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Confirming that I need to replace blower motor

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by R_W, Mar 14, 2024.

  1. R_W

    R_W Junior Member

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    Last August, I posted that the blower motor in my 2014 would sometimes not work, but you could jar it awake by roughly closing the passenger door. It was suggested that I change the cabin air filter, so I did. Unfortunately, the FRAM "drive" I bought did not have a legible arrow for the airflow, so I remember doing some research and maybe I had it pointed right... but everything worked fine for five or six months.

    Then, a couple of months ago, the blower would sometimes not work -- if I were to guess... every 15-20 restarts -- but you could usually get it going by Fonziing the top of the dash.

    A couple of weeks ago, it started sometimes not wanting to go, no matter how many times you hit the dash, open and closed the passenger door or lower glove box. One time it just didn't work on an errand trip that involved a half-dozen restarts, and one time it got knocked into working by a brick street and today after I had uncovered the blower (and was again confused by which way the filter should flow), the blower started working normally when I gently tapped te wheel housing with a hammer.

    Searching this forum, I've found several posts where the poster said theirs was intermittent and though some people said to clean it, a lot of folks just replaced it or replaced it after it had been intermittent for a while.

    Because I've wasted enough money buying unnecessary car parts over the past forty years and because I'm not out there working on it tonight, I thought I'd ask if anyone has another suggestion or wanted to confirm that I just need to buy a new blower.

    Thanks
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    If you're jarring an electric motor to make it run there's usually something internal amiss the part that spends isn't spinning straight it's wobbling what have you blower motors are generally inexpensive I would just replace it You want to bend the tabs and bust it open and dump all the carbon out of it and take a look at it by all means It's a throw away design basically so there's always that but you can believe guys in India and third world countries they'll bust that sucker open and spend two three hours fixing it or whatever it takes because they can and you're welcome to Just in our situations here it's usually just easier to grab a new blower motor for what $28 or something . I don't think that will be wasted money most people kind of want to have their heat and/or their air conditioning blowing when they command.
     
  3. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    If it a 2010 with many miles on it, the brushes might be worn out and work intermittently.
     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    gen 3 came with two possible blower motors: most had a conventional one with brushes, and the IV with the solar ventilation feature came with a brushless one, so it could do all the extra hours of the solar venting without wearing brushes out.

    The blowers are interchangeable, so if you find a good deal on the brushless one, you'll never have a worn-brushes problem with it again.
     
    Mr. F and kc410 like this.
  5. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    Have the part numbers and the prices?
     
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Not right at hand, but there was another thread not so long ago where I mentioned the same thing, and that person found them (and got a nice deal on the brushless one from a salvage yard, if I remember right).
     
  7. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Los salvage yards are probably let you have whichever one you bring up to the window or whatever here where I am the blower motors and things like that little relays they let you usually just have those so you saying this is an option with the solar roof car also or is this a special solar ventilation I have the solar roof on the 2010 I didn't know there was any kind of special ventilating business has a JBL stereo that no one ever plays but if that's the case then my red car has this fan so it's equivalent to brushless DeWalt tools versus the non brushless. Generally as long as my Toyota blowers have lasted I could take either It seems like a lot of these parts that are getting replaced here it never get replaced back in the day maybe we're keeping cars longer I don't know I've always kept mine long I can't remember replacing a blower motor in a '70s or '80s Toyota ever and I mean ever replace the resistor the thing in the little ceramic block and some switches probably unnecessarily but a blower motor almost never and it's only a 4-minute job to change. There are quite a few parts that seem to be like this quite amuses me actually
     
  8. Doug McC

    Doug McC Senior Member

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    I guess the question is “ how much of the remaining time that you have on this earth do you want to spend messing with a blower motor?”
     
  9. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    None that's what I mean in my older Toyota's those things lasted forever I was busy putting in hopped up funny engines that weren't available in the state in my imported trueno.
     
  10. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    If you don't want to spend the money, take the motor out, and apart to get to the brushes.
    Check hardware stores for replacement ones. And just replace them. Then clean up the
    commuter really well. Good as new.
    Same with window regulator motors.

     
  11. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The ventilating is the only thing the factory solar roof does. Helps keep the cabin from getting oven-like in hot weather. There's a switch to turn the feature on and off, near the dash light dimmer.

    Some who have the solar roof have done mods so it also keeps the 12V battery charged, but that wasn't stock.

    commutator

    One thing to be careful about, depending on how many bolts hold the motor together. Sometimes the end cap with the brushes can be put back on more than one way. If you can reinstall it 180° around, that reverses the brush positions and the motor will spin the other way.

    Because of the shape of the blower blade, it will sound like it's running and all, and it will blow a little bit of air, but way way less than when it spins the right way. I did that on a girlfriend's car once and we wondered for weeks why the heat was working so badly before catching my mistake.
     
  12. R_W

    R_W Junior Member

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    I see some on Amazon for $45-$60, but the one with the most reviews has a few people saying it only lasted a few months and all but one of the positive reviews were from people who had just installed it. RockAuto is mostly $75 to $100 before tax. My local Toyota dealer hasn't replied to my emailed form with a price, but the one 90 mins up the road with an online parts catalog says $169 before tax, while the local Advance has a Carquest sitting on the shelf for $182 including tax and after discounts. ($1 more than Toyota.)

    Used, I see $35 for one from a 2010 and $93 for one from a 2013.

    The Carquest has a lifetime warranty; the $93 used would have 6 months; Toyota and RockAuto, a year; everything else, 30 days.

    Where do you find reliable, disposally-priced blower motors because that what I'd like. The reviews on the Amazon has me concerned -- I've bought some cheap knock-offs in the past -- and the used are old, so I'm leaning toward the $182 price (though it would be a few dollars cheaper if I got one for the models with a solar roof.)

    Thanks for the suggestions and replies.
     
    #12 R_W, Mar 14, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2024
  13. Mr. F

    Mr. F Active Member

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    Yep, 19 bucks pulled from a 2014 solar roof.
     
    #13 Mr. F, Mar 14, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2024
  14. R_W

    R_W Junior Member

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    I just scrolled through a video about how to do this and you are all right, it's a lot of work. I'm still not positive why tapping it or Fonziing the dash would make the motor start, but unless I get in there and see some obvious crud, I guess the consensus is that I need to replace my blower motor and I'm not going to do it, only to find that the problem was something else.

    Again, thanks to everyone for the help.
     
  15. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    "I" never said it was a lot of work.
    If you smack the blower motor, and it starts working, 98% of the time it's
    the blower motor.
    You could check the connections. Take the motor out, and just clean the area where the
    brushes contact the commutator. Use contact cleaner....

    Or, go through the test to check it is the motor or somewhere else.

     
    R_W likes this.
  16. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    "Doesn't always start, but then starts if you give it a clout" is pretty much what a brush-commutated motor does when the brushes are worn.