Strange hollow tapping noise from passenger side dash.....

[cptnsolo77]

Started the car the other day and & noticed a tapping noise coming from the passenger side dash. Sounded like a someone was tapping on a hollow plastic box. It was very steady. Made the noise even when the blower was on OR off. I popped the hood to see if it was coming from the engine bay but the sound still seemed to originate from the interior. Did it for a couple of minutes then stopped. Happened again the next day for a even shorter period of time. any guesses?

[DiveNut]

Guessing it's your air recirculation stuff, i.e. the mechanism that allows air from outside for HVAC use. That button on your dash controls it. Sometimes it will stop when you close it (green light off). several threads related to the fix are available here.Pat

[sideshowalan]

Here's the thread on the HVAC recirculate door.http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=29575Only other thing it may be is the serpentine belt tensioner. This makes a clicking/tapping noise when it goes bad but it would be under the hood.

[cptnsolo77]

Its definitely the recirc. It onlt taps when i hit the button. Thanks!

[djkeev]

I can count on one hand the number of times I've recirculated air in the car (purchased new in 07). The question to me is Why?? It's moisture ridden from humans exhaling, it's potentially poisoned by unseen exhaust leaks as well. If I've got foggy windows, I pop on the AC for a minute or two. I'm tempted to just disconnect it so that the broken gear will NEVER be an issue for me.Dave

[chadhgraves]

Pushing the buttons worked for awhile for me till it stripped the gears and clicked both ways. Fixed mine awhile back. Tough to get to though. Open the motor and flip the white gear 180 degrees. Works fine now. Multiple threads on how to do it. I use the cabin air recirculate button in the summer when using my A/C, otherwise it has to cool down 100'F muggy air. It gets a lot colder recirculating the air.