Help! burning smell coming from my vent

[Vampo]

Hi,

I have a Land cruiser 100 series 2005 (Cygnus), this is more or less the same as the LX470.
recently i have been noticing a burning smell coming from my vents when the blower fan is running. (Previously I heard a slight very high pitch squeaking noise ( very very high frequency) coming from the blower at the lowest setting), but now the smell is getting stronger.

The smell comes when I'm in traffic for some time, i.e. when the engine is on idle. however as soon as I rev the engine and start moving, the smell tends to disappear.

Can anybody please let me know, what the problem might be and how I can fix it.

Thanks

 

[Spike555]

Sounds like your blower motor bearings are bad. Thats what caused the squeak, and then the bearings bind and cause the motor to work harder which causes the burning smell.
When you start moving the faster moving air coming into the cowling is cooling the fan motor.
Those are my best guess based on what you've told us.

 

[Vampo]

Thanks Spike555 for your analysis. Sounds about right.

Can I replace the bearings only or do I have to replace the whole fan (fins, motor etc). Or can I replace only the motor ?

 

[Spike555]

You replace the motor.
Unbolt it, unplug it, replace with new.
Some replacements come with the fan some do not, if not just swap the fan over to the new motor.

 

[ITRJ]

I would start by checking for leaking valve cover gaskets. Oil leaking from there will usually drop on to the exhaust manifolds. The smoke from that can make its way into your HVAC fresh air intake, causing a burning smell.

 

[Vampo]

Thanks. Will check on that.