Yet another blower motor problem … must be getting to be winter time

[Sturdavj]

1990 Camry LE; 301,826 miles; original blower motor. I have yet to begin troubleshooting the problem.

The problem: the blower motor is NOT coming on.

The symptoms: for the past six months when turning the blower on or starting up the car the blower would not work at first. After varying periods of time the blower would engage delivering forced air. Sometimes a bump in the road appeared to be enough to get it spinning again.

Having once gone through this cycle the blower would function normally, for a period of time. In recent times this operational period appeared to be getting shorter & shorter. Now its dead in the water

I’ll be checking for 12VDC and inspecting pins/connections for corrosion; however I am wondering if maybe the commentator segments are worn out?

Any ideas

[white90dx]

Are you trying to run the blower motor on high? Is it one of the lower speeds that is going out?

If you have the base/DX lever operated HVAC controls, 'missing' lower fans speeds means you need to replace the blower motor resistor. If the blower motor does not turn on the 'high' setting, then you probably need to replace the blower motor itself.

Editi - just noticed you mentioned LE... so you have the push-button version. Let us know if there are any specific fan speeds that don't work, etc. Sometimes the control panel stops working on the LE (otherwise my above advice still holds).

-Charlie

[Sturdavj]

Thanks Charlie;

It’s all or nothing, I would try various push button positions while it was in a failed state to see if it might come alive, made no difference.

When it did worked I tried various positions w/push buttons, made no difference

[white90dx]

Sounds like its time to take out the blower motor and test directly.

On the LE, there is the blower motor resistor, just like the base/DX (though oddly enough it is different...). That would leave the high speed working, so its not the problem in this case. There is also an extra relay that could conceivably be causing the problem, but I would suspect the motor itself right now.

-Charlie

[Sturdavj]

Thanks Charlie, looks like a bench test coming up.

Will I need to pull the glove box, they still call them that....

[es250nut]

Originally Posted by Sturdavj

Thanks Charlie, looks like a bench test coming up.

Will I need to pull the glove box, they still call them that....

You shouldn't have to. The blower motor is held in by 3 screws. You will probably want to undo the wiring connectors first.

[Sturdavj]

Results: follow up

Swapped out old blower motor with a salvaged yard unit (cost = $25.00). Works better/stronger than ever.

Old motor/fan cage turned with what appeared to be enough reluctance to prevent it from rotating on initial stand still/start up transition. I may bench test my theory at a later date.

I choose the following steps to remove / replace my bad motor. Time was approximately 1 hour.

1. Placed the car on drive up ramps, for better under dash access height.
2. Removed the glove box, disconnect glove box lighting connectors, set G-box on drivers seat
3. Remove speaker grill using wide tip screw driver
4. Remove the six bolts (10 mm) and 2 nuts (10mm) as well the screws holding the lower dash pad in place. Remove dash pad and set it on driver seat
5. Disconnect heater control connector; disconnect blower motor connector, as well as the white connector directly above it.
6. Remove blower motor black vent hose (flexible type)
7. Remove three screws (8 mm/ Phillips) holding the blower motor and fan housing in place
8. Connect the replacement blower motor, and re-connect the heater control. Test for operation.
9. If motor works follow the removal in reverse order