Smoke from the fresh air blower

[strikee]

Hi

Switched on car today and the fresh air blower motor isnt working.

It also started producing smoke.

Is this likely to be the motor or the resistor? Reading some old posts I believe they are housed in the same enclosure.

If it is the motor, can you rebuild these things or do you have to buy a new one?

Cheers
Ed.

85 targa.

[trak ratt]

Sounds like a short in the wiring. Was the smoke white?

[Autoban]

Shouldn't there be a fuse somewhere to prevent smoke from happening?

[strikee]

White smoke yes coming from the housing. Was quite acrid. Fuses in front bay in tact.

Cheers ed

[Chuck.H]

If there was one aspect of my car which I'd say is 'un-reliable' it's the various Bosch air blower motors. Rough count says there are 5 of them in the carrera's, and I'm sure I've had to replace all of them at least once, many of them two or more times. In the later years Porsche put an inline fuse right next to most of them, what does that tell you about their reliabliity??? They are evil fire starters just waiting to burn your car down (reminder, carry a fire extinguisher!).

To keep costs down, I don't replace them when they squeal, only when they stop spinning or blow the fuse.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 332K miles

[Laneco]

They smoke when they die. They do not blow a fuse (at least none of the 3 in the past two cars I've had blew a fuse).

Yours is dead. Welcome to the club. Check the wiring when you put a new one in as sometimes in the death throes they melt the wiring.

angela

[strikee]

Thanks chuck, so likely to be the motor? Ed

[bdisco]

Lucas Replacement Smoke Kit

^ Smoke replacement kit

[brakedw]

In the process of replacing mine now, when i looked at my motor one of the arms had melted, I'm lucky no smoke or fire. its easy to pull out and look at it. just two 8mm bolts, 2 air ducts (screwdriver) and the control wire. I'm replacing the motorblower unit, I could not find the motor seperate but that would be possible. I did just the motor when I fixed the front condensor fan but it was a PITA and ended up with vibration with the blower not balanced on the new motor. maybe you can find a used one in the forums once you find out the problem. I used a volt meter to check the wires going to my motor and all was ok.

Dan

[Chuck.H]

Ed, to check you can remove the motor and put 12v across it to see it spin as a sanity check... I seem to recall they are marked + and -

HTH,
Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 332K miles

[tazzieman]

Almost certainly one of the brushes has fried. Impossible to find a replacement set, I MacGyvered mine with wire and epoxy but it didn't last a long time. However , I found the A/C motor in the trunk (the small one in front of the battery) is identical ; I pulled the brushes off and all is good. And to stop it happening again , always lube the shaft!

Many guys have removed their A/C so you should be able to find a replacement easily and cheaply. The new motors are around $180 I recall. Ouch!

[strikee]

Debating if I should get just the motor or the motor with the fan attatched. Balancing seems to be a problem. Would be interested if its a hard job or not. Thanks Ed.

[brakedw]

I can tell you at least for the condenser motor getting the fan off was a major pain. While you are in the fresh air blower check the seals on the flappers mine were dried out and crumbling. I'm trying to decide what to replace them with neoprene or rubber of similar thickness. I should have the replacement fan/motor in a few days and let you know how it goes. Pelican has the replacement seal which I'll be using as well

[strikee]

Thanks all. Ive taken the unit out and detatched the motor from the fan.

I also notice the rubber flaps are badly deteriorated.

I cant seem to find a replacement.

Any advice?

Cheers
ED

[kuehl]

Originally Posted by bdisco

lucas replacement smoke kit

^ smoke replacement kit

funny !

[boyt911sc]

Originally Posted by strikee

Thanks all. Ive taken the unit out and detatched the motor from the fan.

I also notice the rubber flaps are badly deteriorated.

I cant seem to find a replacement.

Any advice?

Cheers
ED

Ed,

Do you have some pictures of the blower unit? Thanks.

Tony

[strikee]

Hi Tony, yes I have some pictures. I added a few to a previous thread if i remember correctly. I made up some rubber flaps out of an old mouse mat pad, works pretty well. Only issue I have is that the motor / fan is not balanced properly so it vibrates when on high speeds. I will take the blower off again at some stage and have another go at balancing.
Cheers
Ed.

[cellison]

i also need to replace my motor. i have the blower out of the car, but can't figure out how to remove the motor and fan from the housing w/out breaking something. I would rather pull the motor out by itself and leave the fan.