[captainjd02]

Hello again,

About a month ago I started hearing a high pitch squeal when I had the fan on. When I turned it off the sound went away. So I made a appointment with the dealer. When I went down there I could hear the noise, but the technician could not. Fast forward a month later and the noise is still there. It is intermittent, but doesn't seem to have a pattern. There one day, gone the next. Anyways I have narrowed it down to the fan itself. I took the cabin filter out and by manually spinning the fan blade with my finger I can reproduce the noise.

So my question is: can I have the dealer replace the fan even though they didn't hear the noise? Do the technicians have to physically identify a problem before they will perform the requested work? I have never had parts replaced under warranty so I'm clueless to the process.

Thanks

 

[snapper41]

..
Manufacturer defect must be verified by technician , service manager or factory rep for warranty consideration ( repair/replacement). If you can show them and duplicate the noise ( like spinning the fan) you should be golden.

 

[elp_jc]

Yep, needs to be reproduced to fix it. The good news is if it's a defect, it'll eventually gets worse, so be patient. Now, my guess is fan is probably hitting a piece of 'flashing' on the housing, which is excess plastic from the injection molding process. This has been the case in 2 other cars I had before, meaning noise WILL NOT get worse. Since you seem to be the DIY type, I'd go back and run your fingers all around where the fan could hit and feel for anything that could be hitting the fan. Also feel the blades to make sure there's no flashing there either. And finally, if filter is close enough to the fan, it could be a protrusion (or even flashing from the housing, but haven't seen it myself) on the filter or filter housing, so check everything. If noise is that subdued, sounds like what I described. Again, if it's the motor itself, it'll definitely deteriorate over time, so just wait until it makes enough noise all the time to make it obvious to a tech it's not normal. Hopefully that won't be the issue, but should be a relatively easy fix if car was designed well :grin:. Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[jdubs]

Noises like that make me crazy. If you take it back to the dealer make sure you ask that a young person be ask to listen for the sound. I don't know how old you are or the technician who initially checked it out but we all tend to lose high frequency hearing at a fairly early age; some more than others.

 

[captainjd02]

QUOTE (elp_jc @ Jul 12 2010, 11:13 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=341034

Yep, needs to be reproduced to fix it. The good news is if it's a defect, it'll eventually gets worse, so be patient. Now, my guess is fan is probably hitting a piece of 'flashing' on the housing, which is excess plastic from the injection molding process. This has been the case in 2 other cars I had before, meaning noise WILL NOT get worse. Since you seem to be the DIY type, I'd go back and run your fingers all around where the fan could hit and feel for anything that could be hitting the fan. Also feel the blades to make sure there's no flashing there either. And finally, if filter is close enough to the fan, it could be a protrusion (or even flashing from the housing, but haven't seen it myself) on the filter or filter housing, so check everything. If noise is that subdued, sounds like what I described. Again, if it's the motor itself, it'll definitely deteriorate over time, so just wait until it makes enough noise all the time to make it obvious to a tech it's not normal. Hopefully that won't be the issue, but should be a relatively easy fix if car was designed well :grin:. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Thanks for the ideas. When I first visited the dealer he told me to check for debris in the filter. When I pulled the filter out a big leaf was in there so I thought "sweet, that is probably the issue", but to my dismay it wasn't. If the fan was hitting flashing would it be a continuous noise? What gets me is that it comes and goes. Almost sounds like a bearing is going bad, or something else in the motor is goofy, but I'm no expert. Luckily it looks like the fan is relatively easy to get to. Doesn't appear the whole dash needs to be tore off. I will keep you updated.

 

[Mike Eckman]

Something you might want to try is see if you can record a video of it happening. This still wont guarantee they'll fix it, but it might go a long way in convincing the service department at your dealer that there is a problem.

Many dealerships want to help people with claims like this, but their hands are tied in terms of them not getting the labor and parts approved under warranty, however if you have a video that can show them the exact circumstances in whcih they can recreate it, it might help your cause.

 

[captainjd02]

QUOTE (jdubs @ Jul 12 2010, 11:26 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=341041

Noises like that make me crazy. If you take it back to the dealer make sure you ask that a young person be ask to listen for the sound. I don't know how old you are or the technician who initially checked it out but we all tend to lose high frequency hearing at a fairly early age; some more than others.

I will turn 27 is 10 days, but I'm guessing the guy who listened to it was in his middle 30's. He even said his hearing wasn't to good, and that the tech who would actually work on it had worse hearing. I don't blame them, working in the shop definitely isn't good for their hearing.

I just hope I can get someone to hear it.

 

[jng34c]

QUOTE (captainjd02 @ Jul 12 2010, 11:38 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=341049

I will turn 27 is 10 days, but I'm guessing the guy who listened to it was in his middle 30's. He even said his hearing wasn't to good, and that the tech who would actually work on it had worse hearing. I don't blame them, working in the shop definitely isn't good for their hearing.

I just hope I can get someone to hear it.

http://www.quietrelief.com/

 

[captainjd02]

QUOTE (Proprioceptive @ Jul 12 2010, 11:49 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=341055

http://www.quietrelief.com/

That would be great if I had ringing all the time. But it's just in the car with the fan on. Think I could give this to the car and it would stop making noise. :wink2:

 

[jdubs]

QUOTE (captainjd02 @ Jul 12 2010, 12:55 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=341059

That would be great if I had ringing all the time. But it's just in the car with the fan on. Think I could give this to the car and it would stop making noise. :wink2:

Having good hearing is both a blessing and a curse. Good luck with the curse part. :grin:

 

[jng34c]

QUOTE (captainjd02 @ Jul 12 2010, 11:55 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=341059

That would be great if I had ringing all the time. But it's just in the car with the fan on. Think I could give this to the car and it would stop making noise. :wink2:

Sure! You'll need about 2 litres directly poured in to the AC vents and you're good to go!

 

[captainjd02]

QUOTE (jdubs @ Jul 12 2010, 12:12 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=341065

Having good hearing is both a blessing and a curse. Good luck with the curse part. :grin:

Thanks.

My car is back to toying with me. I had the noise going to work, then to a golf outing, but when I drove it home no noise at all. Has to be in the motor. I'm going to try and record it sometime, hopefully the camera mic can pick it up.

 

[sbr711]

QUOTE (captainjd02 @ Jul 12 2010, 07:15 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=341192

Thanks.

Has to be in the motor. I'm going to try and record it sometime, hopefully the camera mic can pick it up.

Dont waste your time...

You bring a car in and it ont make noise, I am not arbitrarilly replacing parts... you drag service advisor over and show him the noise and maybe a tech... verified, now we can replace a part, as we know what it is doing, where the problem is so we can document why we replaced part to get warranty claim paid.

I get a car and it not doing what they state, advisor is getting an earfull and he can deal with it, I am moving on to something more productive.

BTW, my ears ring all the time, too much open exhaust, loud music at clubs, and no hearing protection with firearms, so at times I have to have advisor show me what you want.