How do I get to this bit of the blower ?

After being driven mad by a rattle ( that happens when I go over a bump ) for ages and having cable tied, sound proofed and fiddled about hunting for it for ages I finally found where it's coming from. It has meant my bumper is now properly attached, some missing screws have been replaced and all around and behind my glove box is hurricane proof so that's good but I really want to stop the noise forever.

It's something to do with the air duct that opens and closes to either use fresh air or recirculated air. I know it is this as I can replicate the exact sound when I move the heating control slider quickly. It makes the noise as it arrives at the fresh air side and there's no rattle when it's set on recirculated and I hit a bump.

I know I could just leave it on recirculated but I've never liked doing that in any vehicle so how can I get to it and dampen the flap that I think is loose when it's open ?

The pictures on the exploded diagrams for parts don't show much at all so I was wondering if anybody had any experience/ ideas about getting to it.

Thank you.

Just in case anybody else has this rattle issue getting to this thing is an absolute beast ! By removing the glove box, side speaker panel and an electrical relay/ connection thing that is right in the middle and above the main blower motor box you can follow the cable from the slider control down to where it hits a control arm.

Then squeeze your hand into the gap and wedge a stick ( about 6cm long, quite skinny and that has a groove cut in the top ) on to the flap control arm ( right at the back not the bit nearer the cable ) and some sticking out plastic block just below it.

It's either the stick option or remove the whole blower assembly, personally I think the stick is way better and if anybody forces my slider to recirculate I won't be happy and will be sticking their hand in the tiny gap to put the stick back.

No more rattle

Hello NickZ.

You can never beat fixing your own problems but this is a tad tricky to solve completely.

I’m not fan of having ventilation on recirculation. You see cars etc on the roads in poor weather with all their windows steamed up and drivers peering out of a wiped area of the windscreen. Aside from damp this can be lack of flow or constant recirculation, which I only like to use if there’s a reason to temporarily isolate from the outside and I’d say temporary.

As you know the front HVAC unit is deep in the dash; this is the case in every vehicle, not just the Hiace, but to get at the box to fix this ‘properly’ the dash has to come out. I say properly as the flaps and other adjustable parts of the front HVAC box have cushioning foam on their sides and also around their edges. Over time this foam turns to dust, ducted air escapes around the edges and the flaps rattle. I think the problem you had is these flaps rattling.

You can also reduce the rattling a bit by adjusting the screw-thread lengths on the parts attached to the Bowden (push-pull) cables so the flaps are slightly closed and away from their original stops. In their original locations they rely on the foam to dampen things. Some of the flaps are linked with others. These are indicated by the control lever locations, windscreen, windscreen plus lower etc.

HTH!!

I never use recirculate and that was why I always had a rattle. I've dampened and removed so much noise from the cab that now I notice everything that was adding to it and they become louder. I think with this you might be able to get away with taking out just the blower motor box as the flap is in that but then you get the problem of lining it all back up so you could be right and it's probably a dashboard out job.

I might have to get a bigger stick at some point when the last bits of foam turn to dust and my wedge gets less effective so I think I'll go upmarket and use bamboo next time, it's way more of an original Japanese part !

Interestingly I find that when I'm sleeping in a van, recirc prevents the from screen fogging up so much. Not sure why.

The flap in question (well, the 'close flap' - maybe there are two?) is actually right at the front of the van, take the grille and LHS headlamp off and you'll see it.

Might be a bit easier to debug from that side.

After wheel balancing, virtually all of my rattles go away. Worth a try

I'm nearly rattle free now I've just got to stick some bits of an old inner tube inbetween two of my leaf springs and that'll be it.. The bit of garden hose fell out !

GPW wrote:

Interestingly I find that when I'm sleeping in a van, recirc prevents the from screen fogging up so much. Not sure why.

The flap in question (well, the 'close flap' - maybe there are two?) is actually right at the front of the van, take the grille and LHS headlamp off and you'll see it.

Might be a bit easier to debug from that side.

Absolutely! Yes, I forgot that’s where and how the air ‘choice’ to the fan is made. Spot on GPW. This flap can also suffer from rattley loss of foam as can the stainless steel mesh intake filter, which is all the Hiace has as a cabin filter. On this, the mesh is stainless but it’s sandwiched between two passivated-steel parts. The filter is secured up under the FL corner on the outside.

I’d recommend a good inspection, clean and freshen up, which might include replacing the foam seal with either butyl tape, closed cell foam or something else that doesn’t hold water. Here’s a picture of the filter from my van spruced up and ready for a top coat. The round hole is for the headlamp adjustment thing:



If you remove this mesh you can access the outer side of the recirc flap, but it’s not quite a 'pre-flight check'. Save it for when you need to poke about in that general area and have time to spare.

Hope I got it right this time!

I have a 2002 Toyota hiace, 3.0l diesel, Japanese import campervan.
It has 8 seats some of which converts into to bed.
Was insured for two years, now the broker has been taken over by another firm and they can not get me an insurance quote. It sound like one of the reasons is the 8 seats.
Any UK owners out there with a similar vehicle. Who did you get insured with?
Rob

I did mine with Adrian Flux, they were the only ones interested in my van ( also an import ) here in the UK. They also "mirrored" my no claims that was on a another vehicle which was a bonus.

I use the NFU no issues at all even allows towing horse box caravan etc .

I'm with Adrian Flux too. AIS was another option but they were more expensive.

I've heard bad things about Adrian Flux with regards to charging for minor changes, cancellations etc. So for renewal, I'm going to try Lifesure, recommended from my brother who has had a Bongo and an Alphard. If you try them, let us know what they say and how they compare?