I attempted this repair this weekend. It is easy to pull the motor and disassemble. My only advice is to be careful when disassembling the lead from the old brush. I got a little too hasty and cracked the board that everything is assembled on. Some super glue to the rescue. Also, there are tiny springs that put tension on the brushes and two square retaining nuts that secure the end plate to the housing. Take care in keeping these safe. I ended up losing one of each and will have to replace them. PITA.
Finally, I need help identifying two parts that fell out of the bell housing as I disassembled the motor. See pic below. Anyone have a clue as to what they are and where they go? They are metallic. One fell out and the other was stuck to the magnets in the bell housing. Thanks in advance for your help.
It turns out that my brushes were fine, but I already ordered new ones from the link provided above so I replaced them. The old ones were half the length of the new ones. One of the coil conduits had been soldered on before and it disconnected so I just need to resolder it to complete the circuit. Once I do this and figure out where the mystery parts go, I will reassemble and install.
Yes, I could easily pay the $125 or so for a new motor, but there is satisfaction in fixing something for $10, even though I will have had about 3 hours into this including time driving around to replace little parts.
