No air out of center vent

[italianbro53]

So about two weeks ago I was turning on my air to defrost the windows, after they were defrosted I turned the vents on so air can come streaming at my face, well there was a clicking sound and still air didn't come out of the center vents, air comes out of the left and right vent, defroster and floor vents. I figured cause there was a cold front that hit that it was cause of that, but it was 55* last weekend and it still doesn't work. For a few days I would check to see if it would go center vents from defrost or floor and it would still click like it was trying, and now it doesn't click any more. I'm not sure what the part would be called that would. I haven't had the chance to go to local shop and get it coded to see if anything came up.

Also just had my car kill the battery about 3weeks ago after a long drive and lots of rain. After reading out here about water getting into the ECM box and shorting out the fan control relay, haven't had a chance to fix that yet either.

I've lost trust in my car, I shouldn't expect something to go wrong with it, but I do So far the problems I have had

- Oil pump chain broke causing top half engine failure with a thrown rod, warranty covered engine, new starter too
- 2 cruise control sensor, w/e its called
- Clutch went out badly, needed new one

I feel like for an 08' I shouldn't have the problems I'm having.

[p0isin]

The clicking sound could have been the motor trying to spin a gear to open the vents but failing to for some reason and now it is out of alignment. When I first purchased the car something similar happened and I would hear loud clicking noises from the main flap that controls the vent airflow.

I resolved my issue by removing the motor and manually spinning it back to the proper position before reassembling everything. Sorry if I have a sh*tty description, and that might not even be your problem it's just an idea.

[Stea1th]

I have the same clocking issue, and it seems it comes from different locations.

How does one prevent it from happening and is it easy to remove and fix?

[p0isin]

In my case the motor circled in red below and now covered by a block of wood (crappy fix but it's worked for 2 years) was the cause of vent airflow problems and was making a very annoying clicking sound. The gear controlling the flap seized on mine and so the motor kept trying to turn over but would just hit the seized gear and make noise without actually moving the flap.



I first tried the following to fix it:

1. Remove the motor and disassemble the plastic outer shell
2. Remove motor and gear from plastic shell, regrease and put back together
3. Align motor position with flap position (if flap is closed then make sure motor is in the closed position or vice versa if in the open position) and put the outer shell back together

The above fix only worked for a few weeks before the annoying clicking sound came back and my vent airflow was messed up again. I found that the plastic outer shell was not tightly snapped together and there was play between the motor shaft and the flap gear shaft. This had allowed for the motor and flap to get out of alignment and so the motor would try to "close" the flap when it was already closed and made the loud clicking sound.

In addition to repeating the three steps above I used a few screws and a block of wood to compress the outer shell of the motor/gear assembly together tightly to prevent the motor shaft gear from skipping along the flap gear shaft. Since doing that everything works great, no problems with airflow or the annoying sound.

I can't tell from your description where the noise is coming from but it could be related.

[Stea1th]

it sounds exactly like what you are saying, when the air comes on it sounds as if the motor is skipping a tooth or something and it clicks. However, Is there another motor behind the radio?

I ask because the clicks sound like they are also coming from one thats in the center part of the dash, but it could just be that one that you have in the pic.

[p0isin]

I wouldn't be surprised if there was another motor in the center for the center vents but I am not 100% certain. However, there is no access to the center vents by removing the radio. If you want to get to the center vents you are in for a painful experience. That requires removal of the dashboard which is a VERY time consuming and frustrating process (ask me how I know... lol). Hopefully that isn't your problem.

[Dregalia91]

It's an audi

[italianbro53]

Looks like I'll be holding off on fixing it then

[B7OrangeA4]

Same thing happens to me kinda without the noise. Anything 72 degrees and over comes out of the windshield vent. Don't know if my in vent boost gauge has anything to do with it


2007 Brilliant Black Audi A4 | 2.0T | S-Line | Titanium Package | Stage II Revo tune | 034 HFC | AWE boost gauge | APR snub mount | RS4 grill | 42% tint |

Stereo: Symphnony II+ | Dension GW17AC1 AUX | Alpine MRP-M650 Amp | 12 inch Alpine Type R sub

Previous: 2001.5 black audi s4

[80sGuy]

I've always had this 'clicking' sound on my '08 at a very early stage (around 15,000 miles) particularly at 68-69F. It works fine but then I usually direct the vents in the middle position. When using the heater and switching it to the floor, the two side vents by the doors blows cold air. I'm never too fond of how the climate system works on this car.

[p0isin]

If the air is coming out of the wrong place you can try a flap realignment using a VAG-COM Cable. Go to group 08 HVAC Control and Output Tests.

Perform each test (one motor at a time) and the last test will reset the position of all motors to "0". That may solve your problem.

[PNW Avant]

That motor pictured is not your problem - thats your recirc vent

All the vent motors will kick their own codes in VCDS. Go through the output test in AUTO-HVAC and then read your codes. It will tell you which motor is faulty and what the problem is. There are many motors accessible by removing your glovebox.

[p0isin]

That motor pictured is not your problem - thats your recirc vent

All the vent motors will kick their own codes in VCDS. Go through the output test in AUTO-HVAC and then read your codes. It will tell you which motor is faulty and what the problem is. There are many motors accessible by removing your glovebox.

Yeah I agree, after he gave more info it sounds like a different motor. Like you said, the easiest thing to try is the output tests through VCDS and then pull glovebox if necessary to try to access the faulty motor.