Heater sounds FUBAR! :(

[George]

Of late, the heater has been making some odd noises and not functioning at its best.

After a cold night, I'd find the fan would not kick in at speeds 1 or 2. On 3 or it would make a terrible noise a I'd describe it as a rattle which lasted a 1-15 seconds before it felt like something 'kicked in' and normal service resumed.

Except now, the rattle has returned, occurs on all fan speeds and it not resolving. It still blows hot/cold air with little issue, it's just the sound is terrible and I swear I can smell a somewhat burning type smell when up to 3 or 4.

Any ideas? I suspect it's fan/matrix related? Dash out job?

[pony2]

It is worth checking the blower motor, you can remove it from the engine bay. A bit of wd40 did the trick for me. Guide here:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... nly_on_Max

[George]

Thanks

Came across this thread: http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ater+noise

'Sounds' (no pun intended) about right. There was mild chirping in the prior few months however this was only on lower speeds and intermittant rather than progressive and worsening. Will get it out and see what the dealio is over the weekend.

Is it better just to not use it in the time being? I'm assuming futher will simply exacerbate things and potentially render it unfixable?