under the dash. You can be sure that this is the part since you can feel the vibrations when it clicks - it just sounds like its coming from behind the dash because the ductwork acts as a nice megaphone.

To answer all of the questions about why this is intermittent or why the dealer can never reproduce - it happens only when the interior temperature has reached the set point. The dealer will most likely try cranking the system up to 90 or down to 60 to reproduce, and you won't ever reach tis setpoint.

When you reach the setpoint, the door motor is trying to close the door to the vents. I removed the part and disassembled it - it's got very cheaply made plastic gears inside that were missing several teeth. Most likely, the motor doesn't include any logic to note that its reached the end of travel, so keeps spinning with enough torque to break some gear teeth. The 'skip click skip cliiiiiik skip skip" sound you are hearing are the remaining teeth engaging as the motor spins wildly.

The motor will still try to engage the door even if the HVAC system is turned off, as long as the setpoint has been reached, so you can still hear this noise even if you shut down the system. However, if you raise the setpoint to 90 (or 60) and then shut down the system, the noise will go away.

I showed all of this to my dealer, so they could notice it if they see it again, and they gave me a no-charge warranty replacement of the actuator motor, which is part number 19E616.

Hope this helps somebody!