Replacing 2001 heater blower without cutting the dash

Note: This post applies to Gen1 cars (2001-2003) only.

Hello all!

tl;dr: You can replace the heater blower in a 2001, and presumably a 2002 or 2003, without cutting the dash. It takes some creativity, but it can be done.

This is important because the steel reinforcement bar you're supposed to use on reassembly, to replace the piece you cut, is unobtainium, or nearly so.

Long version

FRONT means the front of the car. Parts availability is as of early October, 2025. This is for a US-market car with left-hand drive.

Backstory

The heater blower on my '01 quit working correctly in September 2004, with about 253,000 miles on the car. The initial symptom was that it wouldn't start sometimes, but turning the blower switch all the way off and back on, or turning the ignition off and back on, would cause it to start. This quickly progressed to it not starting at all.

The first time it happened, I ended up dumping the glovebox contents on the floor and pulling out the cabin air filter so I could put my fingers on the blower wheel. I gave it a little spin, applied power, and then it started. On subsequent times, I discovered that leaning over and pounding the bottom of blower box, in front (FRONT) of the glove box, would usually make it start, without having to disassemble anything. Sometimes if I started driving and forgot to pound on it to make it start, it would start when I drove over a big bump, like a railroad crossing or pothole.

This worked for a while, but the blower motor got louder and louder, and also slower and slower. I had to put the switch on high to get it to move the barest amount of air. Finally, a year later (259,000 miles) I decided to replace the blower motor.

Parts

You can still get the OEM blower motor from Toyota, probably because it's also used on 2004-2009 Prii. It costs $172 from Olathe Toyota and probably other discounting dealers, and is Toyota part number 87103-47050 . I did not take this option, due to cost.

AutoZone lists both a Continental and a Four Seasons part for this application. PM9249, $95, and 75774, $122, respectively. They stock the Continental in some stores, but the Four Seasons part seems to be ship-to-home only. The Continental picture on their site has a VDO part sticker on it. Both parts show a white blower wheel and black motor on their site. Both parts show a round clamp on the blower wheel. The pictures online for the two parts seem to be identical.

O'Reilly lists an Import Direct and a Nissens part for this application. The Import Direct is stocked at some stores, but the Nissens part isn't currently available for sale at all. The Import Direct is also PM9249 for $105. Instead of having the connector as part of the motor housing, it has the connector on a short pigtail - 1.5" or 38 mm. It shows a white blower wheel.

Advance Auto lists only a Carquest Premium motor, 75774, for $118. They stock it at some of their stores. The pictures seem to be identical to the Continental and Four Seasons ones at AutoZone.

NAPA lists four (lol) blowers for this application. Nissens NSN 871152 (not available at all), Alstrom ATM 1562422 (most likely not available), Balkamp BK 6552891, $112, and Balkamp BK 6552891, $135. The two pictures they offer for the cheaper Balkamp appear to be identical to the Continental one at AutoZone. The more expensive Balkamp is described as "OE Type" and mentions the Toyota part number. There is only one picture, though, and it doesn't match anything else. Both of the Balkamp motors appear to have the connector integral with the motor.

RockAuto lists five part numbers, ranging from $32 to $46. The top one is Continental PM9249. (I should have looked at RockAuto before I bought it from AutoZone. )

I bought the Continental one from AutoZone and it arrived with a "generic" sticker, made in China. It also had a black plastic blower wheel, without the clamp - the wheel had a different design. I used their "ship to home for 20% discount" offer, so at least I didn't pay *that much* over the RockAuto price.

Interestingly, the part number on the motor itself on mine was 75774. It also had what might be a date code of 24286 on it - October 12, 2024. The date code cast into the plastic was definitely October and maybe 2018 (the arrow was between 18 and 19).

The Denso part number on the old one is apparently 194000-1390 6B 6. The "6B 6" might be a date code, lot code, etc.

Denso also numbers the vanes on the blower wheel, every 5 vanes. Yes, really.

Replacement

Tools

Regular Phillips screwdriver
Regular flat-blade screwdriver
Very stubby Phillips screwdriver
Phillips 1/4" screwdriver bit - No. 2 x 1"
Phillips 1/4" screwdriver bit - No. 2 x 2"
1/4" wrench - open ended or box
Flashlight
8 mm socket and/or Torx T25 bit
Ratchet
10 mm deep socket (maybe)
Magnet-on-a-stick (maybe)

Procedure

The idea is that you are going to take off the bottom of the blower box, and take out the motor through the bottom.

Park the car somewhere you can hang most of your body out the front passenger door. Turn the dome light off at the switch, since you'll be working with the door open for a while. Put the front passenger seat all the way back.

