My fan system is making continuous ticking noises...[Video inside]

[ice512]

This just started today, everytime I turn on the fan it would make this ticking noise, even when the car is fully warmed up it would do the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVPvbvnGsTU&feature=youtu.be

Has anyone else experienced the same?? Any solutions to it before I bring it back to the dealership?

Thanks in advance!

[ice512]

At 0:23 you will see me turning the system off and on, and you can clearly see the sound is coming from the fan system not anything else.

[ace_master]

I had this before. When i got in there, it was a leaf stuck in the fan behind the center console/glovebox area... I've actually got the problem again right now (started about a week ago)... I don't have a garage, and I'm going to be at the dealership tomorrow anyhow, so I'm going to ask them to take a look in there and pull out whatever has made it's way in there.

[ace_master]

I'm not 100% sure where any air filters are in the A/C system, but I'd recommend keeping the blower speeds as low as you can handle for the time being, cause if it's a dry leaf, and it dislodges, it could turn into 100 tiny leaves, and come out of every vent you have open, lol.

[ice512]

I'm not 100% sure where any air filters are in the A/C system, but I'd recommend keeping the blower speeds as low as you can handle for the time being, cause if it's a dry leaf, and it dislodges, it could turn into 100 tiny leaves, and come out of every vent you have open, lol.

Thanks for the reply, but how on earth did I manage to get a leaf stuck in there in this kinda weather? lol

[Wisecraker]

This happened to me. I don't know what it was, but it stopped about 5 mins later. This happened about a month ago

[ace_master]

I was cleaning my car today, and noticed what appeared to be shredded napkin pieces in front of my WeatherTech mats in the passenger foot well. Since it was nice out, I decided to remove the glove box check it out... Sure enough there was a napkin in the fan (what the fudge!?). I keep napkins in the glove box, but couldn't figure out how the hell one could get behind the glove box to the vent.

Judging by the layout of the car, and the two experiences I've had, It seems to me that you'd only really have this problem if the following two things come into play at the same time...
1- You have your cars vents set to circulate inside air.
2- You have a passenger that happens to drop or kick something lightweight toward the front of the foot well while the vent is open, and the fan is on high enough to suck it up there.


I'm still going to ask about the issue when I visit the dealership tomorrow, as I'm sure they must have at least a few customers coming through with this problem.

Anyways... I'm sure your dealership would get it out free of charge, but if you're down for an adventure... this is where you'll find the vent once the glove box has been removed (see the white fins on the fan at the end of the arrow?). You'll need to turn the car on for a moment and set the air to 'circulate inside air' to open the black vent to the right of the arrow to see what's in there... I got mine out with a narrow attachment on a vacuum.
http://imageshack.com/a/img191/1894/pvyr.jpg

[ice512]

I was cleaning my car today, and noticed what appeared to be shredded napkin pieces in front of my WeatherTech mats in the passenger foot well. Since it was nice out, I decided to remove the glove box check it out... Sure enough there was a napkin in the fan (what the fudge!?). I keep napkins in the glove box, but couldn't figure out how the hell one could get behind the glove box to the vent.

Judging by the layout of the car, and the two experiences I've had, It seems to me that you'd only really have this problem if the following two things come into play at the same time...
1- You have your cars vents set to circulate inside air.
2- You have a passenger that happens to drop or kick something lightweight toward the front of the foot well while the vent is open, and the fan is on high enough to suck it up there.


I'm still going to ask about the issue when I visit the dealership tomorrow, as I'm sure they must have at least a few customers coming through with this problem.

Anyways... I'm sure your dealership would get it out free of charge, but if you're down for an adventure... this is where you'll find the vent once the glove box has been removed (see the white fins on the fan at the end of the arrow?). You'll need to turn the car on for a moment and set the air to 'circulate inside air' to open the black vent to the right of the arrow to see what's in there... I got mine out with a narrow attachment on a vacuum.
http://imageshack.com/a/img191/1894/pvyr.jpg

So I took it to the dealer today, and the tech did exactly what you did, took the glove compartment apart and checked out that fan with the white blades. He showed me how much leaves had gotten in there from the fall season. Since it is not a manufacturer defect I had to pay one hour to labor for him to suck everything leaf out of the duct. The lady was nice enough to give me 10% tm3 discount to absorb some of the financial damage :(

On a side note, this is a really poor design by Mazda. I had a 2006 X-trail and a 2011 Jetta before owning the 3, and they were all parked at exact same spot. None of the cars had this problem before.

[ace_master]

That sucks that you had to pay an hour labor. But it's great to hear that you got it cleared out.

The only thing that made me realize that it was an interior issue is finding that napkin (which had obviously not come from outside the car). Before finding that, I thought the first leaf had somehow come through the vents between the windshield and the hood.

[markow202]

ONCE on my 2013 I think when it was about 2 months old of ownership at the time it breifly made that noise for about a minute then stopped. Good to know what it can be if it starts again!