Well, it lasted about a week. Removed and cleaned/lubed it about a week ago after it stopped working. When I removed it last time, the insides of the motor was full of small bits of foam rubber insulation. I thought I had saved a bunch of money--it was hard to spin--but I lubed the bushings, cleaned out the foam rubber bits, and it seemed to work fine. Re-installed it and all was well for a few days. Then it started screeching again, but still blew lots of air. It suddenly stopped yesterday. I wonder if this foam rubber stuff is disintegrating from the vent flap and is somehow being sucked into the internals of the motor. If I scrape all the old foam from the vent flap will this make any noticable difference? Could I replace it with another insulating material with good results? There was no axial or end play in the motor. I did lube it with 3-In-One oil--I understand this may have been a mistake. What is the correct oil for electric motor bushings? Or should I just buy a new motor assembly for $380 and be done with it. But if it's the foam rubber causing the problem, it'll just ruin a new motor.

pull it back apart and see if there is more foam in it first.
then get some good penetrating oil and clean out the bearings totally. get all the dried gunk out of them. rinse well with brake clean spray, then pack with some wheel bearing grease and reassemble.
I think there is a thread on here about rebuilding the brushes on the blower motors. try a search for terms like blower motor brushes or rebuild or something...
if your end play was minimal, I seriously doubt 3in1 oil could have caused the problem this quickly.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

There is no way to pack grease into these bushings, no access. I gave it to an electric motor shop today. They are classic car buffs as well. They are going to soak it all night, clean and blow out with compressed air. They said it tested perfectly. But one of the bushings is rotating inside the housing, independently from the shaft. This may be the problem. The shop guy said he would try to tap the outside edge with a small chisel/punch to reseat it snugly in the housing again. If it fails again, I'll just fork over the $380 for a brand new unit. However, I am now a W124 a/c blower motor dissasembling expert, can do it in 1/2 an hour. No guesswork at all!

What year and model is your car? I had to replace my regulator on my 97 E300D which caused me to purchase new motor and case cover. The old motor was fine willing to sell cheap.

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Dennis
2006 E320 CDI Black/Black Leather. Nav, HTD Seats HK stereo 32000 miles.
2000 VW Passat 1.8t 300,000 miles as of Dec 09, 2009 original owner
1997 E300d Silver 300,000 miles As of Jan 05, 2010
3rd owner SOLD

1995 E300D

Ah Ok, I dont think thats the same part number. as a 1997. You might want to check ebay or pick and pull

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Dennis
2006 E320 CDI Black/Black Leather. Nav, HTD Seats HK stereo 32000 miles.
2000 VW Passat 1.8t 300,000 miles as of Dec 09, 2009 original owner
1997 E300d Silver 300,000 miles As of Jan 05, 2010
3rd owner SOLD

I am having the same problem, with my 87 560sl, have replaced the motor once with a used one, now the used one has bushings going "bad" do you think any elec. motor shop would be able to repair/replace bushings? I can't afford a new one, and can't find any more used ones locally.

-DDaymen