Guinea
Junior Member
Alright so I have a 2014 Ram 1500 Tradesman with the 5.7 Hemi, and the single zone manual HVAC controls.
A couple years back, I noticed my blower motor was starting to get louder and making a constant whining noise, accompanied with a slight rapid clicking. Assuming my blower motor was going out (I was around 150k miles back then), I replaced it with a compatible aftermarket option from O'Reillys, and also learned that the resistor is built into the motor housing as well, so they both got done.
After replacing, I noticed the sound wasn't really all that improved, it was still whining, but the slight rapid clicking wasn't audible anymore. I also noticed that on the new motor and resistor, my high speed setting wasn't working anymore, but the original blower motor would still speed up when going from the 2nd from the highest speed, to the actual highest speed setting.
Now, this newer blower motor (installed about a year ago now) is starting to go bad and get louder, and the slight rapid clicking noise is becoming audible again. The highest speed setting still doesn't work (no audible difference in speed, no noticable airflow increase), and my airflow has been kinda crap still since then. I did find my evaporator core fins were all caked with grime, so I cleaned that out the other day and the airflow is a bit better, but still not how it was new from factory.
Is this a common experience with aftermarket blower motors from the parts store? Is the fix just to bite the bullet and pay extra for the OEM motor and resistor? Is there anything I can try to do right now to diagnose, and possibly fix this issue?
A couple years back, I noticed my blower motor was starting to get louder and making a constant whining noise, accompanied with a slight rapid clicking. Assuming my blower motor was going out (I was around 150k miles back then), I replaced it with a compatible aftermarket option from O'Reillys, and also learned that the resistor is built into the motor housing as well, so they both got done.
After replacing, I noticed the sound wasn't really all that improved, it was still whining, but the slight rapid clicking wasn't audible anymore. I also noticed that on the new motor and resistor, my high speed setting wasn't working anymore, but the original blower motor would still speed up when going from the 2nd from the highest speed, to the actual highest speed setting.
Now, this newer blower motor (installed about a year ago now) is starting to go bad and get louder, and the slight rapid clicking noise is becoming audible again. The highest speed setting still doesn't work (no audible difference in speed, no noticable airflow increase), and my airflow has been kinda crap still since then. I did find my evaporator core fins were all caked with grime, so I cleaned that out the other day and the airflow is a bit better, but still not how it was new from factory.
Is this a common experience with aftermarket blower motors from the parts store? Is the fix just to bite the bullet and pay extra for the OEM motor and resistor? Is there anything I can try to do right now to diagnose, and possibly fix this issue?
