spiral cable clockspring and blower motor resistor

Greetings fellow Tacophiles and 2nd gen owners -
I have a 2011 long bed extended cab I purchased used. This year, my horn went out and I decided I'd better fix it so while I considered DIY I didn't want to risk the airbag issue and took it to a local auto electric fellow with a good rep and found an OEM one for half of what my local stealership was charging new. Fixed, and horn is working beautifully.

But also this fall the blower motor resistor failed which I had the same fellow who is reasonable honest and has a great reputation found and replaced, but it barely lasted a month.

I have two friends who are superb mechanics who I asked and they explained something is burning out my blower motor resistor and with it only lasting a month my resistor is being fried by too much or little voltage (excuse me as I am not a mechanic or electronics technician although I've done some basic stuff in the past and have some generation, as a little could be lost in translation). They supposed that one of three cases is likely the case.

The best case is that the blower fan itself is frying the card and that's an easy straightforward fix.

The next best case is my alternator is failing and is blowing it out.

The next best case is that it's the ECM and its replacement with an $800 part and $250 to the stealership to flash the ECM (plus labor) fixes it for good.

The worst case scenario and this is what I wanted to ask folks here about is that it's the ECM and after replacing it and spending a brand it burns out an ECM every year or two, and those electrical issues cause failures of all the systems due to them.

I'm really worried it's the worst case scenario because although I bought it used certified in Cincinnati, I've never gotten close to published fuel economy even with properly inflated tires at sea level on a straightaway. I'd also noticed my first winter that my vehicle did seem to produce more steam than other vehicles on the road, and when I went to top off oil (it's always been well maintained by me, a single car owner whose ex I accidentally tracked down and told me it was under warranty and serviced every time I had it so the only issue was that it did come from the rust belt), it was frothy.

I paid $300 to look at rust and ECM at the dealership who told me both were non-issues [as I had seen recalls]), and a friend of a friend who has one of the most reputable body shop to look at the rust as well and they all said the floor would rust through before the drive train fails, so I figured I was ok.

But I had that frothy white stuff when I opend the oil cap which my mechanic friends say can be incomplete combustion also explaining the more steam, but between not getting the proper fuel economy or anything close which I was told the vehicle calculates for elevation automatically, and its probably just elevation (by the dealership) as everything functions perfectly to spec. So between mpg, froth, and now this, I'm afraid it's the worst case scenario so thus looking to turn into a money pit after replacing an ECM and it starts destroying the vehicle.

Thus, I'm here to ask 2nd Gen taco owners have any of you had similar issues? 113210 miles at last fill-up. Any class actions you're aware of if so? Recourse advice as the stealership told me it's golden when I still had time under lemon laws to do something, and that's documented? And also had a used car inspection done by a reputable mechanic in Cincinnati before I flew out to purchase and drive back?

Advice Tacophiles?

Signed,
Casper, WY

 

This whole story sounds fishy to me, the ECM (Engine Control Module) and alternator have nothing to do with the blower resistor burning up or condensation under the oil cap.

A blower motor that is drawing too much current can cause the resistor to fail as can a plugged cabin air filter or it just being a shitty part.

Alternator output is easily tested, all loads turned on voltage should be 13.2 to around 14.8V. Voltage will be higher at lower ambient temps and lower at higher ambient temps.

Very rare for ECMs to fail in 2nd gens.

Low ambient temps will cause condensation buildup under the oil cap especially if your driving short trips so it's not really anything to be concerned about.

 

Thank you so much for weighing in. Sure like a lot of us sometimes the hits keep coming in middle age so I'll take it back to the auto electric guy and see if we can't figure out what it is.

 

For the record, the gentleman I spoke to and I could have misunderstood or misrepresented what they said because while I can do my own oil changes and do brakes that is the extent of my knowledge. I bought a Toyota for a reason and so I was thinking that was unlikely. But have you seen any ECM issues in second gens in the forums here?

 

There's not much to the HVAC system, but resistor failure is fairly common, there is an updated resistor and pigtail that helps address failures but a failing blower motor or plugged cabin filter can definitely cause it to fail prematurely.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2nd-gen-information-diagnostics.784008/#post-28042158

 

We have but it's very rare, most of the time when they do it's caused by outside factors like a jump start gone wrong, lightning, moisture intrusion, etc.