I have a 2005 chevy impala. Heat and air work great except anytime i use either, their is a bad squeak (like plastic on plastic) which comes from the passenger side dash, close to the vent. The sound is not coming from under the hood. Any ideas? Its pretty annoying.
Is it possible that the noise is coming from the bearings of the motor driving the HVAC fan?
If so, you may need to replace the fan motor.
Does the fan still work on all of its speed settings?
If not, then you may be hearing a noise from the resistor pack that controls fan speed.
Is the noise constant, or do you hear it briefly when you select “heat” or “AC?”
the fan works on all the speed settings. I am not sure about whether it is coming from the bearings. Where would those be located?
The bearings would be inside the blower motor. If this is the problem, the solution would be to replace the blower motor with a new one, but you might as well wait until it fails completely.
It is not always constant. I drove a 3 hour road trip on saturday and it never came on. the next day it happened almost each time i drove, for the duration of the time.
do you know if the blower motor under the hood or in the dash?
Under/behind the dash passenger side usually right behind the glove box.
thanks. it was replaced about 1 1/2 years ago by a GM dealership. I bet it is faulty. will call them. Thanks for info!
It was almost always women that brought noisy blowers to the attention of the Service Writers as men seem to have more chances to be exposed to events tha cause noise induced hearing loss. Myself I cannot hear an engine ping that would send a car to a mechanic.
Just one event from a magnum caliber handgun can do it. I had a brother in-law (thankfuly ex now) pop a 30-30 off right next to my ear, my hearing has never been the same. Shop tools have compounded the situation.
Most likely this will take a blower motor replacement to resolve. We saw this mostly on full size pickups for some reason.
If the noise is constant I’d suspect the blower (fan), either bad bearings or the “squirrel cage” fan itself rubbing against its housing.
If the noise only happens when you change settings on the HVAC controls, then I’d say it’s one of the doors (flaps) inside the system, and the noise occurs when the door moves.
Another possibility is a piece of debris, such as a leaf or pine needles, in the blower. This can make annoying noises that come and go until the debris works itself through the system. I just had this in my own car recently. I think it’s gone now, but I’m not sure.
Make mine another vote for the blower motor. Whether it’s the motor bearings or the fan, it’s one assembly.
A Haynes manual from the local parts store should show you how to get at it. It’ll be mounted on the ductwork, with an electrical plug plugging it in. Thes plugs usually have a spring clip molded into the side, and the plug needs to be pushed in while unclipping the clip. Failure to do so will break the clip off. Been there, done that.
By the way, once the motor/fan assembly has been removed it can be tested with a simple 9V transistor radio battery. I’ve tested them this way. Wise guys are allowed at this point to say “what’s a transistor radio?”.
MB
Those of the I-pod generation may even ask, “What is a radio?”
;-))
What’s an “I-pod”?
(sorry, couldn’t resist).
iPod, iPad; how are we supposed to know the difference?
Don’t ask me!
I own neither of these playthings.