Hi all,

I have just replaced the recirculation flap motor on my 2015 Fabia MK3. I looked all over the web to find any useful instructions and only found some for the Ibiza here which are actually pretty good, but thought I'd add a few additional comments from my own experience.

The symptoms were a loud clicking from behind the passenger side dash when the recirculation button was turned on

In short it can be done by removing just the glove box although it's a bit fiddly.

The glovebox is retained by 6 screws. Three on the top edge (visible when you open it. One inside to the left hand side just above the bottle storage and two underneath (one left and the other right hand side).

Be careful when you remove the glove box as there are three wiring connectors (glove box light, glovebox light switch and airbag passenger switch). I found the easiest option is to remove the airbag connector only, and pop out the whole light assembly from the glove box and similarly with the light switch - remove the plastic pin that attaches the damper and light switch to the door and then twist off the assembly the is like a bayonet fitting to the side of the glove box. To warn you, the light switch assembly is quite fragile (the retaining cover of mine pinged off and several small bits fell out).

Once you have the glovebox off, you will find the recirculation flap motor to the left hand side of the blower assembly. It is housed in a plastic cradle retained by two silver T10 torx bolts. One on the underside of the cradle and a second one on the front vertical edge facing you . The vertical edge one is just behind the retaining bar to which the glovebox inner screw attaches.

Once you've removed both of those, you can push the cradle and motor assembly to the left. It will still be held in place by a tie wrap at the upper part, but there is no need to cut this as the motor assembly can be pushed out of the cradle in-situ

Next, there is a blue wiring connector on the top of the motor assembly which when you push the cradle left should become visible. Use a small screwdriver to gently push the retaining clip inwards while pushing the connector up and off the motor.

Once the connector is off, you can now remove the motor assembly from the cradle.

There is a plastic pin on the top left of the cradle (nearest to you) which retains the motor. You should be able to push the motor assembly to the right which will detach it from the upper part of the cradle. The assembly can then be lifted upwards to clear the lower part of the cradle.

The motor assembly will have a part number like v326800390.25844 (for a non-climate controlled version).

I found some original parts on the web and brand new, they look to be around £150 or more. I didn't check with the local dealer to confirm, but found a number of reproduction parts on eBay and Amazon for around £15. Clearly not sure how long these will last, but I thought it was worth a go. There are a lot of these sorts of motors around as they are used for different air/heating controls. Ensure that the one you purchase has the same large plastic gear as the one you have removed.

To test and set up the position of the motor and flaps, I found the best way was to first connect the new motor to the blue connector outside of the cradle, switch on the ignition, and then press the air recirculation button, which should drive the motor to one position. Then I switched off the air recirculation button to see the motor go back to it's open (fresh air ) position.

Now, having turned off the ignition, and removed the connector, I put the new motor into the cradle and refitted the blue electrical connector.

Next, I positioned the two flaps. The one in the passenger door well needs to be fully closed, and the fresh air flap needs to be fully open.

You can see the fresh air flap by opening the bonnet, and then removing part of the rubber seal that holds the passenger part of the scuttle in place. You can then gently lift up the scuttle and see the flap. I think the flap defaults to fully open, but it's worth double checking.

Once you're happy the flaps are in the right positions, you need to reposition the cradle back into place ensuring that the new motor gear pivot aligns into the side of the air blower assembly, and that the fresh air and footwell vents mesh with the motor gear. Once in place, you should be able to refit the two T10 screws .

At this point I tested that it was working properly by turning on the ignition and turning the recirculation on/off checking that both flaps moved freely to the correct positions.

Once that was all done, I put back the glovebox.

One final warning, by having the airbag switch disconnected, and turning on/off the ignition a few times, it will log an error and likely you will see an airbag fault come up. You'll need something like Carista, or Carly to reset the fault. I don't think it's possible to leave the glovebox in a position with the airbag switch connected without it being in the way as the wire is very short.

I can only say for VW's and using VCDS diagnostics, but if you do have access to VCDS there is a procedure you can run through to calibrate any new heater motors or flaps. It calibrates them so they know where they are and what their normal range should be. You seem to have found a nifty work-around for this. 😎 I have read that on some vehicles it can be done via the MFD menu if you have that. On VW's this procedure usually only applies on cars with climate control.

