Mystery fan in dash

I noticed a noise in the dash that sounded like a fan rattling. Opened the panel under the steering wheel and started poking around. Felt a small fan which is to the right of the steering wheel behind a little grille which I had always assumed hid a beep/alarm sounder.

What is the fan for? Is there a supercomputer in there or something? It sounds like it may be starting to go.

Nothing in my D1 like that, so what disco is it?

DONT TOUCH IT- It's an anti theft device so burgulars chop their fingers off when trying to hotwire your car.....:hysterically_laughi

Not sure about Discos - mine hasn't got a fan but ........... I also have an X Type Jaguar (Mondeo with a posh badge) and this has a small fan behind a little grille on the dash which is something to do with the climate control - it blows air across the temperature sensor to get an accurate measurment of the cabin temperature. It's on a timer, so doesn't run 24/7.
Suspect this may be something similar.
Cheers,
David

It's is what David says. The fan draws air from the cabin across a sender which then compares temperature to what is set on the Air/con. The A/C adjusts accordingly. Mine also sounds a bit noisey but it doesn't run all the time. When I get round to it, I'll take it out and give it a bit of a clean. The fan is probably coated with dust and is not running true, hence the noise.

Thanks. I don't think it runs all the time. I will give it a quick clean.