Climate Control fan grinding

Anytime I use A/C, defroster, or heat or whatever, the fan makes a loud grinding noise, like there is something stuck in it or the bearings are beat or something. Also, the heater smells like it is burning. The a/c doesn't really smell though. Has this happened to anyone else? How hard is it to get to the fan in the climate control system?

 

Its a 2005 Legacy GT with automatic climate control.

Getting the fan out is pretty simple. There's a flat panel that is attached by 3 plastic plugs (I think) right below the glove box. If you look at the lower dash on the passenger side, you'll see what I'm referring to. Pull those 3 plugs out (I usually use 2 flat-head screwdrivers, one on each side) and the panel should drop down.

 

Once that's out of the way, you'll see 3 small brass bolts set in hard black plastic. That's the fan. I think they were 8mm (someone correct me if I'm wrong). There's 1 plug you have to remove first, but it's pretty obvious.

 

Let us know what you find. Your fan might be kaput, but getting a replacement shouldn't be too hard. You can get 25% off all OEM parts at Hueberger Subaru (check the vendors link at the top of the forum).

Thanks for the help. I opened it up and found a bunch of rust. The fan still works but it doesn't look like there is any way to open it up to see what is grinding on the inside. I think I am just going to buy a new one on ebay for like $50. The vendor you mentioned wants $135

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/steveo395/blowermotor.jpg

Yeah, my fan makes an annoying ticking sound when it's on. It's get faster as the fan speed increases... I tried my best to disassemble the fan but couldn't find a decent way to do it. I'm living with it for now until I decide to get another. If you get the $50 fan on ebay, please let me know your thoughts on if it was worth it.

 

The only thing I'd be concerned with is whether the blower motor would produce an equivalent amount of CCFM as the OEM unit... I've seen some wimpy non-OEM blower motors before and it's quite annoying on really hot days.

I have similar issue. Sounds like a 75yr old smoker...I need to get under and look at it.

My fan went recently and I had the dealer replace it (for $190). I know...I should have searched. I had no idea it was that easy to take it out.

 

When I turned it on, regardless of whether I used the A/C or not, it would make a loud whirring noise from the glove box area. Not a grinding noise but more like a loud humming noise. The fan was still working but it was on its last legs.

I just bought one from ebay for $50. It was a used one out of a totaled legacy with 56000 miles on it. I hope its in good shape.

Well I put in the new fan and it works great and doesn't make any noise, but the burning smell is still there. Today I actually saw a little bit of smoke or something coming out of the vents. I have a new cabin air filter that I haven't put in yet, but I don't think that would solve the problem. It might help I guess but I don't know. Does anyone know what this could be?

Does that happen when you use heat or cold?

 

I know you may see some mist/evap come from the vents sometimes when using the cold a/c.

Have you tested to see if it only happens during recirculate mode versus fresh-air mode? Sounds like you might be pulling in some under-the-hood gases

Have you tested to see if it only happens during recirculate mode versus fresh-air mode? Sounds like you might be pulling in some under-the-hood gases

Well its definitely pulling in under the hood gases. I just pulled into a parking lot, and right when I stopped the car started smoking really bad. It was coming out the hood scoop and into the car through the vents. I opened the hood and it looked like it was coming from somewhere around the turbo. It stopped smoking really fast though. Then I let it sit for a couple minutes and drove it home and it was fine. It wasn't overheating or anything and the oil level is fine, so if its leaking onto the exhaust or something its not very much. The car runs fine and the smoke only seems to happen when it is stopped. I don't know what the problem is.

I was just looking at the car again. I saw water on the inside on the passenger side floor. I thought it might be the heater core but it was definitely rain water and not antifreeze. I just had my windshield replaced about a month ago so that thing is probably leaking. I think this might be a separate problem though because it definitely smelled like something burning and not steam. A leaking windshield also would not explain the smoke coming out of the hood scoop.

Hmmm well I've been meaning to investigate a burning smell in my own car, so perhaps we have the same issue. Once I saw smoke come out of the hood scoop as well... It's really an annoying scent.

Ok just did some massive searching and here are a few potential sources of the burning smell:

 

1. Banjo bolt fitting to turbo is bad/leaking

2. Oil line to turbo is cracked (there was a recall for the Australian models for this)

3. The CV boot is torn/cracked, and the CV joint slinging grease onto the DP

 

For me, I'm thinking it's #3 because it doesn't really smell like oil, just some kind of smelly car fluid... which could definitely be grease.

Mine doesn't really smell like oil either but it is some kind of smoke. There is a bunch of crap on the front of my catalytic converter but I was trying to smell it while it was running and I couldn't smell anything and it wasn't smoking.

 

There is kind of a small vibration that comes from the left front of the car at around 50 mph. It gets worse when making a right turn when the left front would be taking most of the force. Idk if that is the CV joint or not though. What is the DP?

DP (at least on this forum ) means DownPipe

 

The downpipe is the exhaust pipe that leads down towards the ground from your turbo, and also where your catalytic converters sit (my stock one had 2, not sure if it's different with different years, since the UP cat was removed after 05)

 

btw, UP = UpPipe (the pipe that goes from your headers to your turbo)

 

Normally when a CV joint goes bad, it makes a clicking or popping sound, especially while turning. Try turning the wheel all the way in each direction in a parking lot and see if it makes any clicking/popping.

 

The CV boot failing is different from the CV joint failing. The boot just holds all the grease for the joint. If the boot tears, it slings grease everywhere. The joint will fail soon after this if the boot is not replaced, but sometimes it's just as costly to replace the whole axle with boots/joints/everything.

Thanks for your help. I took it to a dealer today and it turned out that somebody put the CV boots on wrong and they were slinging grease all over the place. The guy I bought it from just had an axle replaced because it was cracked. He had it replaced with an aftermarket one and the mechanic put the boot on wrong. The aftermarket axle is probably where my vibration is coming from. But anyway the dealer fixed the CV boots and charged me nothing. What a relief.

Nice! glad to hear you got it figured out

what's the part number for the fan? I can't find it any where