Squeaky heater blower? Oil the bearings.

I have a 1999 Tacoma with 215k. The heater blower was squeaking intermittently, sounding like a dry bearing. Mildly annoying.

I did some searching to see what was involved in tackling this and didn't find much, so, inspired by the excellent work of Dirty Pool and others, I thought I'd share my findings. I did not take any pictures, sorry.

Remove three screws and disconnect one plug to the blower motor and the unit will drop right out (it's under the glove box).

Once on your bench, remove one spring clamp and the fan can be pressed off its shaft. I did this by supporting the back side of the fan on some blocks and tapping on the shaft with a center punch. It's the only tricky part of the project, but it's not that tricky.

Next, remove a plastic cover on one side of the housing (this gives some access to the motor and an area to press), remove two screws holding the motor in its housing, then support the housing on some blocks and tap the motor out. I used a slim brass drift in the screw holes to help keep it coming apart straight. Be careful not the damage the spade connectors as they come through the housing.

Gently pry up the cap that covers the fan-end bearing assembly; it's thin and soft. Now you'll see that both bearing assemblies are lubricated by felt pads in keepers. Or not; my pads were dry. I gave each end enough light oil to wet the pads, maybe 3-5 drops. I cleaned all the parts and reversed the procedure, waxing the motor body so it would glide into the housing with hand pressure.

Back in the truck, I ran the fan at all speeds and didn't hear a thing. It took me a couple of hours total; scrubbing the fan blades with a toothbrush slowed me down the most.

I can see how this would have been better with pics. Next time.

 

oiling it might help for a few weeks or a month but they are sleeve bearings so once they start to squeak there is too much play in them so nothing can be done, just replace it. its really easy, like 3 screws I think, and it just drops out from under the dash.

I don't think they are expensive, rockauto.com has them for $35 http://www.rockauto.com/dbphp/x,car..._TOYOTA_TACOMA_3.4L_V6_DOHC_Blower_Motor.html

make sure the one you buy comes with the blower wheel on it, the old ones sometimes break when trying to get them off so it can cost you more trying to buy one without the blower wheel to save $2

 

I noticed that Rock Auto had them for a very reasonable price and as soon as I hear another squeak I'll get a new one. However, I wouldn't be surprised if wetting the felt with oil works for a long, long time.

 

And I wouldn't be surprised if you're right, keakar, and it starts squeaking next month.

 

After further consideration: If your blower has been squeaking for a long time, then maybe the bearings are worn (oiling them will still quiet their operation). But if it recently started squeaking, oiling it is likely to work for a good long time. The sleeves bearings are just like bicycle chain bearings (without the load); you don't toss a bicycle chain when it squeaks, you clean and oil it.

 

well I wouldn't say it doesn't have a load, your forgetting that huge magnet in the motor that tries to twist the fan as it spins like a gyroscope so there is a pretty good side force on those bearings plus the load of that fan wheel on top of it all.

you never know, oil it and see how long it goes but in most cases I tried oiling it the squeak stopped for just a day or two and I would say its not very likely the oil will do any long term good as you think it might.

 

11k and holding.

 

seams like you got lucky and caught it before the bearings were worn out, its very rare to get away with it but sounds like you did

 

15k now and still silent. Taking care of issues early is good practice.

 

Going to all the trouble myself I would have just installed a new one.

The way my luck goes I would have lost something or broke something trying to extend the life of a less then a $100.00 part.

This way I can take things apart and maybe have a spare

 

New parts and working spares ... works for me.

 

I tried to take apart the fan last time I had it out but after I removed the spring clip, the fan wouldn't budge. Unfortunately I don't have a bench to work with... Any other tips?

 

You could do all the steps I described on the floor instead of on a bench as long as you have the tools and accessory materials. If I recall correctly, I supported the back side of the fan (with an arrangement of blocks, similar to using parallels in a machine shop) and pushing/pressing the motor off; they only meet at the tip of the motor's shaft.