Open the glove box door and take out at least one of the two "pegs" at the top corner that keep it from opening further - quarter turn and pull. I find I can take out the inboard peg, and then flex the outboard side of the glove box in enough that the outboard peg clears the dash. You can then carefully hold the glove box with one hand (so as not to dump it on the floor), and remove the two Phillips screws - one on each hinge - with the other hand. When the glove box is free, set it aside.

Remove the two Phillips screws between where the glove box hinges were, that go into the blower box. This allows you to flex that piece of the dash a little.

Use the regular screwdriver to pry up the two clips you can see on the blower box, right in front (FRONT) of the piece you took the screws out of. You can only see the top of them, but that's enough. They come out the bottom, maybe with a little flexing of the dash piece. (Don't touch the clips that are higher up, close to the cabin air filter slot.)

Under the blower box, unplug the blower motor connector, on the outboard side. It's a 2-wire connector that Japan has put on cars forever - the one that looks like two quarter-inch push-ons in a | - shape.

Under the blower box, unplug 3 electrical connectors on the inboard side. One is black and two are white; the black one is for the blower motor controller, and the white ones are for the PTC (electric) heaters that are in the heater core and (optionally) in the heater outlets. They're all different, so you can't mix them up.

Follow the harness back from those 3 connectors to a clip in the center front (FRONT) of the blower box. Access to the two front (FRONT) screws is a lot easier if you can undo this clip. It isn't a peg in a hole; it's just a U-shaped clip, with fins inside the U, that pushes down over a tab sticking down from the blower box. I pulled the wiring harness forward, and the back of the clip back, and got it to release.

Under the blower box, undo the two rear screws that hold the bottom of the blower box on - one one either side of the box. You can get these with just a regular Phillips screwdriver.

Now is a good time to enjoy a refreshing beverage of your choice, before you attack the front two screws.

If you look at the front (FRONT) of the box, where the wiring harness ran just below the box, you can see two screws - one on the left, one on the right. These must come out, and you have an eternity to do it.

If you have a super-stubby Phillips driver, you might be able to get them. If not, use either the 1" long Phillips bit, or the 2" long Phillips bit - whichever fits better - and get the bit plugged into the screw head. Hold the bit in place with a finger on one hand, and use a 1/4" wrench in the other hand to turn the bit to loosen the screw. I used a flat ratcheting 1/4" wrench on disassembly, but I had to use a plain 1/4" open-end wrench on assembly. Once you get the screw backed out several turns, you can just reach in and grab it with your fingers and turn it out the rest of the way.

CAUTION: The right (outboard) screw loves to fall out of your grip or the hole, and behind the top edge of the carpet. If this happens, stop breathing, carefully pull back the top edge of the carpet, and apply magnet-on-a-stick. If you get the screw, breathe again.

If you don't get the screw, also breathe again. Then, undo the plastic nut that's on the weld stud, that holds the passenger outboard kick panel in - you can see it a few inches below the glovebox opening, a few inches in front of the door opening. Take out the kick panel, and probably the passenger door sill molding, and set them aside.

Pull back the carpet, and you'll see a large black steel plate, which is covering the Hybrid ECU. The screw has gone under this plate and is probably sitting between the top front (FRONT) edge of the ECU and the body sheet metal. Use the 10 mm deep-well on the nut at the top, the bolt on the left (into the center tunnel of the body), and the bolt on the bottom right (into the ECU bracket), to remove the steel plate. Then, use the 10 mm deep-well on the right (outboard) hybrid ECU mounting foot - you don't have to take it all the way off, just loosen it quite a bit. Pull back on the hybrid ECU, lifting it away from the floor, and the screw will probably fall down behind it, to the flat part of the floor. Pick up the screw, and then tighten the hybrid ECU mounting nut again (53 inch-pounds if you're interested).

NOTE: You may want to leave the black steel plate out until later, as it does give you a little more room to work with the blower box screws. I had the plate in place for disassembling the blower box, but left it out for reassembling the blower box.

Okay, all four screws are out of the bottom of the blower box.

Gently pry the bottom of the blower box away from the box. There is a snout at the right front (FRONT) corner of the bottom of the blower box that goes into the HVAC ducting near the center of the dash. What I found easiest was to drop the back edge of the bottom first, and the outboard edge more than the inboard edge, to loosen up this snout. When the snout is loose, the bottom will come down fairly easily. It will still be mechanically connected to the short blower harness that goes from the outside to the inside of the blower box.

Use the 8 mm socket, the T25 driver, or even a flat driver to take out the 3 screws that hold the blower motor in. The back one you can use an 8 mm nut driver on, but the front (FRONT) ones require something shorter, like a ratchet and socket.

Use the regular screwdriver to push down on the clip of the wiring harness - it's kind of recessed into the blower housing - and then pull the connector out.

Reassembly is the reverse of removal.

