We have been racking up the miles on my recently-acquired 2010 and so far, so good. One thing that really annoys my wife is the HVAC blower motor makes a slight buzz when it's operating. The fan seems to be blowing effectively, it is just a bit noisy. Any experience with any of the brands out there? I was thinking about getting a TYC from RockAuto. Not really cheap at $85, markings in the photo show it as being made by TIY (same as the VDO/Continental). Lifetime warranty. I guess first I'll remove the current blower motor and make sure there's no debris in there causing the noise. But the noise is pretty consistent, so I am doubting it.
Drop the glove box slide out the cabin filter tray are there a bunch of leaves on the backside of it clean them off blow the filter off or replace it if you have adapters for your Shop-Vac or your shark rocket vacuum that take you down to about a 3/8 computer keyboard size cleaning tools You can stick those in the hole where the filter goes and try to vacuum out any other nonsense it's in there then you can reach in there with a long screwdriver or flex tool and you can push the fan around see what happens You could also go crazy and unbolt the fan drop it clean it blow it spray it off with 409 It should be white the impeller not gray or black then you could plug that motor in lay it on the floor of the car turn the car on Make the blower work through its speeds and see if it's making a racket while you're holding it then look in the hole that the blower sits in again wipe it out with a rag vacuum it make sure it's clear put the blower motor back up add two of the three screws turn it on again and see if you still have the clicking If not reassemble. The blower motor is a non-critical part I would imagine most suppliers of HVAC parts for cars will have this blower six ways of Sunday. It's not a real critical part like the inverter pump or something 24 to $39 seems appropriate.
One time years ago I bought a cheap aftermarket blower, from Autozone I think, and it was a lot louder than the fan it replaced.
The Gen 3s with the solar roof ventilation option got a blower with a brushless motor. I'm pretty sure it's otherwise interchangeable. If you really want quiet (and long lasting), see if you can score one of those.
Pulling parts from a solar roof Gen 3 wreck is surreal. With both batteries removed you expect nothing to be running, but the ventilation blower (powered by the solar panels) still comes on occasionally and wafts cool outside air through the cabin.
I grabbed the blower from the solar one, paid the extra 30% for the "guarantee" so I can return it for free if it doesn't work or is noisy anyway. My Prius is out of town right now, so I will have to put it in tomorrow. I forgot to grab the trim piece that goes in beneath the glove box. It was missing on the solar car, but I didn't look for it in the other car. Sadly, the leather interior on the solar car was in pretty bad shape... I was wanting the steering wheel but it had a pretty good gash in it. Pick-n-pull cars almost always have trashed interiors.
What I mean is that the cars that end up there have usually suffered from some years of neglect. Stained carpet, torn seats, spilled drinks and food, neglected leaks; they are usually just pretty gross inside. I did see a 1963 (?) Mercedes 220D there -- it stuck out because it's almost all 90's and 00's cars -- it was in horrible shape, much filth and decay in the interior. There was a sleeping bag across the back seat.
I think they call them "fintails"... It was a cool car, I looked them up and they didn't have a 220d until the late 60s, I guess it was a 200b? Anyway, it was pretty far gone, just good for a few parts I suppose. The brushless blower mower screwed right in and it's working great.
