Blower motor squeek / chirp on low *FIX*

Appreciate the info here. Seems like we may as well just start doing periodic maintenance on that POS fan. I'm on my second one and it's as bad as the first. I can't chance tearing it down right now as we are in the thick of our winter and parts are not readily available at my latitude.

Toyota will address the fan.... when they issue the 3rd Gen Tacoma, and that's about it.

 

Don't shoot the messenger but I think you guys are not applying the grease on the correct parts. Under this cap I'm betting there is a piece of felt that should be impregnated with lithium grease.

Now I've never had mine out cause I never had this problem but I've fixed a lot of these small type motors.

If I'm in a hurry I just drill a tiny tiny hole in the cap and inject lithium grease into it. I mean small hole. Smaller the better but then you need a syringe to get the grease in there.


A easier fix is put some Lithium grease into a really small container that can hold the outer stripped housing and heat it up slowly till it's liquid. It will get sucked into the void. Let it cool in the grease till the grease solidify's again then clean off all the excess in great detail. Just apply a finger wipe to the shaft and reassemble.

Don't ever try to take that filler cap out on the inside. It's not coming out so it can be reinserted. It's put in with a machine and it's a one time deal.

If you catch it just when the motor started ticking you off but before the bushing gets damaged from lack of lube it can be fixed. Wait too long and the bushing will get worn so any new fix will not last long.

See how it works is when the bushing heats up it will melt a slight bit of lithium grease from the grease reservoir to replenish what is on the shaft.

Now keep in mind that I have not seen one of these motors out of the truck personally. But just from the pictures it's looks just like ones I've fixed in the past. That is the way to fix it.

It's critical you do not use regular grease. The temperature of it turning to a liquid is too high for a electric motor. Lithium grease is the correct lube for most electric motors..

 

Mine is going to the dealership Thursday for this, the chirping is driving me nuts!

 

By the looks of it it should have had a proper bearing there instead of a bushing, but most small motors do not have bearings.

Normal motor maintenance is about 4 drops of 30 SAE oil per year in the void part if there is a filler. which this motor does not have.

Small drill bits can do wonders.

 

I watched some show where the first thing they did to a Tacoma was ditch the oem A/C compressor, And blower motor for aftermarket ones.

 

2x Just got done doing mine. I took it completely apart, cleaned it and put lithium grease on both bushing. That damn fan was hard to get off. Two pry bars and a little patience did the trick. No more chirping.

 

Can you post a pic when you've done it...let us know if it works.

For all the lubing this thing needs, maybe a zerk fitting is in order

 

Would spraying a small amount of lithium grease up into that busing fix it? That would seem something easy enough to do from time to time. How would a silicon grease compare with lithium for this application?

 

Grease is really not the proper lube for this motor but being such a pain it might work. They do make a type of lithium grease in a spray that is kind of like a penatrent. That might work well in this application. The key is where you actually want to get it in is between the housing and the bushing. You're trying to wet that piece of felt that surrounds the bushing. You can't see that felt it's inside that housing there and there is no way to get to it directly.

Properly lubricated a bushing motor will outlast a bearing motor by decades. Thing is it's a lube job that should be preformed yearly and not when it starts goofing up.

If you want to wreck a motor really fast don't use the proper grease or use too much. Really lithium grease if you are using grease is the correct stuff. I'd say forget silicone based grease.

Again I've never had this problem with my truck yet and don't plan on having it also. I'll take it out when it gets warmer this year and add a few drops of SAE 30 weight oil. I'm pretty sure that Mobile 1 that most are already using will work just fine. 4 drops is almost too much for this small motor.

Here I included a picture. If you where planning on drilling a hole the cross marks indicates about where to drill it. About the center of that surface. Smaller than a 1/16" bit. It's kind of tricky to drill. A small split point cobalt bit will go threw it like butter. Drill slow and not too much pressure. You just want a hole and you don't want the bit going into that housing any when it breaks threw.

If you are trying to get oil inside the arrow shows where you want to try to get it. right where the bushing meets the housing. That spot cause right there it will flow behind the busing and wet that felt inside. Your actually trying to get the lube behind the bushing. You still need a finger wipe of lithium grease on the shaft before you reassemble.



