Saturday I was driving on the highway and I heard what sounded like a relay losing its mind from somewhere on the passenger side of the car! Nothing stopped working...but it was annoying! Then it suddenly stopped. Okay...are there any relays in the passenger compartment that could go mad...or did I have some new species of electronic cricket???

 

Probably your climate control sensor

 

Mine does this too. It clicks so bad, my wife can hear it when I'm talking to her on my headset while driving. I go mad listening to it!!!

How much of a PITA is it to replace this sensor?


<img src="confused.gif" border="0">

 

Easy fix. Crawl under there and you will see a couple of small black boxes that are the size of relays. Remove the leads that connect these one-by-one and clean them with dielectric cleaner (contact cleaner) from the auto parts store and light sand paper. Don't disconnect them all at the same time or you may forget which one goes where.
<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

 

Mine does the same thing, although the climate control seems to be working fine. Anyone know the part number or where this thing can be found? I've checked a few websites where I usually look for parts and haven't been able to find it yet.

 

Thanks!! I'll give them a good cleaning! It does seem to happen after I hit a few bumps so it does seem to be an intermittant connection issue. It REALLY is noisey!! Echoes throughout the car...so it's hard to locate ('specially at 90 mph on Rt 495 in the Boston area!!)

 

Just an picky FYI for y'all.. the clicking isn't technically from "relays", but from soleniod valves (similar, uses a solenoid to move a valve spool instead of electrical contacts). And they rarely actually go bad; it's usually a problem in the operating signal from the brain, or in the grounding of the solenoid. If replacing one 'fixes' it, it's usually more the act of unplugging & replugging the connector. Check the coil by measuring resistance from electrical input to ground; check operation by applying 12V while blowing or sucking thru the plumbing connections.
Since dead-end vacuum systems like this are low-flow and usually clean, there's not much foreign crap to jam the valve.

Jim, wishin' the same was true of the pneumatics in the lab...

 

someone said "dont take them all off at once incase you forget where they go", couldnt this just be solved if you had a digital camera? It would also help others to see what you did. Just a thought.

 

anyone have apicture of this?

 

[quote]Originally posted by sisher951:
<strong>someone said "dont take them all off at once incase you forget where they go", couldnt this just be solved if you had a digital camera</strong><hr></blockquote>

Not really. The two wires (one per valve) and the vacuum lines are gonna look alike when dangling loose. Label 'em with tape tags when you remove them. IIRC, the two valves are identical, so it's a matter of matching the right wire to the correct outging vacuum line.

Jim, "I had a psychic girlfriend, but she left me before we met."

 

Mine clicks in my n/a when the a/c is in.......problem is, when it clicks, it blows full heat! Back and forth, hot and cold.......

 

Bones, check connections & grounds, first on the solenoid valves (what's clicking), then on the back of the brain itself, then on the sensors (one in the fresh air intake under the hood by the battery, one in the dash at the end of the tube from the grille near the glovebox, one in the middle of the mixing box ..I've never seen the last one).

Post back if you need more detail, but it'll probably be tomorrow afternoon before I have time to write it; or check the archives.

Jim, that dam' clickin' noise again!

 

Okay I crawled underneath the dash last night to search for the loose connections. I couldn't see the boxes! Do I have to remove the glove compartment to see them or am I looking in the wrong place??? It only 'clicked' a couple time this morning but last night it sounded like a cricket on speed!!! ARGH!!!

If only MAPQUEST had the 944 Roadmap!!

 

Steve,
Removing the glove box makes it alot easier to see the solenoids & the vac hoses running to them. Those babies are around $80 each at the dealer so treat them gently.

 

Thanks Tom...I suspected that...but figured I'd ask before ripping it out! $80!! Ouch. The kid gloves will be on!!

Thanks,

Steve