High pitched buzz from HVAC blower motor

GOLDENDAVE

MEMBER
2012 HONDA CIVIC
1.8L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
103,000 MILES

Recently I noticed my HVAC blower motor was quite a bit louder than normal. When I say louder, I mean making a roaring sort of noise as if a bearing was about to go. Thinking it was about to fail I replaced it with a new motor from CarQuest. (https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/carquest-blower-motor-76968/11001061-P?navigationPath=L1*14922%7CL2*15019%7CL3*15907).

This new motor does not have the roaring noise but it does have a high pitched buzz coming from it. The buzz is present at all fan speeds, but more pronounced when the fan is set at a higher speed.

The weather here has been below zero for days in a row, so I am wondering if the extreme cold is playing a role in this or not. Or perhaps I picked up a bad motor.

Should I try a new motor, maybe one directly from Honda, or is there some underlying issue that may be causing the noise?

5 Replies

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,526 POSTS

Hello,

It does sounds like you have a defective blower motor but to be sure if you can take a quick video of the problem and upload it here at the site I can tell for sure.

Here is a guide and diagrams to install the blower correctly:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/blower-fan-motor-works-on-high-speed-only

Here is the part from Honda:

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Honda-79305-TR3-A01-Blower-Sub-Assembly/dp/B00MPP7HAY/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1514917231&sr=8-10&keywords=2012+HONDA+CIVIC+blower+motor

Check out the diagrams (below).

Please let us know what you find. We are interested to see what it is.

Cheers, Ken

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Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018 AT 10:21 AM

GOLDENDAVE

MEMBER
51 POSTS

Thanks for the quick reply! I will work to get a video later today, in the meantime I have ordered the part from my local Honda dealer (since it ends up being the same as Amazon) thinking that maybe the CarQuest replacement motor is bad too.

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Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018 AT 10:35 AM

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,526 POSTS

Yes, it sounds like it. Let us know what you find.

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Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018 AT 10:38 AM

GOLDENDAVE

MEMBER
51 POSTS

After replacing the aftermarket blower motor with one directly from Honda, the noise is no longer present. I'm going to attribute it to a bad aftermarket blower motor.

I do have one follow up question:
The new motor from Honda included an adapter wire that goes from the motor to the system. It also came with a piece of foil tape to wrap around this adapter. The questions is: should the adhesive side be on the inside( touching the adapter wire) or outside of the adapter wire?

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Thursday, January 11th, 2018 AT 11:02 AM

KEN L