Cleaning the blower fan write-up

[Millerad1651]

My blower fan has been making a clicking noise for the past month or so. If I turned up the speed, the clicking got faster. I knew what it was, just never took the time to fix it.
The blower fan is under the passenger side dash, behind/under the glove box. Its pretty easy to get out, wipe down, lube up, and put back in. So far, the noise is gone, and dust isn't circulating into the cab.

First step is to take out the glove box by removing two screws. Not something you have to do, but it gives bigger guys a little extra room.

The fan is located behing the support for the glove box.

Next step is to remove the three screws that hold the motor/fan. Two are easy, but to get the third, you need to remove the kickpanel molding.
Screw 1

Screw 2

Screw 3...need to remove kick panel to get (or at least make it easier)

Once the 3 screws are out, the fan should just drop out. Unhook the wiring harness, and clean her up.

Mine was dusty, so I took an attachment on the air compressor and blew it out. Also cleaned out under the fan, then use some dry lithium grease to lube everything up.

All cleaned up

The noise is gone and it only took about 20 minutes. Definitely a cheap fix for an annoying problem. Hope this helps.

 

[IanB]

Does the glovebox even need to be removed to do this? Nice writeup!

 

[Millerad1651]

It may not be, but it did give me a little more head room when I looked under there to find the screws. Also, I don't know if you can get to the third screw in the back without taking the glove box out. And thanks.

 

[ouki]

How did you remove the kick panel? Just pull?

 

[T4R2014]

Nice writeup. I actually tried to attempt this yesterday but gave up because I was short on time but mostly because that connector didn't want to budge and I didn't want to risk breaking it.

I found that the glovebox doesn't need to be removed but rather just the kick panel. From there it seems the best combo would be an 8mm socket with a 2 inch extension. I also posted a video I found on youtube of this in the Tutorial + Documentation thread.

 

[aeroneer1]

Can someone show how they got the actual fan motor apart? I got it out but couldn't get the thing apart to clan and lube it. There's a clip on there, took that off. But the fan blades wouldn't budge.

 

[Millerad1651]

Ya I didn't get mine off either. There looks to be a little piece that clips onto the shaft of the motor. I tried to bend the piece back, but it wouldn't budge. I didn't want to break it, so I left it. I used the straw that comes with the grease to spray up under the fan. May or may not have gotten everything, but had to of helped.
Here is a pic, you can kind of see, but its there...

 

[ouki]

I got mine done. It was the most disgusting moment when I looked inside my blower. Guess what, a mouse in it! And it was alive. No wonder my blower got stuck. :spider:

 

[Millerad1651]

Thats crazy...all I had was a bunch of helicopters. At least you know its clean now!

 

[cj80cruiser]

I removed the blower from my parts truck a couple weeks ago and I couldn't get the fan blades to come off after removing the clip you have the arrow pointing to. I'm going to try again since its just the parts truck anyway and I'll post up if I'm successful.

 

[hugo2go]

Thank you Sir for the great write up.
I need to do this to get that funky smell out when the AC is on.

 

[SkidPalace]

Just great.
I tried separating the fan blade from the motor and broke the damn thing.
I figured I could tap the shaft while holding the blade, but I friggin blew the shaft out the back of the housing. Should a just left it alone when I didn't see any debris in it.
Now I need a replacement. Where the cheap replacements at?

 

[IanB]

Just great.
I tried separating the fan blade from the motor and broke the damn thing.
I figured I could tap the shaft while holding the blade, but I friggin blew the shaft out the back of the housing. Should a just left it alone when I didn't see any debris in it.
Now I need a replacement. Where the cheap replacements at?

Wrecker, you could try car-part.com and see who has stock, then start negotiating.

 

[Atreyus]

just did mine waiting for it to dry great write up!

 

[Millerad1651]

Thanks. Glad it helped.

 

[2002tii]

Sorry to bounce an old thread to the top... so did you guys just spray grease (or graphite?) behind the white fan using the straw that comes with an aerosol can? And that fixed the noise?

 

[aeroneer1]

I just ended up buying a new one (not OEM) for around $40.00.

Works and sounds great.

 

[Millerad1651]

Sorry to bounce an old thread to the top... so did you guys just spray grease (or graphite?) behind the white fan using the straw that comes with an aerosol can? And that fixed the noise?

No worries...this is how more people with this problem can see the thread before starting a new one.

To answer your question, yes. I bent the straw as close to the main rod on the back side of the wheel/fan assembly.

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

Great writeup, glad this got bumped back up.

 

[shadow247]

i probably need to do this. Looks like another thing to add to my list!