Backwards Blower Motor?

I just bought a 2012 Tacoma and noticed the air coming from the vents was quite weak. I changed the cabin air filter but it didn’t help. Today I dropped the blower motor and noticed it spins in the opposite direction of the arrow on the “squirrel cage”. I am thinking the previous owner replaced the factory one with a cheap knockoff. Thoughts?

 

Not sure which way it spins, so can’t help confirm based on that.

Turn it on high, fresh air (aka not recirculate) and check the inlet in the cowl of the truck, see if air is blowing or sucking.

You can also remove the air filter and see how the vent intensity changes as a confirmation.

I know you replaced the filter, but mine will barely provide airflow after an automatic car wash, due to the cabin filter getting a bit wet. Removing the filter to let it dry results in hella good air flow out of my vents. Enough it should be real clear which direction the airs flowing.

 

I’ll try that thanks!

 

So I checked the under the hood and it seems to be pulling air in but very minimal. Almost unnoticeable.

 

did you remove the cowl?

 

here's how

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bocsy44s-taco-addiction-build.500411/page-37#post-17387831

 

I did not but I will tomorrow. Thanks!

 

If it's just a two wire blower motor I would try just switching the two wires and see if it runs in the opposite direction. You could use some kind of jumper wires temporarily before switching leads to see if it works.

 

yea check wiring isn't backwards...

 

A squirrel cage blower running backwards does not blow air in the opposite direction. It blows in the same direction, but at a much reduced volume.

 

A 12v DC motor will spin backwards with the polarity reversed. Does it look like somebody changed or tampered with the blower motor connector? They have been known to burn out and may have been replaced with the motor. The polarity may be reversed there or need to be reversed there to make the motor rotation correct.

 

So today I removed the coal under the hood, clean. I bought a new blower motor, plugged it in and it ran in reverse too. Checked the wiring and sure enough someone, for whatever reason, spliced in a new connection backwards. Thank you everyone for the help. I hope I can return the new motor but if I can’t no biggie.

 

Cowl*