I think I know what an air filter would do if the 2001 had one. I pulled the interior fan and cleaned it today. It wasn't as much dirt as oily dirt on the fan that made me wonder what an air filter would do. I have no idea how the fan got so much oily dirt on it unless the intake is somewhere near the splash plate where oil tends to gather during an oil change.

 

I didn't understand a word you wrote... are you talking about a cabin air filter for you air condition or the engine air filter?

 

Yes the cabin air filter have been a very good addition to the 2001 4Runner. I was cleaning the fan below the glovebox that blows into the cabin.

 

still not following you, i didnt think the 3rd gens had a cabin air filter

 

Well obviously I cannot type worth anything. I managed to leave out a key word. I should have said "Yes the cabin air filter WOULD have been a very good addition to the 2001 4Runner" My convoluted and confusing point was that an air filter for the cabin could have filtered some of the junk I found on the interior blower fan. Everyone can put heir decoder rings away...

 

how much of a pain is it to pull and clean/lube the fan assy?

mine has an annoying squeek when its on a slow setting and the ac is on or it is cold.

 

Pulling it was trivial. Remove the glove box and kick panel and three bolts hold the fan in place. I played around with a rag between the blades which didn't do much on the joints of the blades. I then used a toothbrush and soapy water which did it pretty quick. Less than an hour

 

here's what I found in my cabin blower fan (it was making a loud humming noise)

 

It's not your fault. Some of these guys can't read. Your thread title says "Interior" air filter and "Fan" cleaning.
Then you go on to explain what your getting at ("I think I know what an air filter would do if the 2001 had one") and they still seem to have a problem understanding, Lol.
Thanks for the tip and it looks like I will be pulling my fan out and giving it a good cleaning. Mike

 

Sandman - Unless you removed it, you are missing a clip on the fan shaft. I pulled mine off thinking it would allow me to remove the fan and clean it. It was solidly on the shaft. I doubt if this clip does anything but it was like a hog ring.
However my question still stands - I didn't have trash but my blades were very oily and dirty. Any ideas why I had such a mess?

 

clip is there, just hard to see.
I will take a peek to see if I can figure out where the air comes in.

 

So it's 3 torx bits?

 

It is an 8mm socket or a torx bit screwdriver, but I am unsure what size....on my '97 4runner. I'm going to do this tomorrow.

29 Oct: I brought out the fan/blower motor and cleaned it out. It had some caked on debris on the fan blades, but nothing like a dead animal of any kind.
I brought a hand mirror outside, this evening, to assist in my inspection of the cavity the blower goes into to figure out a way to install a modded air filter for the drivers'/passenger area. From what I can tell, on my '97 4runner, as the baffles that separate the recirculated air from the fresh air inlet swing past the top of the blower motor blades, upon choosing whether you want fresh air or recirculated air, there is a 3/8" gap of space to install a filter of some kind. I believe this could be much too thin a space to properly mod an air filter. The hole is round, just like the fan blades are oriented and rotate around a central hub on the blower motor.

However....with one hand, I switched the fresh air/recirc air lever back and forth several times and observing what happens, using the mirror, I can see as the baffle opens for recirc. air, there is a grid of open squares (2x3) and looks to be maybe six inches across (side-to-side) and five inches top to bottom, and 3/32" thick. The only way to get an accurate measurement, without removing the dash and hvac tubing from behind the glove box, is to remove the fan, maneuver a measuring tape into the cavity, record, in your mind, what numbers you get, write them down, make your modded filter, remove the glovebox door and somehow place the filter in front of the open six square-shaped holes for recirc. air and behind the hvac tubing for the front seat passenger.

Complicated enough? Granted, this won't keep fresh air dust and debris from getting to the fan blades, it would only stop interior dust and deris from getting to the fan.

We'll see what comes of this.....

 

2001 4Runner interior fan squeaking

rusty bearing, decided to have a go with silicon lube spray. Didn't do a thing
Old WD40 spray, squeak reduced.

Removed door plate, kick panel, re-enforcement bar, glove compartment, fan house screws.

Mirror is handy tool to see torque screws holding the fan housing.