AC sounds crunchy on high

For months my ac/heat would only work on high, then it finally just gave up. After some research seemed like a resistor thing? Bought one, replaced it. It turns on now on low-med-high but now it literally sounds “crunchy” when I turn it on high. Like it’s grinding on something? I don’t know what it is? I took the blower motor off. It looked fairly clean (no debris or anything) but I’m kind of at a loss now. I know literally nothing about cars, YouTube taught me how to replace the resistor thing… single mom, can’t afford a mechanic but I live in Arizona so my AC is crucial this time of year. Please point me in the direction of what to look for as far as fixing this!
Donno if this matters but it’s a 2008 Tacoma, fairly well maintained as far as major service goes, and have never had any issues with the AC before this. But I don’t see how unhooking/replacing the ‘resistor’ thing would cause my AC to suddenly sound crunchy like it’s struggling. It didn’t grind before, it just stopped turning on. Now it turns on, but it sounds terrible. Desperately need help with this as I’ve been without AC for a month and it’s 105+ degrees out here.

 

Start with the easiest thing first.
Remove the cabin air filter, see if it make the sound better or worse.
If not, remove the blower motor from under the dash, but keep it plugged in.
Turn it to high, if the noise is still there, it’s the blower motor.

 

I case it's not obvious I'll add make sure to hang on the the blower motor (not the wheel) when you do this so it doesn't run off.

 

Hang on tight. Those squirrel cages don’t feel good on the fingers.

I know.

 

Does your "heat" also sound crunchy on high?

AC itself would not have any inherent noise besides the compressor engaging.