Brcobrem

Hi 1st Gen Forum,

My 2000 RX300 has developed a funny, but mildly annoying noise in the dash. It seems to be coming from the passenger side (ie. right side in USA). The noise seems to be related to the vent control system. Sorry I don't have any reference materials to find the correct terminology.

Oddly enough, the sound reminds me exactly of that little squeak-squeak-squeak-pause-squeak-squeak-pause (this repeats) noise that the old cassette desk used to make when they had a worn out cassette in them, or the deck's spindles needed a little lubrication. The noise doesn't happen all the time, and sometimes it goes away after a while.

The sound will go away immediately if I use the round manual vent control button and set it for floor only. I'm thinking that this might have something to do with a vent position control motor somewhere. But I'm not sure of that either.

As always, I appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Regards . . .

hypervish

You've answered your own question.

The Air Mode Servo is making noise. There is a DIY on here on how to access it, you can either clean the contacts and lubricate the inside or just replace the entire servo.

Brcobrem

Thanks hypervish. I did spend about 15 minutes trying to find something related. But since I had no clue as to a keyword to search for, I found nothing.

"Air Mode Servo". Got it.

Regards . . .

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

My 99 RX just started doing exactly the same thing. I have all the symptoms of both servos needing replaced. Unfortunately, there are several other things that need to be repaired/replaced, to the point that I think I need to sell the car to someone a little more mechanically inclined than I.

cwatx

My 2000 RX just started making the chirping noise too. In fact, it sounds like there's an entire nest of birds in my passenger-side dash! It has been making the clicking noise intermittently for a while now. I'm not very mechanically-inclined, so I'm considering buying the part & having a mechanic install a new one.
Do the servos usually go out in pairs? Once the Air Mode Servo goes out, does the other typically fail too?

fastnoypi

Phillips head screw driver is all you need to get behind the panel. The servo is approximately behind the panel that would touch a front passengers left leg.

You can save a bunch of $ by just opening the servo and adjusting the worm gear on the electric motor shaft. There's a YouTube video out there to walk you through.

popeyerx

Same issue for me as well. It turned out to be the vent servo motor (the part number for the vent servo is Denso 063700-7470 for the 2001 RX300) I found the hard way that different years it is different.

It could also be the warm/cold servo motor that is on the fritz ... this servo is also right behind the first one and can make a clicking noise. I have not got round to replacing that though both are not really that difficult.