Hello everyone. Haven't posted here since last fall. Hope everyone is doing well!

1984 300td turbo.

My blower motor stopped working on the way back home today. The fuse was fine. I inspected the blower motor and found that the connector has melted pretty badly (PICTURED). I can get the blower motor to work if I hold it in place but that's not practical while driving.

So my questions are... is it safe to solder that connector on or use gobs of electrical tape it hold it in place? Where is the heat coming from that's melted the connector?

My car tends to overheat (the needle stays between 90 and 100 usually) so I use the heater a lot in my car. Doing a radiator flush and installing a new thermostat hopefully next weekend. My girlfriends needs the car to haul stuff tomorrow and I want to make sure the car isn't going to over heat. I'm afraid it might without the blower motor.

Any other quick down and dirty solutions for now?

Thanks!!!

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1984 300td euro turbo

Two possibilities:

(1) The connector got corroded, and developed a high resistance, which then generated a lot of internal heat and caused it to melt down.

(2) The blower motor is gummed up and drawing more current than it should, causing the connector to melt.

In either case the heat comes from the connector's own internal resistance.

Since the fuse didn't blow I suspect scenario 1, unless someone has slotted in a higher amperage fuse.

If you can solder it together that should be fine; a good soldered connection will be low resistance and won't heat up. Electrical tape would be a temporary fix at best.

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1981 Mercedes 300TD, 1994 Honda Civic Del Sol
http://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/67195.pnghttp://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/103885.png

Thanks Orv. Soldering it won't cause any problems? I was just reading a post about someone's blower motor going bad. The car caught on fire and burnt to a crisp.

Probably one of the scariest posts I've read http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w123-e-ce-d-cd-td/1351921-car-burns-ground.html

Just double checked my fuse again and it's the correct 16amps.

Can I buy a replacement connector plug from somewhere?

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1984 300td euro turbo

Nevermind. I'm an idiot. I was looking at number 6 instead of 8 on the fuses. I guess the previous owner replaced the 16amps fuse with a 25amps. oops...

If the brushes need replacing, would it blow the fuse or is the blower motor failing? It makes lots of noise when set to high (3).

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1984 300td euro turbo

I don't have much experience with these blower motors, but usually when a motor draws excessive current it's because the bearings are failing and causing it to spin too slowly. Bad brushes usually result in the motor not spinning at all, or spinning intermittently.

That's a pretty scary story. I think the main lesson is "when you smell smoke from something electrical, turn it off." Most electrical fires will peter out on their own if you cut the power while they're still smouldering...

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1981 Mercedes 300TD, 1994 Honda Civic Del Sol
http://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/67195.pnghttp://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/103885.png

I replaced the fuse last night with the correct one.

A few minutes ago, I went ahead and removed the motor. I found it had acorns in it! I have no idea how they got in there. I wonder if they were the source of my problem. The bearings seem to be good. It's too dark now to reinstall it. Will do tomorrow.

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1984 300td euro turbo

That had to vibrate.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff