Shrieking Blower Motor

[Strife]

It's that time of year again, and my car got really cold, and I heard the blower scream (obviously, a blower motor bearing). The blower had been acting funny recently, first with a dirty connector, and now this. so, I decided to take it apart. I managed to get some synthetic grease all over the bearings without removing the fan cages (which I think would be very difficult to do without building a press-type tool to do it with, and even then, 20+ year old nylon, baked for 1/2 of that...I don't know). So we will see if that works in when the car gets that cold once more, which should be soon.

I thought about using spray-on oil, but these lightweight oils don't last and may make things even worse by washing away any remaining grease. I've read here and in other places that spray oil is a temporary solution.

Has anyone successfully removed the squirrel cages? If so, how?


Anyway, some notes:

1. Remember that the cover gasket is the last line of defense from leaks, which could be bad for the motor and will cause rust. If it's old, buy a replacement. If the cover is found to be broken, you absolutely need to replace it. Early cars had metal covers - might be a good opportunity to paint it.

2. These screws and bolts are all rusty, and the possibility of breaking a stud that holds the blower motor or stripping a hold-down screw is real. Hit everything with PB Blaster and wait an hour FIRST.

3. The resistor pack/socket on the end of the blower motor's cable is held in by two screws diagonal from one another. You will need to remove these screws and the connector to get to the RH side blower motor nut towards the front of the car.

4. Remember that the blower motor housings' plastic is VERY old, and subject to breaking. After you get the FOUR nuts off of the hold-down studs, you need to carefully work around the edge of the cover to separate it from the gasket. This is time-consuming but worth it.

5. Taking a picture of the blower before disassembly and later during the removal of the motor is worth it to get the routing of the cable and the orientation of the unit. You can really only assemble it one way, but still...

6. When removing ALL the clips from from the housing halves (2 in front, 4 in back, 2 on the sides, and two big ones in the center, at least, on my '85) BE CAREFUL with the plastic. I was very careful and I still broke one of the center clip's plastic latches. It still held, though. Losing both...I don't know, maybe it could be tie wrapped or filament taped together.

7. While you are in there, take a coat hanger or some wire and thoroughly go through the drain holes on each side of the blower motor.

8. Ugly Surprise: The gasket under the blower motor was very dry, and there was some (surface, so far) rust underneath. This didn't look nearly as bad as some pictures I've seen, but I don't want it to get that way. So, next spring, I'll be back in with POR-15, a wire brush, and a new (and fairly pricey) blower motor to body gasket.

9. Remember, torquing plastic this old is VERY dicey. tighten just enough to seal and no more.

10. VACUUM OUT the area before reinstalling the motor. Rust flakes, rocks, etc. will want to wash out somewhere, and you don't want this to go down the drains.