The blower motor on my 116 became inoperative in cold weather. I replaced it with a junkyard blower but wanted to see if the brushes are replaceable since the blower motor and squirrel cage are pretty pricey at $1150. The 116 blower is different than the 123 blower. Initially I thought the back plate was held in place by cast in 'ears' on the housing. I was wrong. After cutting off a couple of ears with a dremel tool, it appears that the back plate is only held in place with epoxy. Cutting off the ears allowed me to pry off the back plate but in retrospect, I think it could have been done with the ears in place. I'll be attaching some pictures so people can see it. I haven't sourced brushes yet but the ones on mine were pretty worn down. The inside of the motor was filthy. I believe this is a result of the rubber tube that connects the inside of the motor with the duct work in the car. All that dirt was probably not helping the situation in the motor.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13