2009 Camry heater is making noise?

[mphowie]

Hello everybody,
My wife's 2009 Camry has started making a humming noise from the passenger side when the heater is on. The higher the setting the louder the noise becomes. I took the car into the dealership and they checked it saying that it had "leaf's and debris" that had become stuck inside causing the noise. When I left the heater sounded fine. 2 days later the same issue, so I went back and they said that there must have been more leaf's and debris that the mechanic couldn't reach last time, but now it was clean. A few days later the same issue but I have not gone back to the dealership.
The car has approx. 22,000 miles on it, we don't live near many trees (some, but not many) and it is January right now so not many leaf's falling, and I purchased an additional warranty on the car for a few hundred extra and this is not covered. The dealership said that it is not covered in either warranty because it is not a vehicle issue but one caused by "mother nature" so...
Is this a common problem?
Is this something that the "average do-it-yourselfer" can do?
How do I know if the dealership is giving me the runaround?
If I check this myself will it void my warranty, and where can I look to verify this?
Any help or suggestions would be great. Both my wife and I are very frustrated with Toyota, for all of the issues we have had with the vehicle, and the dealership, we feel we have been taken advantage of.
Thanks everybody,
mphowie

[Luna2]

Originally Posted by mphowie

Hello everybody,
My wife's 2009 Camry has started making a humming noise from the passenger side when the heater is on. The higher the setting the louder the noise becomes. I took the car into the dealership and they checked it saying that it had "leaf's and debris" that had become stuck inside causing the noise. When I left the heater sounded fine. 2 days later the same issue, so I went back and they said that there must have been more leaf's and debris that the mechanic couldn't reach last time, but now it was clean. A few days later the same issue but I have not gone back to the dealership.
The car has approx. 22,000 miles on it, we don't live near many trees (some, but not many) and it is January right now so not many leaf's falling, and I purchased an additional warranty on the car for a few hundred extra and this is not covered. The dealership said that it is not covered in either warranty because it is not a vehicle issue but one caused by "mother nature" so...
Is this a common problem?
Is this something that the "average do-it-yourselfer" can do?
How do I know if the dealership is giving me the runaround?
If I check this myself will it void my warranty, and where can I look to verify this?
Any help or suggestions would be great. Both my wife and I are very frustrated with Toyota, for all of the issues we have had with the vehicle, and the dealership, we feel we have been taken advantage of.
Thanks everybody,
mphowie

Just a question, "How did the leaf(s) get past the cabin filter?".

I am leaning toward a bad blower motor, or something loose on the motor shaft, like the blower itself. You might have just been given "Lip Service".

Is it still under the 3 year warranty?

[aagitch]

I would look into taking it to another dealer. I don't see leaves getting that far in there to cause the issues you're having.

[JohnGD]

Those must be pretty smart leaves getting past the cabin filter.

Go to a decent dealershop and claim warranty. Like others said it may be a bad motor or wobbling squirrel cage.

[hardtopte72]

Leaves can get past the cabin filter if during replacement or check of the filter and pulling out the filter they fall in. That is very possible. It could also be acorns or bugs. Even if you don't park under a tree they can get in.

It may be a bad blower too. The only way to check would be remove the blower. It isn't hard but it is cramped down there. You have to work under the dash in the passenger floor area and remove the 3-4 bolts and one connector that hold the blower to the airbox. Then you can see if it's got trash in it or not. Did you replace the cabin filter?

[mphowie]

Thank you everybody. As far as the cabin filter, no I have not changed it. The only time that it has been brought up was at the dealership the first time I took the car in for this issue.
I will look around for another dealership in the area. Maybe then we can get it fixed.
Thanks again.

[Dave's]

In some vehicles when you remove the cabin filter you are able to see the blower fan and possibly remove any debris (should there be any). I helped a co-worked pull his filter out and there was actually a piece of plastic wrap in the blower. I have no idea how it got there, maybe fell thru from the windshield vent? It looked like part of a wrapper from a convenience store sandwich.

[hardtopte72]

Originally Posted by mphowie

Thank you everybody. As far as the cabin filter, no I have not changed it. The only time that it has been brought up was at the dealership the first time I took the car in for this issue.
I will look around for another dealership in the area. Maybe then we can get it fixed.
Thanks again.

They most likely checked it upsell it and that exacerbated the problem as when they pulled it out some junk went in there.

What you can do also if remove the cabin filter and turn on the blower with the filter out. This may shoot out some of the trash that may be in there.

[mphowie]

Thanks everybody for the comments.
My wife took the car back to the dealership yesterday and after I read her the comments on this forum she spoke with one of the managers and told them what was going on. They "rechecked" the blower and determined that the blower motor was having problems...thanks guys. So they replaced it and are going to refund our money for the "leaf's and debris" cure.
Thanks again guys!