noisy heater blower

is there any way to lube the heater blower? mine has been making a annoying sound here lately and it is driving me nuts. I already dropped it down and looked for any foreign objects that may be hitting the blower, but all looks normal. So is there any way to grease it so it quiets it down.

 

bump

 

There's really nothing to lube. The motor is sealed, and it'd be easier just to buy a new blower motor. I'm sure there's a lot of different years that will interchange.

 

This is an issue for me as well. The only thing i can think of is to hit it with some wd-40 and hope for the best. The alternative is a new blower IIRC is like 50-60 bucks aftermarket. I don't know about you but i'm starting to get tired of smacking my dash every 5 minutes to shut it up.

 

thanks kev, since you are the professional i will take you advice and look into buying a new one.

 

I saw a post with the fix for this a while back. If it's like mine it's an annoying ticking, like something is out of wack around the fan. This guy "balanced" it. Let me see if I can find it.

 

Lame, i guess there are some things WD-40 can't fix. Oh well a new one on rockauto.com is only 36.99 if anyone is interested in knowing the price.

 

Here it is.

I've found the reason for the ticking sound. My dealer kept saying "normal" and "there are leaves in the fan". I kept telling them otherwise until I got pissed enough to just take apart the blower fan and see where EXACTLY the sound was coming from. The sound is coming from the metal faceplace which covers the wire spool around the spindle of the fan. the faceplace must be balanced properly because it holds in place the spindle which is rotating for the fan to blow. when the faceplace is off balance by one of two screws that holds it in place, the fan ticks like a MF'er....as you balance the plate, the tick goes away and is as quiet as a mouse.

#1 I took my glove box completely off making sure to release the springy thing first on the right side towards the passenger door and then just popped her out.

#2 I then got out my trusty ratchet with a 5.5mm socket and removed 3 screws on the underside of the blower....the fan will slide out easily. leave the wires attached (be careful as the fan is still runnin' lectric)

#3 let down the door that holds the cabin filter in and remove filter. now you can reach up in there and see if any of those mysterious leaves are present. blow it out with your air compressor or just root your hand around in there to get anything out.

#4 hold the black plastic fan housing in your hand carefully and reach over and turn your a/c on the low setting (BE CAREFUL as that thing is quick to get away from you and can take a nub off pretty quickly) make sure you can hear the sound coming from the assembly in your hand. If so, move to step #5.

#5 remove the covering with a phillips screwdriver (4 screws - i think) and remove that cover to reveal a silver metal cover with TWO (2) lubed screws. THESE ARE THE SCREWS THAT MUST BE BALANCED. Take a pair of vice grips and grab the black housing with them so you can get your hands away from the moving fan and so you can hold it steady. then use your phillips screwdriver on one of the two screws and notice how you can make the sound/tick worse as you tighten one of the screws.....too tight and the fan slows down and/or TICKS, too loose and the fan slows down....(spindle getting in a bind).

There is a point where the fan will turn fastest and the sound will disappear magically. You'll see what I'm talking about once you're in there adjusting the screws to find that perfect point.

#6 re-assemble and enjoy!


I hope this helps a few people that have this ANNOYING sound!

sometimes it just takes getting pissed off.....damn delphi.

Why didn't they have metal stoppers under those screws or not have the spindle held still by a moveable plate......argh....


I think that over time, those screws are backing out at different rates, which makes the spindle bind up and/or ticking sound occur......
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Hello you sick twisted freaks, I am Adam.

 

Sorry, I just realized yours is a first gen. Probably not the same.

 

that's okay, you meant well. I do appreciate the help however. thanks.

 

No problem.

 

Fans must be a toyota issue. My 89 and 98 both had noisy fans. Had to replace the 89 but the 98 comes and goes.

 

They must've got 'em squared away by '01, since my fan runs any time the truck is running, and it doesn't make any noise at all!

 

I have a 2010 trd sport double cab, short bed, 4x4, I've only had it 6 weeks and odometer reads 1200 miles, This noise started last week with my fan,... only when in low speed, I figured I could live with it and just never run the fan in the low position, now I notice that its making the same annoying sound in the next speed up. Does anyone know if this would be something the dealer would fix under warranty?

 

I pulled the fan out of my 00' and it was full of junk. After I removed all the trash, no more ticking. Took my about 10 mins to removed blower fan and clean out.

 

Some of the Bosch blowers sourced by Audi/VW develop the same problem after 10-15 years. Vibration causes a few screws to back-out slightly, which throws the fan spindle out of alignment, creating a chirping noise. Selectively tightening the screws solves the problem.

IMHO, this a problem to common to many blower motors with tight tolerances.

 

I would also like to know if this can be covered under warranty. I have a 2010 Taco double cab TRD Off Road.

 

Hi Peto48,
Unfortunately I cant answer that question you asked me ( if this was covered under warranty).
After listening to the noise all summer, and after the clicking sound progressed to the third setting on the fan speed dial, I decided to follow "Love My Taco" 's directions on how to fix the problem.
I was reluctant to start "taking the dashboard apart" but was surprised at how little "taking the dashboard apart" had to be done, and was very surprised at what an easy fix it was. All you have to do is simply remove the glove compartment door ( which pops right out ), remove three 5.5 mm screws, drop the fan, remove the black platic cover ( four phillips head screws ) and turn the fan on, ...there are two phillip head screws at the bottom of the metal fan, I turned the one closest to me maybe a 1/4 to a 1/2 turn and the aggravating clicking stopped. I put it back together and just shook my head in discust that I didnt take care of this easy fix earlier.
If you need more detailed directions, and cant find Justins ( love my taco) directions, feel free to ask.
The only part of the process that I had to figure out was how to get the plastic piston off. hopefully this helps....when you drop the glove compartment door down, theres a black plastic piston ( we'll call a cylinder) to the right of the door, its about as thick as a roll of nickels, theres a thin arm that extends out the bottom of this cylinder that is attached to the glove compartment door, if you reach around the back of the cylinder (where the thin arm comes out the bottom, there is a circular ring ( thats where it connects to the dashboard frame.) you have to pop it off by pushing it to the left ( towards the drivers side of the vehicle) once that pops off the glove compartment door will drop down, so make sure you remove everything out of there first. Then you can pop the door off by pulling the door off the two hinges that the bottom of the door.
Good luck,.again,..if you run into any problems, or have any questions,..feel free to ask away,.I'll help any way I can...Brian

 

>>> correction,..once you pop the piston off, the glove compartment door will only go so far before it stops. There are to pegs at the top left and right side of the glove compartment back wall that act as stops, and will butt against the dashboard frame preventing the glove box from dropping down, you must push in on the top back corners of the glove box so these plastic pins can clear the frame in order for it to drop down for removal.

 

mine started at about 3000 miles, sounds like a mad cricket. I complained to service rep at dealership at 5000 mile service. they cleaned the filter and said that should do it. lasted about 200 miles and started again. I will be headed back to the dealer soon.