My 1997 Dodge Caravan 3.8L LE model has small people living inside the dash

I went with everyone’s advice to get a mini-van for the 3 kids I have now. Twin boys and an 18month old. Low sleep, spending a lot for formula and diapers but it has been a great experience. So thanks for talking me into this van versus the macho 4 door 4WD pickup. I’m getting better gas mileage and the room is really a blessing when you need to change diapers on road trips.

Anywhoo, lately every time I turn on the fan for the air conditioner, I hear one of the people living in the dash knock 5 or six times behind the glove box. The fan does work, and the air is ice cold. I just don’t know if I should let these people out.

I’m not good at morse code, so not sure what they mean when they knock. Wife says maybe they are trying to tell me I am a great driver or a terrible driver. Maybe they want to get out of the vehicle? Maybe they want a snack and hopes my son will share his goldfish? What is your vote?

It doesn’t bother me much, but it would be nice to know why the knocking as I would like to source parts and fix the problem(post Halloween as this is kinda cool gag)?

Thanks in advance for your responses. Gene

I am low on sleep. It is a 1998 Caravan. oops

They could be signalling a bunch of different things. It could be “TETETETETE”, “KRKE”, “NNNNN”, or “CCN” or “NNCE” among other things, depending on how well you’ve read the morse character and letter spaces.

Something might have gotten stuck down there. Oftentimes you can gain access from the passenger side, under the dash and open the fan assembly up to see what’s rattling in there.

… or use this as a fine opportunity to learn morse code.

You need to do what Remcow recommended. You never know what you will find with small children. When my kids were small, I found a candy wrapper and a doll-sized baby bottle in the VCR. The computer once had a quarter in the floppy disk drive. You get the idea. Happy hunting.

The recirculation door actuator is noisy. When it starts to click push the recirc button to reverse the direction of the motor. If the noise stops for a few seconds it was coming from the actuator.

The recirc door acuator has no position sensor, power is applied to the motor for about 5-10 seconds allowing the motor to reach the end of its travel. Eventually they break a gear.

@markmast: we must be related. When my daughter was little (maybe three), while we were playing in the living room, she said something like: “lemme get a snack…”, flips the door of the VCR open, takes out a peanutbutter/jelly sandwich, takes a bite and puts it back in.

My mouth was open like it was a two dollar suitcase, too surprised to say anything.