What does this white connector go to on the blower?

I have only off and high speed. Yesterday, speed 1 and 2 seemed non-existent and speed 3 began cutting in and out. Then I could smell the odor of something electrically hot.





And where on the blower assembly is the resistor pack? I can't find a likely suspect based on my repair manual picture(AC-70)? It shows it in the front, but I don't see anything on my blower or near it that has 2 screws except for the power connector near the firewall (black connector hanging near the faulty white one in the pics).

I wonder if Toyota changed some of this in later models (mine is a late '98 model).

Thanks.

I dunno but you sure fried the wires. I can't belive a fuse didn't blow somewhere. All the insulation has melted off. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

Yeah.. I don't know why a fuse didn't blow.

I'm gonna go wrap those wires with some electrical tape until I can get it to a shop. At least I can enjoy full speed a/c for a while.

Bit of a mystery to me too on your T-100.. Since I only have the 2000 4Runner FSM, I did check it and it shows the resistor unit held in by two screws and with the external cable plugging in directly to the resistor assembly..just as your manual described it..

Sounds like you do have the Toyota FSM i.e. referring to page AC70... in my manual for my vehicle the resistor assembly was on page AC69.. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> Sounds like the manuals (and hardware) are pretty similar for the heater/AC on your vehicle and mine.

The resistor pack is placed in the blower assembly inside the air stream and do need airflow over them to keep them cool.

Given the condition of your wires, certainly agree you need to pull out the resistor assembly to examine their condition... e.g. could debris gotten into the blower and covered up the resistors and caused them to overheat, or if there's debris in there that stopped the blower from turning when it was on a low speed setting (and pulling current through the resistors)... In that mode with no air flow, the resistors would become extremely hot..

My guess is the resistors overheated and the heat was conducted back out through the terminals in sufficient quanitity to begin burning the insulation off the wiring.. Have seen this happen on other electical hardware....

If it were me, I'd drop the blower motor assembly down out of the housing and see if there is foreign debris inside the housing.. and the resistors will be in there some where and visible...

I've heard of an instance on a vehicle where leaves got in through the external air intake and caught on fire by the resistors..

On an old Subaru I was leaving parked outside the garage and not driving much, I had a mouse get into the blower from the outside air intake and died inside the blower housing right on the blower squirrel cage.. Car stunk like a dead animal and the blower was out of balance and vibrating.. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> Once I dropped the blower out, all the ugliness (and problem) was quite visible..

Here's a real story that will compare with your adventure with the mouse. Was in a Chevy dealship shop in 1963. Buddy working there was having fits trying to find out why an Impala A/C was not blowing air. I got to him, lying on his back, butt on the seat, feet over the seat back, head under the dash, thumping on the ductwork to see if there was something stuck in them.

There was.

All of a sudden the blower sounded like a mix master and all the ducts outlets spit out the remains of a 6 month old sub sandwich. All over the car and all over my buddy. Nice odor!

Factory guy must have had a beef (no pun) with the company while working on the assembly line. My guy pulled all the dustwork. The sub was just up from the fan, waiting for the right moment.

Hold the mayo.

True story.

I wrapped some electrical tape around the exposed wire that had the insulation burnt off. The other wire was bare by design.

Cranked it up and I have all 4 speeds again! Amazing. I figured I would have burnt something else up with the dead short on that connector.

The truck is garaged and while possible, I sorta doubt I have debris in there. OTOH, I have no idea why it would have burnt up like that.

I'll probably take it to the shop and let them properly replace and terminate that connection.

I looked at my 97 today and the black plug with the 4 wires goes to the resistor mounted behind the blower towards the firewall. My plug to the motor only has 2 wires to it. According to the diagram, there is a 40 amp fuse feeding the motor which may be why it didn't blow. 12V is applied to the motor on one lead and the other goes to ground through the selector switch and resistor varying the speed. None of my wires are bare so you might peel back that sleeve on the wires and see how far back it melted. Could go again.

Some good advice there. I think I'd be writing to Toyota on that one--yikes!! Just so they are aware.

The older Yotas are set up with a blower resistor the same way; back on the firewall, not part of the blower. I've had them fail, but never have had the harness get toasted. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />

I agree--inspect that blower motor. Ya might need an 8mm socket on a universal & extension if it's like my '86 to get the back bolt.

Thanks, guys. I better peel back that sleeve then. It sure looked like it was bare to start with. I'll let you know what I find.

OK.. so the black connector goes to the resistor pack. Hmm. Now that I've temp repaired the white connector and have normal operations back, it would seem the resistor pack is good. No?

If all speeds are working the pack is good. The only way I could figure out that it would draw enough current to toast the wiring would be a problem with the motor drawin too much current or the wires shorting against something. You would think a dead short would blow that fuse. When the motor is set to high speed it draws full current so it is not like something got bypassed to ground in the normal circuit. I was wondering if maybe there are 3 wires to your motor and one of them was a ground thru a capacitor to keep the motor noise out of the radio. Might be a change for the 98s.