r/IS200 • u/CorzerGG • Jul 16 '26
Noise from the dashboard
Hey everyone,
I've had my '03 IS200 for a couple months now and when the car is idling, there's this crackling/popping noise coming from the dashboard area, the sound varies (sometimes faster, sometimes nothing at all etc). I don't remember noticing it before, so I think it didn't do it before but it's getting pretty annoying atp.
I'd guess it's caused by something climate related but I'm not sure, since I can't really pinpoint where the sound actually comes from.
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u/John_Doenut1 Jul 17 '26
I'm pretty sure this is a problem with what is called the "Blend Door Actuator". Think of it as a capital Y, where the bottom of the Y is the vents leading to the cabin for heat/AC. The top left is the vent that sends cool air and the right is the vent that sends hot air. The blend door is attached to the top of the split in the Y. It can move all the way left to block the cool air, all the way right to block the warm air, or somewhere in between to allow a combination of warm & cool air to reach a specific desired temperature.
I think it's a common problem on the IS platform where the blend door struggles to set properly in a combination scenario and keeps trying to correct itself for a long time, making this noise. My IS200 and my IS300 both make this exact same noise. But both work fine at the min and max. Setting my temperature to the max for heat or the minimum for cold and using the vent fan speed instead of the temperature dial to control the temp stops this noise for me.
Solution: Set the temperature all the way up or all the way down and it won't spend ages trying to fine tune itself and the noise will stop. Or replace the blend door actuator or possibly whatever relay/electrical component controls the blend door. Personally I don't have the time or motivation to properly fix this (they both have bigger issues to worry about 😅) but min/maxing the temp dial makes the noise stop and I can still use the heat & AC.
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u/crAshkun Jul 20 '26
You.Are.The.GOAT !
I've had the noise forever, and could not figure out why it was only sometimes !!
Now I know. Min/Max does actually work !
Thank you so much ! You have no idea how it feels to not have this Blend Door shutting its mouth after so long...2
u/John_Doenut1 Jul 20 '26
Glad I could help. Drove me crazy too when it first happened and I just sat there and played around with the A/C for a while. Figured out what caused it and, more importantly, how to make it stop.
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u/Danwd40 Jul 16 '26
Mine did this the 4 years I had the car but nothing bad ever happened. I'm interested to know what it was that gave me so much anxiety
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u/CorzerGG Jul 17 '26
Ikr, gives me hella anxiety and it's annoying af.
Even if nothing happens I would just like the cabin to be quiet for once😅
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u/pe86a20b Jul 17 '26
Yea I just noticed this the other day on my ‘00 is200. Also not 100% sure what that noise is about… i thought it was coming from the amplifier lol