Mystery speaker and sound?

[rodehawg]

Hi everyone. In my 2007 TBSS, inside the cab on my driver's side B pillar, there is what appears to be a small (2.5 inch or so) speaker under the molding. There is not a corresponding one on the passenger side. Anyway, it makes strange noises often when it is quite cold out (say like single digits or colder). This happens when I open the door and get in. I do not even need to put a key in or anything. After the vehicle warms up it quiets down.

Any ideas as to what is going on here and why? It has done this in past years also, I just never bothered tyo get excited about it as it didn;t seem to affect anything.

 

[Boricua SS]

my guess is its a tweeter for the stereo.. do you have an aftermarket HU? or replacement door speakers? i would say its the onstar mic, but in my '07 its above my head in the headliner... ive removed all my panels (painted/plasti dipped my interior) and i have no such speaker on my pillars...

 

[TexazReece]

That's the onstar speaker

 

[TollKeeper]

As far as I know, thats the temp sensor for the digital dual climate zones. My Tahoe had one that was also making noise, and thats what their service said was the problem.

 

[Dad-O-Matic]

inside the cab on my driver's side B pillar, there is what appears to be a small (2.5 inch or so) speaker under the molding.

Is it about ear level? Do you have auto climate control? It's the interior temperature sensor, it has a little fan to pull air into the sensor to give a more accurate reading.

Edit: Tollkeeper beat me to it.

 

[Boricua SS]

Ahh... learn somethin new everyday... that must mean he has a 3SS because mine doesnt have that "speaker" with my manual HVAC controls...

 

[Denali n DOO]

Is it about ear level? Do you have auto climate control? It's the interior temperature sensor, it has a little fan to pull air into the sensor to give a more accurate reading.

Edit: Tollkeeper beat me to it.

I think think the actual name is an "aspirator", not sure of the spelling tho.

 

[TexazReece]

Is this what your talking about? If so then yes that's your onstar speaker
View attachment 26064

 

[Denali n DOO]

Is this what your talking about? If so then yes that's your onstar speaker
View attachment 11982

In my Envoy that's an aspirator for the HVAC and has nothing to do with Onstar, Onstar sound comes through regular speakers.

 

[TexazReece]

Ohhh I knew the onstar comes through the speakers and thought that was speaker that picked up your voice when talking to onstar lol

 

[TollKeeper]

No, your microphone is part of your overhead console.

Is this what your talking about? If so then yes that's your onstar speaker
View attachment 11982

Incorrect, that is your aspirator for your HVAC.

 

[Denali n DOO]

Ohhh I knew the onstar comes through the speakers and thought that was speaker that picked up your voice when talking to onstar lol

I thought it was a mic too but a mic would need to be in front of the driver so the voice is picked up. I learned about it when my friend had to change his in his Sierra cuz it was making strange noises. IMO it's a stupid place for an aspirator to get air temp samples from to run the auto climate as selected. The problem with it there is, in the winter with auto climate turned on, if I open the window the cold air gets sucked into the aspiator and tells the auto climate it's getting cold in here so it blasts heat to your feet to warm up the inside of the truck to your set temp, end result it gets way to hot on your feet. That's why I don't use auto climate in the winter. Someone recently posted a pic in the last few days of that part being all dusty and the fan wasn't spinning.

 

[The_Roadie]

Is this what your talking about? If so then yes that's your onstar speaker

Guessing is out of style.

 

[rodehawg]

As far as I know, thats the temp sensor for the digital dual climate zones. My Tahoe had one that was also making noise, and thats what their service said was the problem.

Thanks everyone for your responses. That makes sense. Yes I have a 3SS with the auto climate control. That being a small fan accounts for it being affected differently when the air is very cold vs. not so cold. Perhaps it needs a little bit of oil?

- - - Updated - - -

As far as I know, thats the temp sensor for the digital dual climate zones. My Tahoe had one that was also making noise, and thats what their service said was the problem.

Thanks everyone for your responses. That makes sense. Yes I have a 3SS with the auto climate control. That being a small fan accounts for it being affected differently when the air is very cold vs. not so cold. Perhaps it needs a little bit of oil?

 

[TequilaWarrior]

Thanks everyone for your responses. That makes sense. Yes I have a 3SS with the auto climate control. That being a small fan accounts for it being affected differently when the air is very cold vs. not so cold. Perhaps it needs a little bit of oil?

- - - Updated - - -



Thanks everyone for your responses. That makes sense. Yes I have a 3SS with the auto climate control. That being a small fan accounts for it being affected differently when the air is very cold vs. not so cold. Perhaps it needs a little bit of oil?

It almost definitely needs CLEANED. I don't think there is any way to oil it. It's like a fan from a PC - there's no way to get oil to the bearings, if there are any (many are brushless and bearingless, opting instead for a single bronze bushing and suspend the fan in a magnetic field).

Without airbags int he b-pillar it's easy to clean:
Gently but firmly pull the top of the B-Pillar out and down to disengage the clips - basically lean the top towards the passenger side. You should be able to easily gain access to the back side of the aspirator from there. Pull the aspirator out of the little cup it sits in, hang it out the door and blow it out with compressed air until all the dust is gone - then do the same with the cup it sits in. I was able to do this without removing a single screw and without unplugging anything - but I don't have airbags in my B-Pillar. I'm not sure if your '07 does or not.

Cleaning it may or may not fix the noise. Cleaning mine made it less noticeable, but not by much.

 

[RayVoy]

Just so we don't leave any loose threads, in this thread , the Onstar microphone is in the overhead console above the mirror. It is in the front of the cabin, so it will pickup the driver's voice as well as the passenger's.