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Updated - Noisy Interior Temp Sensor Fan in an S2 - Can I shut it up?

MJL944

MJL944

New member
The little fan on the interior temperature sensor unit (which sits behind the glove-box) on my 1989 S2 makes a very irritating buzzing noise at all times - especially on start-up. By placing my finger on the fan to stop it rotating I can kill the buzzing noise.

How do you remove the unit?
Can it be removed without removing the glove-box first?
Once removed, would spraying some white grease or WD-40 into the fan spindle area stop the buzzing noise or is a new interior temp sensor unit the only solution?
Maybe a new fan can be bought separately?
Or, is the noise due to the fan & unit being all clogged up with dust?

I've been told a complete new unit is around £100 so a quick squirt of some magic spray & a clean up would be a much preferred solution!

Hopefully someone out there will have dealt with this problem.

Many thanks.
 
mine makes a slight whirring noise but not noticeable once driving.I would think you will have to remove the glovebox to access. Nick
 
I would imagine the fan is clogged up with 20+ years of dust and dirt so a good clean may well do the trick. Take out the glovebox liner by undoing the 6 tiny screws inside it. Make sure to remove the fuse for the glovebox light as you'll probably blow it as you wiggle the bulb out of the way. With the liner removed you can pull the flexi pipe off the fan and clean it with a puff of air, brush and maybe a squirt of WD
 
Thanks for your time in replying gents. Paul, I followed your instructions & removed the glovebox liner so I could access & see the Cabin Temp Sensor unit. Fuse 11 (in an S2) is the fuse for the glovebox that should be removed. I spent a tortuous hour upside down in the passenger foot-well today (contorting myself around numerous cables and the glovebox lid) getting into a position to try to subdue the cabin temp sensor fan buzzing and I've been reasonably successful. I managed eventually to jam one end of the long red WD40 squirter extension pieces into the tiny gap between the fan and the unit and squirted loads of WD40 magic spray in there. I also generally manipulated the unit in all directions to ensure it was seated properly and that nothing was catching the sides of the fan blades as they rotate. Initially the buzzing got worse but repeated switching on & off of the unit (by turning the key between ignition stage 0 and 1) soon resulted in a much reduced noise - reducing from a harsh buzz to more of a hum which I presume is much more in keeping with the noise the fan should be making. One thing I noticed while down there (although it took me a while to realise!) is that the rubber flexi pipe that carries air from the little round vent (next to the cigarette lighter) on the dash to the cabin temp sensor unit is not there in my S2. If I put my finger over the hole that the flexi pipe would connect to on the cabin temp sensor this further reduces the buzzing/humming noise of the unit as the slight sucking noise caused by the fan pulling air through that intake hole disappears. So, the flexi pipe not being there is another reason my cabin temp sensor unit is/was so noisy. I'm assuming the lack of this pipe isn't actually causing a significant problem to the running of the heater system - correct? Does anyone know if this pipe is still available from OPC? Part number? Even better, does someone have one they can sell me? I'll post a 'Wanted' ad shortly. Hope this helps someone else with a similarly noisy Cabin Temp Unit fan in the future.
 
Porsche part number is 944 5725 2900 (Hose - Interior Sensor) and Nottingham OPC confirmed on Monday it is 'NLA'. Elliot has replied to my Wanted post saying he has some spare so I should be sorted.
 
I would imagine the only difference is it meters air temperature from the footwell as opposed to the cabin at dashboard level? [&:] It would be nice to get a pipe on there and see if it reduces the noise as well
 
If you look on "shapeways" I think you will find someone has created a mount to allow the use of a standard 40 x 40 computer fan... Worthwhile mod or not I will leave you folks to debate, just adding it to the discussion, because it is out there!
 
Although my fan was not noisy I removed it and opened it and removed 20 odd years of crud. The whole operation took 15 minutes from start to finish with no removal of glovebox required. It's either 2 x 10 or 11mm captive nuts, I used a long extension and planted myself upside down in the footwell. The 2 nuts and a multi-plug and remove the tube that goes to the dash vent and Bob's your uncle! Stuart
 
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