Hey, the fans for the heater/ac have been making an intermittent squealing sound and I got some advise that it could be that the cabin filter is all clogged up thus putting extra strain on the fans, and I figure that since I've never replaced it in the two years I've had the car I might as well do it anyways. I've gotten to the filter box, under the plastic gutter thing/water channel what ever its called, but I'm not sure how to open it up. I've looked in my Bentley manual and it doesn't really seem to cover this so any advise? Also where is the best place to pick up an replacement?

thanks

 

Might not be the filter. A squealing noise suggests the fan which I understand is a common problem on the A6. I think the fan for your year is in a housing behind the glove box. I found a DIY that details how to access the fan housing. They recommend trying some lubricant at first but also explain how to open the fan housing and clean it out. Can't remember where I saw the DIY though. I will search for it again and post later if I find it.

Good Luck

 

Found the DIY I was thinking of

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/elec132.shtml

 

Hey thanks for the advise, although the DIY is for an c5 where as I have an c4 after I get around to checking the cabin filter this will definitely be my next approach.

 

Please keep us informed about this one. My fan C4 has been squeeling off and on for about a year. It is not behind the glove box - tried that. sometimes I think it is something loose in the housing cause a bump in the road will start it squeeling and then it slowly disappears. Good thing the radio works so I can drown out the noise.

 

Sorry its taken this long to post an update. Well finally got around to looking at it a couple of months ago. had to remove the wind shield wipers and the cover that goes right in front of the wind shield. Turns out my a6 didn't have a pollen and dust filter either. So I went ahead and cleaned out all the leaves and lint using my hands. Then I brook out the shop vac, vacuumed up what I couldn't reach with my hands. Then alternating between the vacuum and blower function of the shop vac I directed it into that radiator that sits there to see if that had any affect.

Well the good news is that although it didn't fix the problem completely, the squealing doesn't happen nearly as often and for very short periods of time when it does. Really only when I go over a large bump or a crack in the road and it only lasts for like 30 seconds to a minute.

The bad news is that this probably confirms the theory that the fan Is inundated with dust and the only way to solve the issue would be to take the thing apart and either replace the fan or try and clean it out like it shows in the DIY posted above. The problem with that is I think it is a bit more difficult to take apart the fan housing on our older A6's