Hey just wondering if anybody know's of a solution for fan noise coming from the blower. Every time I turn it on it gets really annoying.
The only thing I can say that it sounds close to is like a baseball card hitting the spokes of a bicycle wheel.

Just wondering how hard it is to take it out of the dash and see if I can clean it out or something.

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it's not difficult at all. Under the glove box is a panel, two clips V-shaped you push and the panel will drop down then you pull straight out (note it's slid into the side kick panel on the right and held up by the pin in the back). Once that is out, the blower motor is right there. The power connector for the fan slides out by pushing the side of the connector and sliding down (towards the carpeting) and then it comes out. Three screws, then gently pull the fan housing (black) straight down. You might have to wiggle the fan housing's edges around the screw holes gently to pry it from its mounting hole. Once it's out, you'll see the "squirrel cage" which is the white fan blades. If you don't see anything like a leaf or other things, then chances are your fan motor bearings are going bad and probably need to get a new fan.

The celica had the same fan and had the same problems with the failing/noisy bearings. The dealer wants an insane amount for the fan like $180, ridiculous for a fan. TRDSparks.com was like $109 or 118. You can look around like rockauto they were like $45 when i was pricing them. I had the noise but was a leaf on mine but was pricing out the parts.

It's such an easy job to remove the fan and install. I once had a dealer tell me the entire dash had to be removed and it would be 5-6hours.. LOL. This job? try 30 minutes at the most, if you're just taking your time to make sure you don't break anything. wow some dealers really amaze me

 

Cool thanks for the info I will get on this immediately before the weather changes and I have to use the heater all winter. It gets really annoying after about 5 mins of driving.

 

I'm having the same problem... now I know how to fix it.

 

hey you're welcome, no problem. yeah when i began to have problems with the fan didn't think i was alone. hey keep us posted to what ya find if it was a leaf or nothing in there...

 

hey beachdad!! glad to help ya out

 

Well I finally got around to doing this last night. Turns out there was no leaf or debris in my fan. So I guess I would have to replace it to make the noise go away. Is there anyway to take apart the fan and WD40 the part so it doesn't make any noise? I'd rather not pay 42 bucks just to quiet a fan but it does bug me sometimes.

Also something else I found that was funny my car doesn't have any panel covering the bottom of the fan you can see the screws as soon as you look underneath the glove box. I'm guessing the previous owner lost it or something would this piece quiet noise coming from the fan as well? If so were could I get it?

 

fan motor (black part) is sealed, doesn't look like it comes apart easily. yeah the bearings are whats making the noise and they're just dying, don't know of anything to save them without destroying that black fan motor casing by taking it apart. The only thing that I've found is to replace the motor with another one and then the noise is gone. Yeah the fan at rockauto.com wasn't at the correct location, it was listed under 2005 Celica GTS hvac --> fan blower. The one I saw was the TYC brand fan for $36, the tyc part number is 700058.

about the cover underneath, yeah it does quiet things up, it has insulation on the backside of the cover. Dealer is one place, tdsparks.com, or a junkyard. that would be a couple of choices.

update:
just looked up the part, it's called COVER SUB-ASSY, INSTRUMENT PANEL UNDER, NO.1, Part Number 55606-21020 dealer list $62.70, $50.18 from trdsparks.com just clips into place. hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the info. Whats weird is I spun the fan the opposite direction and it didn't make any noise? Wish I could reverse the direction it rotates, I might try some WD40 and see if it helps.

Man there is no way i'm paying $50 for a plastic panel, i'll try some junkyards and see If I can get it cheaper.

Thanks

 

yeah that arrow shows which way it spins, you're right when they go bad you can go the other way and are quiet. i think it's the design they have because the celica owners had the same problem. Its why I think aftermarket is the solution, why buy toyota again since the design is the same that died? lol when mine dies like that which it probably will, i'm going aftermarket.

but yeah got nothing to lose using some wd40, go for it!

yeah you're right $50 for that small panel, maybe a junkyard has one. I know car-part.com is a national database of junkyards if you wanted to look that up.

 

Thanks for all the help, My plan is tonight to try the WD40 to try and quiet it down if not i'll probably buy the TYC one you listed since they have a lifetime warranty and if its quiet enough I won't worry about the panel.

I called some junkyards off the site you listed they still want $35 for that panel which I guess is better than $50.

 

yeah doesnt seem to be that much off for a used part, i would've thought like $25 or so. without the cover a new fan should still be much quieter, just a whooshing noise of the air and youre right at least that has a lifetime warranty. I contacted rockauto about that warranty if the fan is defective (hey i was curious), what they do is they arrange for you to get a new one, then you ship that back to them once you get the new one.

no problem, glad i could help ya out! if ya dont mind, keep us posted on how it goes.

 

Well I finally ripped it back out last night and tried to get to the motor but its damn near impossible to I got as much lubricant on it as possible and it does sound better when I have it on full blast but I still hear a ticking sound when its on the lower settings, Guess i'll just have to pony up and get the TYC one.

 

too bad the wd40 didn't work and sorry that you gotta spend that money for the new one. i wish there was an easier way to fix the noise, but at least there's a fan out there for much cheaper than the stock one from the dealer. I think it was like $160-180 from the dealer, ridiculous. but hey the way things are in this economy every penny counts.

 

You got it, my only complaint is why they manufactured those fans to not come apart. They encase it with plastic and the motor doesn't come out unless you rip it out of there. I guess so that you have to replace it and spend money

 

It's a brush motor and you probably are hearing the brushes on the communtator inside the motor. Sometimes they wear in and get quiet or they just burn out and fail completely. Motors are sealed to keep dust from getting into them and ozone from the brush arcing from getting out. It is unusual for the motor to make that much noise, usually it is something really small stuck in the fan blades.

 

Will that part number fit a 2010?

Im having intermittent issues. My fan only comes on when I hit a bump really hard and stay on until I turn it off.

 

yes all from 05-10 are the same blower motor. yours could be the fan motor or more likely the blower resistor that's to the left of the fan motor went bad. There used to be the tc's 05-10 service manual here on scionlife in the tech section. But the links have been dead for awhile, I've tried to post about it, contact mods, but it's just silence on why that's not a live link anymore. The reason I'm saying this is the service manual tells how to diagnose that and I'm not by my service manual right now. If you can apply 12volts to the fan motor see if that makes it turn on. If it does, then the fan isn't the problem. Hope that helps!

 

Thanks for the response. It was the fan motor. I replaced with the tyc 700058. The new fan ia definitely lower than oem quality. It is noisy but it beats 100 degree days in texas. It chose the worst time to crap out on me.

 

I just wanted to Thank-You as well. I have a 2012 TC and it was even easier than that. The fan is just sitting there upside down under the glove box. Three Torx screws and a plug. In my case, it was just debris from the tree I park under. Thanks for keeping my old car alive. (212,000 mi.)

ETA: I am the original owner and there is no cover over the fan motor on this model year.