While VCDS can be used to “calibrate” the movement, starting with the cogs in the correct position is essential.

Crazy as it seems, that is why from day one of buying VW Group cars, I “needed” to have Climatronic! Then I needed to buy VCDS for other reasons.

Other appropriate scan tools will do the flap resets too.

Climatronic is just another load of computer stuff to go wrong to me, and it seems the manual settings unit might give more pleasing air-con to some owners.

I actually just did this job today, My motor started clicking a few months ago and I only just got time to do so.

I didn't purchase a new motor, I fixed* my current one. I found that, somehow, it had popped it's casing off. The black cog seen below was the culprit.

Upon repositioning the black cog correctly, amongst some cleaning and greasing, I put the casing back on and found two of the clips that hold the casing on were loose and let it pop out easily, so I stuffed some tissue behind them to help hold the casing firmly shut.

I then spent what felt like an eternity trying to put the motor back in the correct position.

Note when returning the motor into place, the correct positioning for the cogs, and note the 2 arrows indicating the "key";
*This diagram is from a RHD Model, so its flipped.

*I dont know how long the fix will last, Maybe ill need to purchase a new motor. But for now, its working

Firstly, thanks to the OP for his guide to replacing the motor...

However, I have to say that when he says "it's a bit fiddly" that seems like the understatement of the year!

There's a great big metal strut bang in the way of getting to the motor cradle and its connector. I did manage to undo the torx screws, but getting the motor out was beyond me. After much huffing and puffing this nearly 70-year-old decided that he'd put up with the recirculation no longer working rather than continuing the contortions and having to make multiple visits to the chiropractor. So to anyone thinking of attempting this fix, be warned that it's not a job for anyone without a flexible skeleton.

And of course I now have the airbag fault popping up every time I turn on the ignition. The message goes away after a few seconds, so I'll just ignore it until the next service when hopefully the garage can reset it.

I take it that the airbag will actually work in the meantime?

Edited 9 May9 May by cliveb

Update:

I decided to have another go and this time managed to get the motor out.

One of the biggest issues is getting adequate lighting in there so you can see what you're doing.

For anyone else attempting this, I have two pieces of advice different to YRSCupraNut's suggestions:

1. Just disconnect all three wiring connectors from the glovebox. It's pretty straightforward and then there's no danger of the light switch assembly falling apart.

2. To get the motor out, cut off the cable tie that VRSCupraNut says you don't need to remove. This allows the motor cradle to drop down and access is then WAY easier.

Like lewiswal47, I discovered that the motor casing was not fully closed, allowing the black cog wheel to move out of alignment. After various different attempts to get it all back together and stable, I decided the chances were that it wouldn't stay that way for long, and have ordered a new motor from eBay for £15.

The new motor arrived today. I tested it before attempting installation and it worked.

But then the fun started. Well, it wasn't fun. After about 2 hours of struggle, I gave up. Getting the damn thing back in place was impossible for me. You can't really see what's going on and have to try and do it by feel.

Then I spotted something. The spindle on the new motor is a bit wider than the original:

I *think* I could feel some kind of locating hole which might possibly be where the spindle should go. Is it possible that the slightly bigger spindle was preventing the motor being able to be seated in place?

Tes it might be that.

The replacement motor appears to have quite a few differences to the original included the fixings and their spacing, smacks of not too accorate copy which might be a difficult or impossible fit, without "modifications", even on a bench let alone out of sight, at an angle and lying awkward angle . You get this a lot with replacement parts, even those that are supposed to be "original equipment.

16 hours ago, nta16 said:

The replacement motor appears to have quite a few differences to the original included the fixings and their spacing, smacks of not too accorate copy which might be a difficult or impossible fit, without "modifications", even on a bench let alone out of sight, at an angle and lying awkward angle . You get this a lot with replacement parts, even those that are supposed to be "original equipment.

Thanks for your comments.

Although the motor casing is slightly different, the three locating lugs are in the right place to fit the cradle.

As far as I can tell the only part of the motor that touches the rest of the car is the cog wheel, so the casing shape being slightly different shouldn't be relevant.

