Changing the blower motor?

[kangakev]

I have had the annoying, squealing blower motor for some time now and tried spraying it with just about everything i can get my hands on to stop it, to no avail! Has anyone changed their blower motor, or know how easy it is to replace? I am thinking of doing mine myself.

Thanks, car is a 2004 Vectra CDTI SRI 150.

[rich r]

You might find that it's the same as mine was. Squealing, knocking and rumbling, not fixed by any amount of WD40 sprayed in the top or the bottom (drill a little hole)? On mine it turned out to be that the motor shaft had slipped down about 2mm, so the plastic bits that connect the fan to the motor shaft were rubbing on the motor. Quick tap with a hammer to move the fan mounting up the shaft a little and it's been quiet ever since

To remove it isn't too hard, probably a 30 minute job if you're not familiar with the area behind the glovebox. You'll need torx bits (T-10, T-15 and T-25 I think), but more importantly either a very short driver, or ideally one with a flexible shaft as two of the screws are very close to the floor.

Something like this:

Remove the glovebox (three screws at top two at bottom, don't forget to unplug the light)
Remove the air duct for the footwell (one T-15 holding it to the fan housing and wiggle)
Unplug the wiring connectors to the motor and resistor pack. Remove the resistor pack so it doesn't get bashed.
Undo the 7 T-15 screws that hold the fan housing and duct on. Three are fairly easy to see, the others you'll have to feel for. There are three right at the back on the duct near where the resistor pack goes.
Then you can release the plastic clips on the housing and it should come free. Bit of a wiggle and it'll come out (you'll have to flip it over a bit for it to clear the bottom of the dashboard).

Then undo the three screws holding the motor in the housing and you've got the motor out. Try clamping it gently in a vice and applying power to see if it still squeaks - mine did if it was the right way up, but not if on it's side.

[kangakev]

Thanks Rich,

I didnt realise the fan could slip down the motor shaft, but i will check that out first, but i think thats unlikely to be the cause as a carefull application of oil on the motor shaft using a syringe does temporarily fix the noise. When i bought the car the drainage hole was blocked and it was full of water that had been pouring down onto the blower motor, i suspect this has corroded the motor shaft, causing the noise.

Thankyou for the instructions for changing the motor, i will let you know how this goes

[rich r]

I thought mine was just dry bearings too - and when I found the fan rubbing, it was a bit of a surprise. I'm used to having to regrease the bearings in my Renault 5 fans every year as they suffer from the same issues (motor being vertical like the Vectra, so the grease eventually works it's way out of the bearings).

When you've got the motor out, if you put it in a vice and power it up you can flood the bearings with WD40 to flush out any dirt and loose rust easily. Then switch off, and inject some grease into the bearings (eg use an aerosol grease, or a small syringe to push it in). The problem with WD40 is that it just runs out when the bearing warms up, so it's only ever a temporary fix. You need something thicker and more stable when warm.

[kangakev]

Well i stripped the blower motor assembly out of the car this weekend, was pretty easy to remove following you instructions. Took about 15 mins to remove completely. When i removed the motor from the fan housing it was obvious that the lower section of the motor had been sat in a bit of water due to the water mark and amount of corrosion. Also the fan had slipped down the motor shaft and was rubbing.

The motor i gave a good wire brushing, flushed and injected a high temp grease into the bearing area and the fan i moved back up the motor shaft with a couple of taps with a hammer before refitting. Problem now fixed!

Thanks for your help Rich r. Much appreciated!

[rich r]

Yay!

Yep - just a couple of taps with a hammer to move the shaft down a bit in the fan mounting sleeve is all I did. I do wonder whether I should have put a bit of superglue on there to stop it sliding down again, but we'll see how it goes. It's been quiet for a couple of months now anyway.

I also drilled a 5mm hole at the bottom so that should any water get in, it's got somewhere to go rather than corroding the motor.

[worek8888]

Hello I've got same issue but my need to be replaced mabye you known someone who's selling blower motor I found cheap onefor 119 pounds?

[conman]

I had this problem as well after trying all the other fixes, spraying grease in behind the pollen filter and drilling a hole on the bottom of the plastics etc, after a week it was back, squeaks, squeals, rumbles and scratches. So I’ve resurrected this thread as it may help others having the same problem.

1. Take the heater blower motor out as explained above
2. Once out, turn it upside down and take out these 3 screws.



4. Give the motor a good pull and it will side out from the surrounding casing.
5. Clean of any rust and dirt from around the moving parts of the motor and don't be afraid to use some brake cleaner and WD40 to free everything up and wipe all the dirt and rust away.



6. Get a hammer and tap the rod at the top down a bit if it has moved and scraping the bottom of the motor

7. Use some Molly Grease or similar and grease in under as pictured below. I use molly grease as it will not burn away over time and keeps a good seal



8. Put some grease in the bottom of the casing where the motor will be going back into.



9. Put some grease on the bottom of the motor.


10. Slide motor back in to housing making sure the power socket is lined up with the square hole on the side of the housing where the power plug goes in and put the 3 screws back into place.
11. Put a dab of grease on the top to stop any rust building up again.



12. Now put the motor back into the car and you’re done!

My blower is now noise free

Hope this is of some help to other people as this problem was driving me mad and at times the noise got so bad I thought my fan bet was slipping

[rich r]

Nice photos - I did exactly this on mine. Though it was the fan rubbing on the motor that was the cause of my problem, which no amount of grease or oil would be able to fix.

[conman]

It done my head in rich, kept turning the stereo down wondering what the noise was and then caught on it was the damn blower again. Problem solved with help from you guys....cheers