Windstar SE 2003 clicking noise

[amjones7]

I havent had it looked at yet. Its been making this noise for about 2 wks. but sounds like the Windshield Motor is going out but when you have the heat turned on. and the higher you turn up the blower the louder the clicking/knocking noise is

Any Ideas? or can i do something myself to fix this

[garync1]

So you do have heat???If you slide the heat/ cool controls back to cool does the temp change.. There is a blend door problem that I and others have had..If you have heat try to go back to AC mode and see if it stays hot.. Then see if it will go back back to hot if it does work on AC..

[amjones7]

I have heat

if you slide the controls to cool then it gets cool and hot gets hot.

Hope this helps

[garync1]

But does the clicking noise change any..when you slide the slide controls???

[garync1]

You may have had something get sucked in from were the cabin airfilter is ,if everything works good and blows strong. you could pull the cowl off were the winshield wipers are.. Not that hard at all,,,, and use a shop vac to suck what evers in there out..I think the grate that keeps the cabin airfilter from falling in may be removable.. I hope.. I keep looking..

[garync1]

I went out and took 2 pics on how to drop the glove box down. just push in on the sides were the rubber stops are and you will see the blower motor..
Here is the link. When you get there you will see trailer photos but the last 2 are the glove box and the blower motor that may be your best option to locate the clicking noise if the above problems are not the issue.Hope this helps.. Just click on the Photo to make them bigger.
http://community.webshots.com/album/556939487VdTPOV

[amjones7]

Hi
Thank you again for all of your help!

I noticed something interesting this afternoon while driving the Windstar.

When i turn the blower onto High the noise stops. and then i can turn it back to low and it will not make the noise. If i stop and turn the car off and then after a bit, go again it will start knocking but if i turn it to High for a few min. and then back to low No noises. Strange!!

[frostie]

If it makes you feel any better, the same thing happens on my 99. Wonderful Ford Engineering!

[garync1]

Not sure in your case... I know they do have some problems with the blend door motors. But if your AC and heat is working fine than it must be in the fan.. If the blend door motor was bad you would only have one or the other. The motor itself does not go bad its the gears, they slip and the blend door goes knock, knock,knock...all the time..

[garymd]

My 2000 started a similar noise. With the fan and heat select knob in the off position the noise was evident. If you slide the front temperature control the sound would change and even stop in certain positions. Both the heat and AC work.

Gary

[garync1]

[quote=garymd]My 2000 started a similar noise. With the fan and heat select knob in the off position the noise was evident. If you slide the front temperature control the sound would change and even stop in certain positions. Both the heat and AC work.

Gary[/QUOTE

If you drop down your glove box and you look to the left you will see a white square shape box right behind the stereo area you may be able to unplug the connection to see if the noise stops. If it does your blend door motor gears are bad and will need to replace the blend door motor.. A little tricky to get too..
hope this helps. GaryNC
http://community.webshots.com/album/556939487VdTPOV
Added more pics of the blend door motor.. Click on pic to inlarge,some are on page 2.

[amjones7]

Hi

Well we didnt get a chance to take the Windstar apart this past wk, or weekend due to family emergencies. BUT guess what! I go to take the kids to school this morning. The 1st morning in Georgia that it is actually cold, Thank Gawd for Garages!! NO HEAT! NO clicking noises NOTHING! So i guess whatever it was Quit, Died, etc. Hubby said go ahead and take it to shop to find out the problem. Oh Joy!

Thanks for the help in the past.
Ava

[garymd]

Garync

I'll try that, thanks.

[cyberapache]

Interesting.... I have the same problem with my 2001. The clicking is worse when rear heat control knob in the front is low, and almost disappears when set to high.

The clicking comes from the relay in the fuse compartment on the driver side. If you time the click, it coincides with turning on/off of the rear blower (at least in my case).

The rear blower operation has always been erratic since I bought this van new. Even took it in for warranty repair and dealer said nothing wrong with rear blower.

I'll look at it again when the weather gets a little warmer. Hopefully, it's just a bad relay. If anyone has other thoughts or experience let's know.

[wiswind]

It's a long shot....but...when you said "No heat....clicking....nothing".....do you mean that the fan is not running?
Reason I ask......is, if you lost the fan.....it could be the heater fan dropping resistor.
I suddenly lost all speeds but high......took the dropping resistor out, and it was corroded....and 1 connection had broken.
A new dropping resistor fixed the problem......
I posted pictures of the dropping resistor.....up under the dash...behind the glove box. A broken connection could make a "clicking noise" if it is arcing.....

I posted a couple of pictures of the blower motor dropping resistor....not to be confused with my pictures of the radiator fan dropping resistor.