This 2008 Chevrolet Impala came in with the complaint that there was a loud ticking sound coming from under the passenger side of the dash, with the a/c on. Well on that side of the car there are two actuators and to get to either one of them the glove box needs to be removed. On this year model there are two metal hinge pins that have to be removed from either side. I was able to grab one of them easily with a pair of duck bill pliers. Needle nosed would work too. I twisted it a little and pulled it right out.
The other one did not have enough of the pin exposed to grasp. I used this tool to push it out some from the other end of the hinge.
With both pins out, I opened the glove box latch and rolled it open. I had to maneuver the box around to get past the two stop pins at the back of the glove box.
A close up of one of the stop pins.
There is a gear mechanism on the left side of the glove box that has to be paid attention to. Just want to make sure you roll the glove box out of it cleanly and with no undue pressure. When re-assembling the glove box you will need to make sure everything lines up properly and it all rolls together smoothly.
With the glove box out of the way the recirculation/fresh air door actuator can be seen at the far right side. Just to confirm it was the cause of the ticking sound I put my hand on it while the sound was being produced.
You can see it, if you just get the glove box fully opened but there is not enough room for a full sized person to work without removing the complete glove box assembly.
There are two 5.5 mm headed screws that hold the actuator in place. In the following picture I am removing the rear one.
Now the nearest one. They are both on the same horizontal plane.
With the screws removed the actuator can be pulled from the door shaft and one alignment pin. It is much easier to remove the harness connector with the actuator free of the vehicle. Lift the tab and pull the connector loose. I did not reconnect the harness to the new actuator until it was mounted.
The new actuator and the old actuator both had the same part number 52409974 on them. Some of the earlier actuators have the part number 15844096 on them.
In fact it seems like the numbers are updated quite often, 16451370 and 22754988 are some other numbers in use for the same part.
If you would like to purchase the most up to date replacement actuator for this repair please click here.
A scan tool is the easiest. You can make adjustments to the controls to see which one affects the noise. You can narrow down the location by listening and then place your hand on the suspected actuator to confirm that you “feel” the noise.
Ive had to replace 3 of the 5 actuators. Yet another is ‘ticking’…. How can I tell which one needs to be replaced? THis ticking is a fast one, and they have all had different ticking rhythms…
Thanks for the help!!! This corrected my problem. It is a pain getting this out and you really can’t screw this up with the pictures you provided.
There are two screws that are difficult to remove and I used a 6mm, however once removed, they are much easier to get back on with the new actuator.
There are more actuators on the driver’s side of the dash. Also if a leaf or other foreign object is stuck in the blower fan blade it can make a ticking sound. That sound would change with blower speed though.
I have disconnected both actuators behind the glove box but still have the clicking noise. Why would this be? Thanks.