Removing squirrel cage from fan motor shaft

[hughc]

As the title says, how does one go about removing the squirrel cage from the motor shaft on the blower unit at the back of the engine.

I must replace the cage on my '83 sc and it seems to be press fitted to the 8mm shaft of the motor. Has anybody done this?

There is no apparent mechanical means by which the cage is held in place so it appears the cage has to be somehow pressed off. Is that the case? And if so, does the new cage just get pressed onto the shaft? Seems kind of Neanderthalish, especially on a Porsche.

Hopefully somebody can enlighten me.

Thx
Hugh

[john walker's workshop]

The rear blower motor cage is retained with a 13mm wrench sized nut. It just slips off after that. Never seen one otherwise.

[hughc]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

The rear blower motor cage is retained with a 13mm wrench sized nut. It just slips off after that. Never seen one otherwise.

I think we're talking of different things. I've removed the complete blower assembly from my car. It's on my bench. The only 13mm nut there is the one on the hold down strap that holds the motor assembly in place. I'm beyond that.

I now have the motor on my bench with a plastic squirrel cage on it that I would like to remove and replace.

My question is; how do I remove the squirrel cage from the motor shaft as it appears to be an interference fit or is it held on with some sort of adhesive.
Thx
Hugh

[dan88911]

You might find something here. hughc
Fresh Air Blower Squeal Fix

[JRSIII]

Hugh, can you verify you are talking about the heater blower motor that is in the engine compartment on the drivers side? If so, John Walker is correct for a stock setup. I'll post photos in the morning to illustrate. In the meantime, could you post photos of what you are looking at? That would help troubleshoot this issue.

[yelcab1]

A picture says a thousand words....

[hughc]

Thanks to all that tried to help. All that I wanted to do was to remove the plastic fan from the motor shaft (yes the blower motor in the engine compartment) and dan88911 sent me in the right direction with post 19 of the thread Fresh Air Blower Squeal Fix.

I tried prying the fan off but that wasn't going to work. By supporting the underside of the fan with solid steel pieces and hitting on the shaft with a punch I was able to separate them, which was the objective.

Sorry about the lack of pics but that's one more thing I have to sort out.

Thanks again
Hugh

[GaryinNE]

Hugh, have you found a replacement squirrel cage? Mine threw some blades but the motor is still good. Can you share a source?

[hughc]

Originally Posted by GaryinNE

Hugh, have you found a replacement squirrel cage? Mine threw some blades but the motor is still good. Can you share a source?

Not yet. I'm still hoping something will turn up.

[hughc]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

The rear blower motor cage is retained with a 13mm wrench sized nut. It just slips off after that. Never seen one otherwise.

Just to clarify, you are correct in that the replacement that I purchased does have a 13mm wrench sized nut holding the squirrel cage in place whereas the cage in my 83 sc is a push fit onto the shaft, so there appears to be at least two types of fitments for these blower fans.
In my case I used the complete replacement (motor and fan) and it works perfectly.

[hughc]

Originally Posted by GaryinNE

Hugh, have you found a replacement squirrel cage? Mine threw some blades but the motor is still good. Can you share a source?

I found one about two weeks ago thru a pelican selling used parts. it wasn't identical to mine but works great. Glad to have that behind me.

[blau911]

Just bought a new replacement blower motor. Removing the housing and motor from the car was not too difficult. Take a few pics of the linkage and mark the point at the cables to make sure you know how they go back together and how far the cables should be extended. Popping out the metal rings in order to split the housing get the old motor out and putting them back on afterwards is the hardest part of the job. I had to take mine apart twice because the fan was rubbing against the housing after I reinstalled it. The rubber seal that goes around the housing was old and soft, and as a result, the fan wheel was bumping against the housing. I ended up mounting the rubber seal further onto the outer lip of the housing, which gave a me a few extra millimeters of clearance for the fan away from the housing. Everything back together in about 20 minutes and the new fan works like a charm and runs much quieter than before.
Oddly, this little repair is not in Wayne's 101 Projects book. It should be. Plenty of the old 911 cars could use a new fan...