Hi, I'm new here, found the forum while trying to figure out what could be wrong with our 2001 Dakota.

Was driving along at about 25 mph the other day with AC on and ac/heater fan setting on two. Suddenly there was a loud noise coming from what seemed to be either the glove compartment or directly behind the passenger airbag. Somewhat panicked, I pulled over and checked for anything in the glove compartment making the noise, found nothing and shut the truck down. After a few moments, I restarted, gauges all showing good, no problem lights on the dash lit up. The sound was gone, but the truck was vibrating badly. Finally figured out that it had something to do with the ac/heater fan when I turned off the ac and fan and the problem stopped altogether. Haven't seen any leaks, don't smell burning of any sort. It has turned cold (VA) and so haven't tried the AC setting but it does still put out heat seemingly okay. However, the vibration is so bad, there's no way you could stand to run the fan for the heat at all.

Does anyone know what this is/could be and how much it will run to repair such a problem? Also, is it okay to drive it (short distances) before repair?

Thanks so much in advance to any and all who can help!
Erica

 

You should check to see if there is a small peice of folded metal in the bottom of the heater box. If you find one you might be able to see a clean spot on the blades where the balance weight came from.