I have a 2004 Ford Explorer (251k miles) that has developed a rattling under the dashboard. It has a "click-click-click--click" sound that comes from somewhere under the dashboard. It starts as soon as I turn on the ignition of the vehicle and continues until I turn it off. It doesn't seem to get better or worse with acceleration, but is consistently there.

The clicking noise is loud within the vehicle, but I couldn't hear it when I looked under the hood (with the vehicle still running), so it seems to be localized to the dashboard area. It has a pattern of four clicks and starts over again. It continues with this pattern consistently. I can also hear a very faint hissing kind of noise that seems to follow the clicking pattern.

The clicking is loud and consistent, but it doesn't seem to affect the driving of the vehicle, but it just started and I haven't driven any real distance with it since it started (yesterday).

Does anyone have any insights on the cause of the clicking noise or a possible solution?

Thanks.

 

It sounds like the blend door motor, it's a fairly common issue on these. If you search this forum for that there are a few threads on fixing it.