The dreaded A/C motor squeal

SeaDweller · 03-23-2003, 05:39 AM

Well, I got my new car home last Tuesday night, and believe it or not, drove it for the first time last night. It's pretty humid here in Florida, so I ran the A/C. Surprisingly, it performs much better than I expected, particalarly having read all of the "A/C in any 911 before the 964 stinks" comments!!

Well, after running the A/C for about an hour, I started to hear a slight rattling, which turned into a squeel. With 28K miles on an '85 that lived in a cooler climate, I'm sure the motor has dried out, and the brushes gone bad from lack of use. I thought of lubricating it, but that's likely a band-aid solution, because summer's coming here in Florida, and I definitely need the A/C.

I've read some fragmented posts about replacing the motor, so I have a pretty good idea what's involved in taking the top half of the evaporator off. Why in the world didn't Porsche make a separate housing assembly for the motor, so it could just be simply unbolted from the top??????? I guess the the Porsche engineers were drinking Heffeweisen the night they designed the evaporator assembly.

I know some of you have had this apart, but has anyone successfully removed, and reinstalled the factory clips? I know Roland mentioned in a post that he had a special tool, so Roland, if you're out there, can you provide details on the tool?

Thanks!!

APKhaos · 03-23-2003, 05:53 AM

Michael,
That was a fast delivery - VA to FL 3rd day!
The factory clips are extremely tight. Difficult to remove, impossible to replace IF you are doing the motor R&R like most do - with the lower half of the evaporator in place.

Suspect it would be possible to replace the clips if you remove the entire evaporator box for the job. This involves breaking the AC circuit at the expansion valve, which means dumping the charge. Its an option if you really want the stock clips to go back.

FWIW, I ran the AC during the test drive - it blows cold, and there was no evap motor squeal. Probably not running long enough by your description.

SeaDweller · 03-23-2003, 09:59 AM

Hey Tony,

Yeah, I figure the brushes simply went bad from a lack of use over the years. This may be the longest the A/C has been run in quite some time!! One thing's for sure, it'll get a lot of use down here!!

They picked the car up in VA a week ago Saturday evening, and delivered it a 9pm Tuesday night. Boy, you weren't kidding about the rig, incredible!! I tried to swap cars, as there was a Ferrari Syder in front of mine!! That said "sure, if you sign for it," but I would imagine that included the payments as well!!!!!!

Thanks again for looking over the car for me, and I apologize for not updating you sooner. I've been so busy with work that the car sat for nearly a week before I drove it for the first time!

I'll peek my head in the smugglers box to see what I'm faced with. Maybe I can rig a tool to get everything back together, but who knows.................

Argo · 03-23-2003, 07:08 PM

If there's a way to lube/replace this motor without dumping the charge, I'd like to hear it also. Just a minor squeal now, but it doesn't go away with use.

Argo
88 Targa

masraum · 03-23-2003, 07:26 PM

Sure, motor can be replaced without breaking into the coolant.
Hard/to impossible to get the clips back on. I am actually running without them right now, and while I need a charge the amount of air that comes out of the vents with the new motor is amazing (disconnected clutch since low on fluid). I have heard others mention using zip-ties to hold stuff together, personally I don't think I'll have much leakage, or maybe any without the clips, but I could be wrong.

All it takes to R&R the motor is removing the clips, about 4 bolts, and one large air duct. very easy to do.

carreradpt · carreradpt's Garage

Michael, I just went thru this. Just replaced the motor only. Had the squealing when the AC was on and was warned by this board that it could overheat and maybe catch fire. I removed the top portion and took the fan outbut couldn't find where to oil it. So I just oiled the shaft and spun it and wasn't satisfied with that so just got a new motor from our hosts. I removed the clips (4) by spraying a little WD-40 first and letting it sit for a bit. Using a large screw driver I pryed them to the side and the clips slipped off. I dropped a few in "there" but used a magnetic pick up to get them. Try not to drop them!! Replaced the motor and to put the clips on I attached a piece of string to them. I spread them apart a bit with snap ring pliers and slide them back on. Worked great. AC now squealless.

SeaDweller · 03-24-2003, 05:24 PM

Wow, it's nice to hear that someone was able to re-use the clips! I put a wire through the hole before taking them off, but still managed to drop one. Fortunately, I was able to retrieve it with my little claw thingie.

The one mistake I did make was not removing the brass guide for the temp tube. I thought is was just a grommet, but found it went all the way into the evaporator AFTER I got the box top off. I had a few bumps, but I'm to the point that the motor is completely out. The evaporator looks new!

I just ordered a snap ring tool and attachments from Snap-on, as I hope to be able to re-use the clips as well. I'm pretty anal when it comes to keeping something "factory".

I ended up vacuuming out the old foam on the sides of the evaporator, so a trip to Home Depot is in order. Hopefully I'll have everything buttoned up tomorrow evening!

APKhaos · 03-24-2003, 07:20 PM

Its like the anthropologist's dilemma, Michael. You want to go in and do your work, but cannot ever make a change or leave a sign that you have been there. A nice problem that is worth solving.

SeaDweller · 03-25-2003, 03:36 AM

Indeed Tony, but the more I look at the location of two of those clips, the less anthropological I feel........

SK · 03-25-2003, 03:50 AM

I got my clips back on. I used WD-40 to make them slide easier, bent pliers to hold them, and a flat head screwdriver to push them back on....worked well but took time.

911Brian · 911Brian's Garage

My motor is sqealing as well so I will prob need to replace it. Would just oiling it do the trick? Also, does anybody have any pics of the procedure? One more thing. I have looked on this site for a motor and cannot find one. Does anybody have a link?

Thanks!

Brian

SeaDweller · 03-25-2003, 06:37 PM

I just finished mine, and once you have it apart, I wouldn't even consider anything but replacing the motor with a new one. You may have a slight problem with availability on an SC, as I'm not sure if the motors are available anymore. It's not a bad project, but it takes a lot of patience and planning to do it right.

carreradpt · carreradpt's Garage

Brian, when I had my motor out I oiled it where I could. Seemed to me it was half-a$$ing it. Plus some folks on the board mentioned something about the motor maybe frying and starting a fire so I decided to replace it instead. The part # from Pelican is 0 130 063 035 A/C Evaporator Motor, w/o fan. SK described getting the clips off the easy way. It works, let the WD-40 sit on there for a little while and keep a good hold of the clips with some needle nose. Sorry didn't take pics. Its a pretty easy operation though.

911Brian · 911Brian's Garage

Thanks guys! Looks like I have my first pcar project. Here in VA, the summer can be pretty miserable with the humidity.