My 2013 ES 350’s A/C recently started making a humming/vibration type sound. The sound goes away when I turn the A/C off, and there is no discernible difference in sound if the A/C is on high or low. I researched the issue and could not find much to work with; however, I did remove my cabin air filter and cleaned out some of the debris thinking there may have been a leaf caught in there. Now, my next move would be to inspect the air blower, but I am unsure of where to find it. Please excuse my ignorance - I usually bring the car into the dealership and have them take care of whatever it is I’m there for, but I figured this might be something I can tend to on my own without breaking the bank (yet). Can anyone advise me as to where A/C blower is, how to clean it, and what to look for for troubleshooting purposes? I took out my cabin air filter to clean in less than ideal conditions, so I did not have a moment to check and see if the blower was within the same vicinity. The car has 26k miles and I bought it new in 2013, so I will be pretty disappointed if this becomes a major cost to fix. My 2003 ES 300 never had any A/C issues...

 

The blower is right below where the cabin air filter slides in. To remove it, I believe that you have to access the area by removing the trim panels in the front passenger foot well below the dash.

 

Adding a bit to what I said above, a few months ago, I had a mouse who built its nest in that area, When parts of the nest and baby mice got into the blower, I got a noise similar to what you are describing. When the baby mice got chewed up by the fan blades, eventually the noise was accompanied by an awful odor. If there is a chance that you might have a mouse nest or part of a nest in the fan, don't be surprised if you eventually get the bad odor.

I had the Toyota dealer remove and clean out the fan. If I remember correctly, the cost of doing that was around $100, which included a new cabin air filter to replace the one that the mice had chewed a hole through.

 

 

If there is any chance that you could have a mouse nest or anything else that has the potential of decomposing/decaying in the blower, I would strongly suggest not using the fan at all until you can get it cleaned out. Once the fan starts chewing up whatever is in it, it will distribute it into the air ducts, and, once that happens, clearing up any odor will become much more difficult.