Blower motor issue with a surprise cause!

So my blower motor quit working today. Completely stopped running on any setting including the "high" setting as others have had problems with.

So out I go with my voltmeter to start the troubleshooting process. First I checked the fuse then on to the assembly itself. I pull out the 2 month old cabin air filter which I just replaced and this is what I found!





First thought was "what in the hell got into the housing that would cause this kind of damage?". After I ops check the motor, which ran fine with the filter element removed, then I started looking harder at the debris in the filter. Had to pull all the debris out and this is what I found:






So I believe it to be a little bastard mouse that built a nest in there, is there a way to limit the ability for these guys to get in from under the hood? Where is the intake opening for the blower motor/fan assembly?

All in all I'm just glad my blower motor and associated systems are still working and the cause was an easy find. I guess the debris and damaged filter obstructed upon the fan and stopped it from spinning.

 

That sucks man, i hope he didnt die in there . My friend had the same issue with hes tacoma 1st Gen. Hes truck smell soo bad.
Good luck.

 

Yea I need to really get in there and check. That would absolutely suck!

 

He built himself a nice big cozy cotton fort. I think the air is drawn in from between the hood and the windshield, where the wipers sit.

 

That sucker's probably still in your truck somewhere. If it's dead you'd already know it. But yeah, that did look like a cozy bed he made.

 

The rat bastard ...

 

We have five cat, and a beagle who hunts mice, we put out traps and bait, and we still have mouse trouble...

Howard

 

Yea Cheech thats what I'm afraid of. I figured he probably went somewhere else when I went in and started banging around. We'll see. Gotta find him before he dies for sure.

jp, exactly!!

Howard, that's not a good sign if you have the cavalry and still haven't caught them. I might literally grab a cold one and sit in my truck for awhile and see if I can hear him. I guess worst case I could leave out some poison briefly?

 

Yea that was my guess. I need to find a large enough opening and try and temporarily block it off maybe. I don't mind having a little jumpseater but I damn sure want to avoid any further damage and especially the little sob dying in my truck during a hot Texas day.

 

"Where's cousin Eddie, doesn't he usually eat these damn things?" !!

 

If you have a cat and dog that hunts mice do not use bait for any reason. The poisoned mouse will kill your cat or dog if they get ahold of it.

 

finally found the post I used to basically block off my cabin air filter from the engine compartment. Id suggest doing this, its cheap and easy.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...nging-cabin-filter-how-often.html#post6123064

 

Great post bud, thanks for doing the research and posting the link. Great picture of the intake and some options to block it off. Where did you find the wire mesh? Lowes/Home Depot?

 

The cats and dogs are at the house, the bait is on top of a cabinet in the shop...different areas.

Normally, we just trap the mice in the shop and get a few hundred a year.

Howard

 

They have chicken wire mesh that you could use at lowes/home depot. I had a wire-mesh trashcan lying around the house and decided to cut that up

 

Holy little reproducers!! A few hundred a year!

 

I use this product(http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Cab-Rod...731&sr=8-1&keywords=fresh+cab+mouse+repellent) in our farm equipment cabs (combine,tractors, trucks) that sit in the shed all winter with, so far, no mice intrusion. It does smell at first but my dad and I have both gotten used to it and the smell does not bother us any more, to the point that we leave the repellent in the cabs even when in use. I'm not sure if it is what you are looking for, but it might be the trick to get the bastard to leave. Also, around here (Midwest) the farm stores or farm equipment dealers sell the product.