Blower motor

[Wheatking]

I was wondering if it is difficult to replace the blower motor, or is it something that I should take to a dealer. Its making a loud noise like its going to fall apart any second, and its friggin cold out (-25c), so I want to fix it as soon as possible, but would prefer to do it myself. Thanks for the help

[Wheatking]

I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a difference in a toyota blower vs a Pontiac one. I just removed my blower this morning and the fan is cracked causing it to spin much slower than the motor and make a horrible racket. Anyways I went to my G.M. dealer in town and they wanted $320 cdn for the entire assembly, where as the toyota dealership wanted only $152 cnd. The thing is that neither one had the part in stock, to compare it to the original. I hate having toyota order one for me if its not going to work, I don't really want to pay the restocking charge. Another thing about it is that I am sure that I only need the fan and that the actual motor itself works just fine. But just like everything else nowadays you can't buy them seperately. Seems like kind of a waste to me. On a side note how in the world does GM get away with charging over double the toyota price for a similiar, and probably identical part. I have always had gm vehicles in the past, but this doesn't make me want to buy one in the future from them, although I sill love my Vibe.

[keithvibe]

it quite common for GM to up the price from a third party vender. They have to buy the blower from toyota anyways, cut out the middle man. Now I haven't needed to take out my blower motor yet but I bet it is like most others I have already. The fan blade is heat/pressed on to the motor shaft so replacing just the blades would be out of the question. Take a close look at the shaft of the motor. Does it have a lot of little ridges in the end of the shaft? if so the blades were probley pressed on and you will end up having to replace the entire assembly anyways. Buy it from Toyota and forget GM.

[BlueCrush]

I would think that the one from Toyota would work just fine if it is for the Matrix. Someone should be able to confirm that for you.I have gottan a few things at Toyota due to the price. Gotta love GM's mark-up. lol.Have you checked Ebay at all? or any online Toyota stores? You may be able to find it cheaper. Try here to get a cheaper one: http://www.car-part.com/

[Wheatking]

Well I decided to take it to my hometown dealer in Humboldt, and they told me that warranty would cover it, where as the dealer in the city of Saskatoon it wouldn't be covered. They did give me crap though about removing the fan myself. When I got the work order back saying what work was it it had a price on it of $231 for the blower. So here's a question why was the dealer in the city quoting me just about $100 more for the same part, I just always assumed GM parts would be the same cost from dealer to dealer.On a side note the fan isn't pressed on but it has a flat spot that allighns with a flat spot on the motor shaft. There really isn't any reason the fan and motor could'nt be sold separately, unless it is also heat presssed on and my was just loose due to wear.

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by Wheatking » There really isn't any reason the fan and motor could'nt be sold separately, unless it is also heat presssed on and my was just loose due to wear. Toyota buys the whole A/C unit as 1 piece when they install them at the factory. the blower motor and electric door acuators are all included in the A/C unit from the supplier. to buy the fan housing and motor seperately you would have to contact the vendor whom supplies Toyota with their A/C units.I'm sure yours was loose from a defective part. Quote, originally posted by Wheatking »On a side note how in the world does GM get away with charging over double the toyota price for a similiar, and probably identical part. as to the price jump, GM buys (and has to repackage) from Toyota who marked the part up alot in the first place. If you really knew just how much the blower motor is, you would include Toyota in on your rant about over pricing.

[2002sportside]

Quote, originally posted by Wheatking » So here's a question why was the dealer in the city quoting me just about $100 more for the same part, I just always assumed GM parts would be the same cost from dealer to dealer.Unfortunately dealers are free to set their own prices for parts. There is a "Manufacturers List" price, but it's just a suggestion. GM's list is $165.91 USD for the blower motor. It's one reason I buy my parts online, the dealers around here are rip-off artists. For the Vibe I usually buy the parts from a Toyota dealer instead of a GM one as that makes them even cheaper.

[vibe-04]

Quote, originally posted by Wheatking »On a side note the fan isn't pressed on but it has a flat spot that aligns with a flat spot on the motor shaft. There really isn't any reason the fan and motor couldn't be sold separately, unless it is also heat pressed on and my was just loose due to wear./I used to make and design blower motors back in London Ont for Power Motion many years ago and here's the issue: unless things have changed, the fan and blower motor are balanced together in a fixture. This ensures it doesn't spin itself out-of-control when on max speed (think speed wobble on a wheel) when in the shroud. In fact, an unbalanced fan can literally self-destruct! A loud fan is a sure sign of an unbalanced. You can tell if a fan has been balanced if there are clips on the fins. So never separate and swap out. I've seen them fail.Also, if you take it out of the housing, don't bang it around or place it fan side down. A squeaky fan is a sign the brushed are worn out.Andrew

[CAN-AWD-VIBE]

i have had this happen 2 times so far in my car.1st time we though it was the leaves that were stuck in there but the fan was actually cracked and unbalanced.2nd time the fan broke right off and there was horrible noise when you tried to warm up.both warranty repairs so I was ok... seems to be a little more common then I thought.

[kevera]

I think mine is starting to go as well.It gets noisey only on the highest speed,I suspect one of the blades is cracked.Maybe this is more common especially on our older vibes.

[jsidneyl0127]

Hi. I know this doesn't help you, but I have the same issue ... blower motor making a loud noise and I need to replace it. Anybody have any experience with this, your guidance would be appreciated. I'll update you and let you know how my exploits with this go.

