I have tried to search, but fan noise brings up way too many hits.

I have an 03 XJ8, with 81k miles. The A/C fan just started making a loud noise almost like something is in the filter and clogging it or even the tubes going to the vents. I have been driving it a lot lately, but this issue started after filling up with gas (not that this should matter) then on the drive from Cambridge OH to Cincinnati OH This noise just started.

I know not much to go on, but any thoughts or ideas where to start to look for an issue? I am sure I am not the only one to ever have this issue.

 

Hunks of insulation from inside the blower housing come loose and get caught in the squirrel cage fan. This creates a huge amount of rumble noise and vibration from the imbalance.

You have to remove the complete dash to remove either of the blower motors on an XJ8.
You can get a long distance look inside the housings by removing the underdash panels, and fish out the foam or any other debris with some long forceps or a coat hanger.

RH side access is with the glovebox removed. If the motors actually do fail, that's news I have not read yet. The loose foam is first and second hand experience.

 

thanks JTO, I will see if I can fish the insulation out... I was thinking that was the issue, but was hoping it wasn't a major job to fish.

I forgot to post that the fans still work fine, just noisy.

 

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no you dont drop the blower. Take a long pic with a 90* bend on the end. turn on the recirc feature to open the inner door. Now with a bright small pen light you can see through the recirc door (its on the front off the blower when looking under the dash and see the squirrel cage for each blower. You can disconnect the power to each blower to see when the noise stops, and when it does you found the offending blower. Now useing the pic and light to see you usually can see the foam stuck in the cage, if not move the cage with the pic. Now reach through grab the foam and pull it out. you done, and time and money saved
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Hi Brutal,

I too have the same problem. I wanted to attempt to fix mine myself but have no clue as to what a squirrel cage is? Also, how long a pic do you need to be able to reach the squirrel cage? Any photos? Thanks for your help.....

 

To wfd:
A squirrel cage is a type of fan. It is typically a cylindrical structure 4 - 7" in diameter and maybe 2" or so high, depending on the car. The outer surface of the "cage" is made up of many slats set at an angle. When the blower motor spins the cage, air is expelled outward from the cage, off into ductwork or out a door into the cabin.

 

Thank you Boomer from Boston,

So, essentially I can reach the cage through the blowers vent. It seems that most have been going through the vent that blows air to the feet. How long of a hemostat do I need to be able to reach the cage? I have one that is 12" but is not bent. Would this be sufficient?

 

Not through the heater vents to your feet, but the recirc door on the blower motor itself. Pull the lower dash panel to see the recirc door, cant identify it? Its about 2-3" tall 5-6"across and used to have felt/foam type covering on it that is now stuck in the squirrel cage. Operate the switch on the dash with the ac on to see the door open and close. When you open it(recirc on) turn off the key to leave it open. With a small bright pocket flash light peer into the opening and locate and remove the foam. Cant see it right away, operate the fan on/off till it stops to where you can see it and remove it

 

Thank you Brutal. I had considered dropping the passenger side blower motor on my 03 XJ8 until I read your post but will admit it took several attempts to find the recirc door. After removing the glove box the available viewing space through the recirc door was only about 2 ins by .75 ins. No foam was visible so I used a long screwdriver to rotate the squirrel cage and sure enough foam became visible. I removed 3 pieces representing 75% of the seal with duct tape (sticky side out) on the end of the screwdriver. To avoid the duct tape becomming dislodged I used a second piece sticky side down to hold the "fishing end" in place.
Thanks again Brutal

 

Any pics?!? I have the same issue and wanted to try this, but am just totally lost as to where to look.

Do I need to remove the glove box and/or panel above footwell just to see the cage or is the recirc-thing enough without any disassembling?

Also, which fuse box and fuse number did you pull for each fan? In the heelboard there looks to be a blower with fuse #11 in each heelboard box for each side.

 

VDPNYC .... sorry I did not take any photos.
You need to determine which blower motor is noisy. Simply touch each blower to check for vibration when running at med/high speed fan. To access the recirc door you will need to remove either the glove box or driver's side under panel depending on which motor is being accessed. I disconnected power to the blower motor at the harness connector rather than pulling the fuse. The recirc door is visible just below the dash panel and more readily identified if you operate the recirc and look for movement. All other details are in the post from Brutal above.
Good luck

 

Hi
I too have this noise and am convinced its cr*p in the fan.
I looked underneath the dash, operated the door ....ah can see 'a' door its attached to the tin can that the fan looks like it is in BUT the door appears to be ABOVE the impeller and its impossible to look 'down' into it from above or am I missing something?
Any ideas anyone?
Are there any diagrams of the assembly?

 

I have the same problem.... but now I fixed it (thanks everyone).

I have attached some pictures if it helps, my issue was on the passenger side fan.

When I looked in there I could see pieces of foam in lodged in the blower blades.I was able to rotate the squirrel cage by hand with a long screw driver and use a little "grabber" tool (found mine at harbour frieght) to grab and pull the pieces of foam out of the cage and the noise has stopped..... that was the good news....

The bad news is I can see how big that piece of foam was on the back of the recirc door and I only got a few small pieces out... no where near the entire piece of foam. So that means it got chewed up and when through the fan. And I suspect it is clogging up the ducts a bit since when the fan is on high it doesn't blow very hard.


Short of taking the whole dash apart and cleaning the ducts out; does anyone have any suggestions on how I could get all the foam crap out? Thought about using a shop vac with a long skinny hose or something....

The pictures are a close up of the opening through the recirc door (make sure you open it) and then a wide angle shot. Note the glove box has been removed which you will need to do (also note it uses phillips head screws on the top and Torx screws on the bottom).

 

Thanks for the pix I will go and look again (mine is on the same side as yours but its my drivers !!..)
Last time I could not see the impeller at all..as I say will look again

 

Just to be clear, my problem was on the passenger side and thus those pictures are of the passenger side (with glove box removed).

Also, you won't see the cage until the recirc door is open. Make sure you turn the car to "on", turn on the fan and press the recirc button. When you do this, you should see the door in the top right move up and out of the way allowing you to see inside the "duct" where is fan is.

 

I can see the recirc door clearly open but it appears to be above the fan impeller *shrug* so so actually see the impeller I would need to be above the unit looking down (if you know what I mean ) having the steering wheel and such makes acces quite tight but I can even get my fingers (just) into the 'recirc' opening but can only reach about .5 of an inch down inside....
it would be nicer if the whole under-steering column-panel was easily removed.
I'll try and take some pictures..

 

I haven't done the drivers side but I thought you could remove that panel without too much pain....but I am not sure.

Really don't have a sense of how tight it is but can you get an inspection mirror back there to look down at the cage? Can you get one of those flexible "grab" tools down in there?

 

Yeah I'll have to find a way its driving me nuts !