964 passenger side blower motor squeal..

[bigchillcar]

p.o. had told me about this before purchase and it really isn't that bad right now. i usually can hit the defrost button for a second, it spins the motor and i guess the 'bearing reseats' temporarily to a quieter condition.

this part ain't cheap. our host lists it for over $400! anything can be rebuilt, right? i'm tempted to remove and have someone try, but who? access to it is through the front trunk area i understand?

[kang]

I’ve “rebuilt” squeaky blower motors before. All I really did was take apart the motor and lube the bearings. I had one old car that I had to do this every 6 months or so. This was in my college days, and I was too cheap to replace it.

The thing with your 964, though, is getting to the motor. It’s pretty buried. On the car above, the blower was easily accessible. I could have it out of the car in 15 minutes or so. On your 964, I think it is a several hour job. Sure, you could lube the bearings, but how long will that last? If I went to all the trouble to get it out of there, I’d replace it with a new part.

Check this DIY. It’s for a 993 A/C evaporator, but the pictures show where the blowers are.

http://p-car.com/diy/ac/

[bigchillcar]

kang..thanks for that link! i'd misplaced it. looks like the gas tank must be removed to access the blower motor doesn't it? damn..this looks like a mpia. but at $450 for a new blower, i think i'd try a motor rebuild, even if i had maybe an alternator guy try it..or small motor repair shop if it isn't obvious to me what the problem is. wonder if it's possible for the pollen filter to contact the fan blades and make the noise? that would sure be an easier 'repair'.

[sixbanger]

Well I just performed this very task. Yes it is a pain in the ASS. No the GAS tank does not have to come out.
First remove the battery cables. Then Take the top off of the fuze box. In the corner by the fender by the fuze box you will see a small peice of metal. It has a 10mm bolt hhat screws onto the side of the fuze box. When you remove this bolt don't drop the spacer block. Then I think there are two more screw or bolts holding this in. remove them. In side the fuze box on the right side you will see a plastic screw. Undue this and the fuze box will pull out .Remove the cover over the Heater A/C stuff at the top of the trunk. It has two screws one at each end and it presses down over the metal edge sticking up behind the gas tank.. Remove the clips that hold the fan cover on. They are metal so also have a magnet handy so when they fall you can find some of them. The cover pulls up after the clips are removed. Before this take the wires lose that are on the top of the cover. On the cowel that has the rubber strip in back of the tank. it goes across the front of the dash area. There is a plug by the hood schock you need to unplug. Now over about half way across the car you will see a 10mm bolt and nut. undo this and don't drop the nut or washer. Now you can pull the metal at the left side of the fuze box to the front of the car to get the fan out of the little hole it sits in. But you first have to get the fan out of the plastic shroud. Hope your eyes are good. Look into the fan and when you have a open space at the top on the outside area of the motor yoy slip a long screw driver and it pushes on the clips to release the motor on the top then spin down to the bottom and do the same to undo the bottom clip. Pull and it will come out.

It's a PITA to reinstall the new fan. Be sure the wires dont get in the way as you install the fan backinto the plastic shroud.

OH and one more thing. DON"T BRAKE THE PLASTIC FAN UPON REINSTALL And don't fix the old fan buy a new one. While you are in there take a peak over on the drivers side and you will begin to see what all has to be removed to replace that one as the A/C line is in the way and you know what that means.

Hope this helps.
RT

[sixbanger]

OH and did I say have another set of hands so they can cuss too.

[bigchillcar]

rt, thanks for the great writeup and answer to my question! wonder why not to try and repair this fan? does it not look possible? did you spend the $450 i saw quoted for it? damn, that's a lot of jack for a fan..i think i'd be willing to try anything for a repair or something first. what are your thoughts on the fan?

glad the gas tank can stay. how many hours was the job and what's your approximate level of diy experience?
thanks!

[sixbanger]

I bought the fan from our host for I think $379.00 I think. It didn't take that long but I first had to figure out how to do it. One thing about putting it back together was that I had trouble getting the new fan to clip back in to the shroud. Make sure the wires don't get in the way as you push the fan back in. The top clip just wouldnt clip. I ended up taking it apart three or four times to figure out why it wouldn't go back in. You can look back in the area where the fan motor
goes and just bearly see where the clips go but you sure can't get your hand in there. I think some heat on the plastic may help it clip in, Try a hair dryer. With two people and some cold beer you should have it done in two hours. The fan is a cheap plastic so be very careful. As you push it in ,push on the center by the shaft.

[bigchillcar]

rt, the price has gone up by nearly $100 last i checked. mine isn't that noisy right now. in fact, without radio you'd never hear it and even then it's intermittent. hitting the defrost button often 'clears it'. i just hate the thought of that kind of $$ for a damn fan! i don't suppose it's available somewhere else in another application where it would be cheaper. mine would have to sound like a trash compactor i think before i could part with over $400 for one. damn. it didn't appear serviceable to you? i've heard the bearings just may need lubrication. what did you do with the old one?

[sixbanger]

It was totaly trashed. The end with the fan on it had like half inch of slop in it. There was no way it was being fixed. Also it was about two months ago that I bought it. Maybe you are looking at the wrong fan, they are marked laft and right. You need the right.

[bigchillcar]

ahhh...mine doesn't sound like it's reached your condition..makes me wonder if mine could be salvaged. u have any pics of it? can it be opened and the bearings accessed? i checked again, but knew it was the right side:

Blower Motor Assembly for A/C Evaporator, Right Side, 964 Carrera 2/4 (1989-94), 964 Turbo (1991-94), 993 Carrera/Carrera 4 (1995-98), 993 Turbo (1996-97), Each
Brand: Behr [Photo] [view in parts diagrams]

$460.25

[sixbanger]

You would need to get the old dried out plastic fan off the shaft and then you could take it apart but if the plastic braked you will need a new one.
I'll dig out the receipt and check the price in the morning.
The old one had the fan broke from banging around for so long and I put it in the trash about two weeks ago.

[bigchillcar]

dang! i shoulda posted sooner! man, for $400+....i'd treat it like ming dynasty china.....

[sixbanger]

Well I just checked the invoice and on 2/5/07 I paid $377.50 for part# 964-572-016-01 Check the part# with our host. It was the same part I took out.

[bigchillcar]

hmm..that's odd. will do, rt. thanks.