It's too small a surface for a zerk. You'd need like a needle grease gun fitting. Looks like a rubber ball air filler needle, only for grease instead.

Slightly bigger motors than this have a little spring loaded covered filler cap. You just flick it open and put a couple of drops of oil in it. Unfortunately this motor does not have that.

It's not impossible to lube with that missing though. The thing is what people are failing to grasp is the oil actually goes behind the bushing. If you just do the shaft it will just last weeks instead of a year. Not enough oil will sit there for a year.

I've fixed many small motors like this. If you catch it before bushing damage is done it is a very effective fix.

 

Wait, I just realized you are talking about the top bushing. Do you really need a hole? To get to it you'd have to take the fan apart regardless and if you do that you could easily use the screw holes, or those bigger slots. They are just a small bit further away from the bushing but you should be able to get the oil in through there.

Regardless, this is a terrible design. Assuming these were made with the intention of being lubed once a year, it's not a quick thing to get to that top bushing.

 

If you look at that part carefully there is no holes where you want to get to. The bushing is sealed in place on both sides.

In this image this is the other side of that bell housing. Notice there is no way to get into where the bushing is?



It don't matter what actually they did to this motor. It's a brush motor so it will eventually screw up anyway. My Chevy had the same poor design and it eventually screwed up. Most small motors are this useless design now days. It's not that expensive of a motor. I think I found it for $129 some where on the web. Even if it had bearings instead the brushes will screw up. What they needed there was the type that is in computers. A brushless sealed bearing design. Would have been easier to make variable speed and would not require that resistor.

 

I just got a new 2005 Double Cab and the chirping drives me nuts too. I already took it in once and they said they didn't hear anything which is bull crap!

 

I understand where you are trying to get to now with the oil. You'd really have to be carefull to not go too far, otherwise you'd puncture the plate on the other side! I wonder if you could drill two small opposing holes through the plastic part of the fan so that you wouldn't have to pop it off to inject a little oil in that top bushing.

I might try this if I get the squeak again.

 

Exactly you only want to pierce the other bell housing and not the inner plate or the oil will just drip out taking out the motor with it.

The bottom of the motor I'm not sure but a hole there could be a tricky deal if the shaft extends threw that bottom bushing too.

Something like this might seep into between the bell housing and the bushing without no holes necessary.

http://www.oiltown.com/white-lithium-grease-spray-lubricant.htm

Don't matter how you do it you still have to take the motor apart to clean it and to clean up excess lube. So drilling a hole is not going to save you much. I mostly use that trick on motors that are made so useless they don't actually come apart period. There pressed together in such away that if you are nuts enough to bend the locking tabs back to get it apart you are never going to be able to reassemble it ever again. This one at least comes apart so it's much easier to work on.

 

Is it just me or does the back side of that plate have a star shaped pattern that you can see what looks like a pad through. Maybe you can just drip some oil directly on?

 

Would this be an equivilant product?
http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/glcspray.aspx

 

This is the problem. I have never taken this motor apart yet. Usually that inner part is metal. That might just be a press mark. Anyway above that cap is where the lube has to go. Those spray type cans soaks in pretty good usually. Just with a can of that stuff I bet you would be able to get it in there. Might take a bit, might make a mess but it should go in there. Anyway above that cap is the lube reservoir.

Yes that product you posted would probably would work. Several manufacturers make it. The key is it has to have lithium in it. The best ones are the ones that foam and bubble right after they come out of the can. That type soaks in pretty good into the smallest of spaces.

 

Greetings, I'm new to the forum and found this post relative to chirping noise from the fan. I have a 2010 Tacoma 4-door and have been experiencing chirping nosie coming from the first two low settings on the fan for about six months now. Two dealer visits resulted in them removing a leaf from the air filter (so they say). I'm still getting the noise and its even worse in the cold weather. Any advice and or suggestions would be appreciated, Thanks, Dan

 

Read this thread.

 

Looks like I'll be attempting this fix... Not even 3 months and 4000 miles on my 2011...