Seriously... You might want to clean out the inside surface of the blower box bottom - mine was a little dusty after 259,000 miles. This is also an excellent time to clean or replace the cabin air filter. I didn't clean any further inside the blower box, but you may want to. I cleaned the bottom with ammonia glass cleaner, and vacuumed off the cabin air filter.

Plug the harness back into the (new) blower motor. I took this opportunity to bench test the new blower motor, since it was easier to access the connections with that short harness on (rather than the recessed plug on the motor). Applying 12 volts ( + is the top of the T, black/red, - is the stem of the T, black/white), caused it to come on and spin, so I figured it was good.

Reinstall the blower with 3 screws. If you run the back one down most of the way first with a nutdriver or equal, it will hold the motor up enough for the other 2 to line up.

Start the snout of the bottom of the box into the duct it goes into, and carefully lift it up to the box. Make sure the wiring harness goes into the notch in the bottom. Eventually you should get the cover seated flush against the bottom of the box.

I put the clips on first. For the right one, I hooked the top of it in place, and then pushed on the middle of the clip - that was enough to seat it. For the left one, I hooked the bottom of it in place, and then pried up on the top of the clip until it seated.

Put the two rear (easy) screws in.

Put the two front (hard) screws in. Again, a refreshing beverage is your friend. You might turn them a little counter-clockwise first until they drop into the threads the screws made in the plastic, and then tighten them. You can get a few turns with your fingers, but then you have to use the screwdriver bit and 1/4" wrench, or super-stubby Phillips, to get them seated all the way.

Plug the blower motor connector in. Plug in the three connectors on the harness, and push the harness clip over the tab on the bottom of the blower box.

If you want, you can now turn on the ignition key and try the blower motor with the dashboard controls. It should blow bunches of air like you dreamed it would.

If you took out the steel plate over the hybrid ECU, put it back (53 inch-pounds on all three bolts). Put the carpet back. Put the door sill molding and outboard kick panel back on, with plastic "nut" over the weld stud.

Put the two screws back that are inboard of the glove box hinges - the ones that go into the blower box.

Put the glovebox back in - again, if you're careful, you won't dump it on the floor. Two screws on two hinges, and then the peg(s).

Turn the dome light back on, adjust the passenger seat to taste, and then take it for a drive, already.

It took me 2 hours and 40 minutes to do all this. Your mileage may vary.

See also

If you want to do this the way it says in the manual, you have to cut out that bar that runs in front (FRONT) of the glove box hinges. On reassembly, you install Toyota part 55558-47010 , "Glove Box Assembly Reinforcement", instead of replacing the piece you cut out. The Toyota part is made out of stamped steel.

Problem: That part, as far as I can tell, is NLA from Toyota, at least in the US.

Amayama says they can source it in Japan, and mail it to the USA. https://www.amayama.com/en/part/toyota/5555847010 However, I have also seen at least one report of somebody ordering something from them, only to be told "sorry, we can't get that", and having their money refunded. I also don't know how

Spoiler

tariffs

might affect this.

User ptero , of this parish, was able to source this part relatively recently - March 2024. I think it came from Toyotpartsdeal. Their post about it is here: Looking for Part 55558 47010 glove compartment door reinforcement | PriusChat

The factory manual shows something that looks like a steel U-channel, instead of the shaped part ptero got. Perhaps that was what the NHW10 models had in Japan, or maybe it was a case of the manual illustration deadline being earlier than the parts design deadline.

You could probably make something equivalent out of flat steel bar or angle iron, but I don't know the details.

Crackpot theory: the reason that reinforcement is so stout is that it's not just holding up the glove box. In a crash, if the passenger is wearing their seat belt, their knees should probably just be in the breeze in front of the passenger seat. Under some conditions - tall person with the seat adjusted too far forwards, or an unrestrained passenger - it's possible that their knees could hit the glove box. In that case, maybe that part has to do with distributing the crash energy into the dash, and eventually into the body. I do not know, though.

Conclusion

Was that far more than you wanted to know about it?

I am not affiliated with any companies mentioned.

Note: This post applies to Gen1 cars (2001-2003) only.

 

Pictures, pictures, you all want pictures...

The part number on the old blower motor, and a detail showing how the vanes are numbered.


The part number sticker on the new blower motor.


The harness you unplug, and mechanically unclip, to get more room.


The bottom of the blower box, sitting the same way it is when it's assembled. You can see the four screw locations around the outside edge, and the "snout" that plugs into the HVAC ducting at the front (FRONT) left.


The bottom of the blower box, flipped over. This is what you'd see looking up at it when installed. The tab sticking up at the center bottom is what the wiring harness above clips to. The edge with the foam tape is normally right in front (FRONT) of the glove box, and the edge with the tab and the snout is towards the firewall.