The thing I'm interested about is if anyone knows whether the spindle needs to go into a locating hole.

As I said, I think I can feel such a hole, but have no idea if it's for the cog wheel spindle.

Sorry I don't know but pressumably (always dangerous) the spindle with its slot is to drive something and the original spindle is 10mm and what looks like a narrower open slot(s) than the 11.5mm, wider looking open slot(s) replacement, can't you swap in the original spindle to the replacement motor (if it fits) and see if the motor (body and fixings) fits then?

2 hours ago, nta16 said:

Sorry I don't know but pressumably (always dangerous) the spindle with its slot is to drive something and the original spindle is 10mm and what looks like a narrower open slot(s) than the 11.5mm, wider looking open slot(s) replacement, can't you swap in the original spindle to the replacement motor (if it fits) and see if the motor (body and fixings) fits then?

I don't think the spindle is there to drive anything. The cog wheel moves the recirculation flaps. Can't think what else needs to be driven.

I opened up the replacement motor and it's a completely different design inside, so the cog wheel can't be swapped over.

I'm pretty much done with this. I can live with a car that has no working recirculation.

Fair enough perhaps the spindles are drive locators to operate the flap, I've no real idea as I've never seen these motors fully together or apart. I avoid as much computer controlled stuff as I can in cars and find those with climate control are programed to operate differenttv to how I feel comfortable with the heatng and (not very good ventilation) setting and control in modern car.

You can live without the recirculation, either have the inside and outside enviroements more balanced from the start, this may involve something forgotten about now, opening windows - you need to do that sometiumes to clear the indide of the windscreens of Mk3 Fabias even when the heating, air-con and ventilation controls are all fully working anyway unless you don't mind waiting 10 minutes before you can safely see to drive.

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

Fair enough perhaps the spindles are drive locators to operate the flap, I've no real idea as I've never seen these motors fully together or apart. I avoid as much computer controlled stuff as I can in cars and find those with climate control are programed to operate differenttv to how I feel comfortable with the heatng and (not very good ventilation) setting and control in modern car.

The flaps are opened/closed by other cog wheels that engage with the cog wheel on the motor. The "spindle" I'm referring to is just the axle of the cog wheel. It certainly doesn't operate the recirculation flaps.

PS. I don't have climate control. The heating/aircon in my Fabia is manual.

Edited 16 May16 May by cliveb

I'd think that it was lose of feedback voltage that causes these flap motors to make noises, and some like that one, has managed to split open its casing when it lost positional feedback, the short stub/axle on the back of that cog will need to engage in a hole so that it is stable when being moved.

Did mine today.

First clue for me was the 'Clack, Clack, Clack' when going from recycle to fresh.

The two screws on mine were both a 15 Torx and 5.5mm AF head in one.

Would agree with @cliveb on removing the wire connectors on the glove box.

I have OBDeleven so I can/have reset the Air bag light.

And also cut the cable tie so that the motor assembly can be pulled down to undo the wire connector.

I then pulled the assembly out.

It looks like the same problem as @lewiswal47 and others have had.

The Black cog has moved and opened the motor housing case apart.

Also note that the red gear has gone past the stop point.

My solution was to regrease, reassemble and then Cable Tie the housing back together.

It is in the bottom right in the photo above where it pops apart.

So made sure the cable tie was around the housing at this place.

Now reassembled and all working with no 'Clack, Clacking' any more.

Thanks. AG Falco

On 16/05/2026 at 19:04, rum4mo said:

has managed to split open its casing when it lost positional feedback

Ah, one of the the German enginering quality of design and build acceptance of the wunderbar fantastic-plastic parts cable-ties and ducktape repairs, reminds me of 1990s British cars get-you-home repairs. That's of course is if bared-wire was freely available at the time. Ah, how we've progressed. 😆

19 hours ago, nta16 said:

Ah, one of the the German enginering quality

Part was made in Spain!

HTH.

Thanks. AG Falco

So it wasn't made to VW German engineering specification then(?), 😄 no VAG, VW letters or logos. 😄 Or perhaps it was - make from wunderbar fantatic-plastic at a price and design so that it lasts long enough for any warranty period but don't worry too much for too much longer after that. 😁