[Whelan]

Are you folks talking about the interior motor that pushes the heat out of the vents?If so look under your passenger side dash. Most cars have it here, not sure if the Trix/Vibe are the same. But you will see something that looks like an upside down derby hat almost. Black and circular. Typically they come off with a few screws and disconnecting the wires from the clip.You can either find a new part at a dealer or go to http://www.car-parts.com and see if you can find a pre-owned one cheaper there.

[Wheatking]

As you may have read in another thread I did remove the blower motor myself. I was actually fairly easy. Step 1. Remove the glove box Step 2. Remove the plastic clips holding up a flap the same colour as the dash that covers the engine control unit(i think that is what that computer thing is). Step 3. There are 3 rather large phillips head screws holding the bracket up that hold the control unit. The front two are simple to get at you can see the right away in front when you take off the glove box. The third one can be kind of hard to get at. It is in the rear centre of the control unit. I used an extra long screwdriver to get at it between the fan and control unit, it is impossible to get at decent with a normal screwdriver, a stubby might also work. Step 4. The control unit should swing out of the way without having to remove any wires. Step 5. There are 3 really small nuts on the motor that have to be removed. Step 6. Once those nuts are removed the motor and fan should come out in one piece.It took me about 1/2 an hour to do. If I had to do it again I could do it in 10-15 minutes

[Wheatking]

"Back on topic, while I had the filter out, I was able to reach in and find that the impeller or fan blade cage turns slower than the motor. My guess is the shaft is D-shaped and the flat spot in the plastic fan cage hole has been damaged allowing the motor to spin freely or nearly so. *EDIT* My guess is correct according to other members that have had this problem... Pontiac only sells the entire motor assembly I'm calling Toyota to check on parts availability."I had the exact same problem, the D shape in the fan was now an O and turned at half the speed. I left it to long and the bushings in the motor where also shot from the vibration, or it may have been the other way around.

[swifty]

Thanks Wheatking for blower motor removal steps..it really is a simple job to get it out. ECU bracket firewall screw is in a tough place..best way to remove it is a really long screwdriver and slide it between ECU (unscrewed and swung away) along blower motor as then you can get at screw directly.size of 3 motor mounting screws is a 5.5 mm socket.. goofy size..who uses that?? so plan ahead and have one that size...bolts come out easily but kind of cramped area... makes it easier to have right socket.Fan stopped working completely.. stuck a finger in the filter slot and could feel squirrel cage was trying to turn?? Pulled out blower and discovered it was damp around the motor. Blower is at the lowest point so any water in there ends up around the motor.. Not sure how water got in there. Carwash hi pressure water through air inlet maybe... not sure.Hooked up a 12v battery to test the motor and it would work if i shook it hehe.. Removed two screws on back of motor, cap slides off and discovered motor was full of rust and gunk. REASON motor stopped working was gunk had caused one brush to hang up in its slot. These are spring loaded and brush should slide in its slot as it wears.. Decided to clean it all up..brushes slide great..and seems to run perfectly. Made decision to put this one back in until i am sure I don't get anymore water in there.. Don't want to wreck a new motor until I am sure no weird water leak. By the way....any Toyota type product I have ever worked on had Nippon Denso electrical stuff..always really good quality parts.. I pull out this thing and it is a DONG LIN made in Korea.. what the heck is that! Not what I expected thats for sure. Looks really cheap so i am not surprised so many people are having trouble with them. If Toyota or Nummi use korean stuff now i might as well buy a Dae Woo hehe.Not cheap to buy though..Gm dealer $236.00 cdn Toyota unit $176.00 go figure... some price difference, both a rip for this plastic piece of junk Moral of the story is pull the motor end cap and check brushes if it does not run.. DC brush motor is simple..not much can go wrong with them ...just brushes or dry bearing bushings will cause problems and you can usually fix. Hope mine keeps going and perhaps will not have the wife take it thru car washes anymore.

[Nightstandvibe]

Anyone have the part number for cage/and motor assembly?Same problem, the fan is sounding like a city bus diesel.Seems like a common failure mode here. I wish there was an upgraded model available.

[swifty]

Actually, you do not have to unscrew that nasty 3rd screw on ECU next to the firewall.. (step 3 on wheatkings process) Just screw out the two at the front and you can just pull ECU away. The 3rd screw is mounted on a triangle molding that fits in a cup on firewall. To install when done..just locate triangle cone into holder.. and put two front mounting screws back in.On an 04 vibe anyway..

[swifty]

UPDATE,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Got water in my blower motor because my AIR CONDITIONING DRAIN WAS PLUGGED. Easy fix... passenger footwell u will see a tube zap strapped to a nozzle that pokes thru the firewall, which is your AC drain... pull off hose and poke up 3 inches or so into AC drain tank and clear all the leaves and pine needles that have fallen into your vents.AC water had no where to go but into blower ducts... then falls to the lowest point... your blower motor... then gunks up the brushes..cleaned it up as described in my last post and has been working great..Hope this helps u

[HIvibe2004]

I'm a 36 year old mother of 2 who has never done a car repair in my life, and I just fixed my blower motor!! I cleaned it out like swifty said and it works!...90 degrees, humid, and no alternate vehicle=motivation...Thanks swifty and wheatking!

[joatmon]

Hi HIVibe and welcome to genvibe. Way to go, that had to feel good to fix that yourself