If your car makes a clicking sound in the dashboard when it's off, there is probably a problem with an actuator. Actuators are the behind-the-scenes workers that make almost all the things in your car function as they do. Actuators are small electrical motors that convert energy into some kind of force or physical action. They are responsible for functions such as power door locks, air conditioning and tailgates. The problem is that if an actuator goes bad it can cause a lot of trouble. It is important to fix it as soon as possible to avoid further damage and to prevent a potentially expensive problem.

The most common cause of a clicking sound in the dashboard when your car is off is a bad blend door actuator. A faulty blend door actuator can cause the HVAC controls on your dashboard to continuously click. This noise is created by the plastic gears inside the actuator. This happens when the actuator can't turn because it is stuck in one position.

A new blend door actuator should resolve the issue. However, you will still have to reset the system. You can do this by removing fuse #46 from the interior fuse panel behind the passenger kick panel for 1 minute. This will re-calibrate the system and should stop the clicking.

There are 3 actuators in the passenger HVAC system. The first is the hot/cold blend door actuator above the right side of the hump. The second is the recirculation actuator behind the glove box and the third is the mode actuator. These use the same part number, but there is a different part for the mode actuator. When you replace it, there is a chance that it won't mount correctly in the vehicle due to the fact that Ford uses a variety of different actuators on their vehicles.