Corolla 2006 - rattling around central console

[Peter_st16]

For the past few days my Corolla is making occasional loud  rattling/fast relay switching/plastic expanding noises around the central console. I've taken the dashboard off but still can't pinpoint it. When I touch any of the servos (or the central unit) when the rattling is on I can feel faint vibration. It stops on it's own after a few seconds and usually happens at low speeds. All the climate controls work and I can see the servos operating as expected. Sometimes changing any of the blower settings fixes it immediately. 

Sometimes it happens on cold engine, sometimes not. 

Any clues? Even with the top of the dashboard removed the access is still difficult... 

Thanks

 

[oldcodger]

Nope , noises like that can be a real pain to locate and are often not where you think the sound is coming from.

If it was something electrical like a relay, you could remove some circuits fuses , one at a time to see if that stop it.

Be careful though that you do not set and airbag off during your works !  They say to isolate them you need to disconnect the Battery and wait around 5 mins for the airbag circuits to fully loose their electrical charge.

Toyota notes -

Work must be started 90 seconds after the ignition switch is turned to the ”LOCK” position and
the negative (–) terminal cable is disconnected from the Battery.
(The SRS is equipped with a back–up power source so that if work is started within 90 seconds from disconnecting the negative (–) terminal cable of the Battery, the SRS may be deployed.)

 

[Peter_st16]

Thanks. It turned out to be the air mix servo - after disconnecting it the noise stopped. Will need to fix it properly at one point but it will do for now.