Heater problems

jlmilligan

jlmilligan

Member
Has anyone else experienced this. My blower motor is now intermitent. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Everything else works as advertised but the motor does not turn on. I will turn it off and try a few minutes later and it will work for awhile. Any ideas?
 
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Is your only problem at Fan Speed 1, 2 & 3?

How is it when it's on HIGH?

I had an 2001 Accord & the Fan Speed 1,2 & 3 didn't work, but HIGH did.

Replaced the blower resistor & it was back to normal.
 
jlmilligan said:
Has anyone else experienced this. My blower motor is now intermitent. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Everything else works as advertised but the motor does not turn on. I will turn it off and try a few minutes later and it will work for awhile. Any ideas?
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I haven't had this problem but from looking at the schematics I would try swapping the heater relay (which directly supplies power to the blower motor) with another similar relay. Also I would look at the hvac unit in the center console. Pull it out and check that the ribbon connectors are tight on their ribbons. Additionally if anyone smokes in the car I would take all the ribbons loose and clean their ends with alcohol.
 
does it seem like it is when it is really cold out side... I started a new thread and having the same problems... did you get it figured out?
 
yes, seems if it is above 32f then it works fine. I tried pulling the relay out and kept it inside for an hour or so. still didn't work.
 
my buddies truck is having same issues... is she parkes it in garage for the night it works, but when leaves work after the day it will not... dealer wants to replace motor at tune of $300-$400
 
jlmilligan said:
yes, seems if it is above 32f then it works fine. I tried pulling the relay out and kept it inside for an hour or so. still didn't work.
Click to expand...

Don't just try to run it with the same relay. As drmorbius suggested, swap it with a similar relay from another circuit. This way you can diagnose if the intermittent may be in the relay, not the motor itself. Plus you can then check if the other circuit you put the suspect relay into now has an intermittent.
 
Hey jlmilligan,

Not sure what the weather is like in Maine these days, but if you have ice/snow this could be building up on your blower motor causing it not to function.

Toyota issued a Technical Service Bulletin for this very problem:

Component Description:
1. EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:AIR CONDITIONER Bulletin Number: 00207
Bulletin Date: MAY 2007

Vehicle: 2003 Toyota 4Runner
Summary:
HVAC BLOWER MOTOR ICE BUILD UP. ( NHTSA ITEM NUMBER - 10021712 )

Toyota will install (at no charge to you) a protective shield to cover the blower motor and prevent ice/snow from building up on the motor.

Hope this helps.
 
Brought it inside the hangar and let it warm up. Everything worked fine when warm. After 6 hours outside getting cold, it no longer worked. It was inside most of the day so I would think it would melt all the snow and ice on the motor.
 
Tha info, yea this is exactly what is happening mo my truck, it will work if it has been inside, but after u let it sit back outside it will not work again. Blower works fine in summer.
 
I have a '04 4-Runner and I'm also having this problem, fan won't work when the temp is below freezing. I'm going to look at it this weekend. Do you access the motor from under the hood or inside the dash?
I'm the only owner of this 4-Runner, why would the problem develop this year and never before? Seal or bushing just worn and letting moisture in?

Barry
 
oh boy this happen to me hope this helps

okay bought my 04 4runner v8 just before winter up here in alberta and well the temp. went down to -30 c and well no blower speeds so i put the ski suit on and flew to the dealer ship extremely pissed off well ill tore them a strip(still under warranty) well there is a revamped cowl peice that needs to be installed stuff gets down in motor and it freezes up next time it happens if you pull the motor it will work but push it in the cage and it will stop by the way not covered under warranty go figure and it costs about 1000$ to correct i did it due to its pretty cold up here but im fighting it with toyota canada if it happens again ill park it in the showroom hope this helps and sorry i'm still mad over it
 
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OK, I found the fan. It's under the dash on the passenger side. Very easy to remove. I took it out and brought it into the house to try and clean/look at/lube it. I couldn't get the fan blade off and didn't want to break anything. As I was playing with it I noticed water coming out of it. So I blew it out with a hairdryer and re-installed it. So far it's working and it was 14 degrees last night. I don't expect it to last but it will buy some time till I get a new one.
If Toyota fixes this problem with a shield why didn't I have this problem the last 4 years?
 
wonder where the water is coming from that seems to be the problem! please keep me up dated on progress, could u post up pics of where fan is?
 
It really does take only a small amount of water to freeze on the blower motor fan blades to stop it from turning. The motor does not have enough torque to break free from even a thin layer of ice. If you are pulling the blower motor yourself to temporarily fix this problem, make sure it is absolutely and completely dry before re-installing.

I am a little surprised that this type of technical glitch was not detected much earlier in development. The fact that snow/ice (and in turn water) can get access to this blower motor and basically shut down your entire interior cabin heating when you really need it in sub zero temperatures points to a really bad design.

canuckboy - sorry to hear about your poor customer service experience out in Alberta ... my local Toyota dealer installed the protective shield at no charge to me - I had just bought my T4R used a few months before this happened to me.

I have had no problems since the shield was installed - and we have had lots of snow and lots of freezing temperatures here since then.
 
Well here it is Monday and it's froze already. Won't the new motor freeze as well? Where do they install the shield that is mentioned in the Technical Service Bulletin?

Thanks
Barry
 
Yes i know but the band-aid fix they did offer for free but i know , since I'm a mechanic that works for s dealer ship, it don't always work and usually ugly I received a whole new heater box which holds the blower motor and new cowl . The parts were on back order from overseas I got them to bring in a new 4-Runner and steal the whole assembly from it so they did alot I figure Toyota Corp. should have corrected this problem years ago at their cost not just throw a band-aid on it
 
I went to the dealer and they told me $168 for labor and parts are extra. I have 67k so it is out of warranty. Anyone able to give me a parts list for the TSB so I could check around for just the parts?
 
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