I did some searching around and I can't really find anything that's relevant or recent. I recently took my 2001 4runner over to have the blower fixed as it was only working on high and now it makes a nice clicking noise when it is on.

I was told that the blower needed to be replaced.

I was just curious if anyone had any thoughts on some things I could check out before going down this road.

 

Yep.

http://www.4runners.org/writeups/fan/index.html

 

this is a great writeup, i did this put it in and still got a click, so out it came and i did an even more thorough cleaning than just the blades, its amazing the nasty stuff behind..as well i lubed some areas up with 3 in 1 oil...now its silent..also be easy on re-tightening it as if it is too tight it may cause ticking.

 

Great! I'll give this a shot over the next week or so. Thanks for the info. I'll let you know how it worked out.

Rob

 

If you decide to replace the unit, it takes about 10 minutes. I replaced mine two years ago after a few weeks of the blower making high-pitched sqealing sounds.

Andreas

 

You can pull them apart and re-oil the motor, I've done mine a few times already and it's not that hard. They only need replacement when the motor's brushes wear out, but they usually begin to have the bearings squeak way before then.

 

Jamie,
That was my first move but I broke the mouse wheel and decided to just buy a new one.

Andreas

 

Ok, yeah, if you break the squirrel cage, you're buying a new blower unit. The trick to get off the squirrel cage is to use a framing square well supprted by blocks of wood about 6" high (to give the motor some place to fall). Slide the edge of the framing square between the underside of the squirrel cage and the plastic motor housing. Then remove the compression clamp, bend back the plastic locking tab and pound the motor shaft with a hammer until the motor falls out the back. Then remove the two screws on the back of the motor itself and the entire motor can be gently pried out of the plastic housing. You'll see some felt pads on the motor itself and those need to be soaked in oil to keep the motor noise free. You can use any type of light oil (3 in 1, marvel, etc) or even light grade motor oil (I've used 0W30 or 5W30) if you don't have the other types handy. When reassembling, you may have to file the motor shaft a bit if the shaft mushroomed at all when you hit it with the hammer.

This is a framing square (key to removing the squirrel cage without damaging it!!!):

 

Mine was clicking due to a shredded mouse that had somehow climbed in to the fan basket. There is a thread on it somewhere on YT. Hopefully you dont have to go through what I did.