my blower motor fuse keeps blowing-options?

[RCN]

The fuse blew for the blower motor last night. Popped in a new fuse and and turned on the switch, no fan noise except a drop in rpm just before the fuse blew again.
It has always sqeeled a bit when you turned on the motor, so i knew this day would come.
Read the Wiki pages and it looks like a dashboard and blower fan out job.
What is the opinion of people:
1-Replace the blower motor with new or used
2- As per Wiki, drill the hole and oil the bearing and shaft
Cheers
BTW, how long does it take to remove and replace the dash and blower?

[ghost123uk]

What is the opinion of people:
1-Replace the blower motor with new or used
2- As per Wiki, drill the hole and oil the bearing and shaft

Well what I did was your number 2 first, and when that didn't work (for very long) do number 1 !
Number 2 is always going to be a short term bodge as it's not just a lack of lube, it's usually knackered bearings.
Oh and a NEW motor of course = about £35 from Brickwerks etc.

BTW, how long does it take to remove and replace the dash and blower?

Allow between half a day to a full day. The biggest hurdles are getting the shear bolts out (some folk seem to have issues with this, but mine came out quite easily) and next is splitting the actual heater box apart. Again I seemed to be lucky here, mine was sealed but came apart with the help of various tools, Stanley knife, small (sharp) chisel, Swiss army knife, screwdrivers, eating knives etc

[RCN]

Cheers Ghost
BTW, does anyone have a picture of page 12.38 of the Haynes manual that CovKid refers to in THE 1st setnence?

[CovKid]

You shouldn't need it. I only mentioned is as a sort of 'educational' aside but it won't affect the job of replacing it. Removing dash is all documented in WIKI - just don't remove steering column as Haynes suggest. You merely need to remove drivers seat, steering wheel, unbolt column from dash (which you'd have to do anyway) and lay column down, still attached. Hope that helps.

Would agree with John on the 'drill hole' fix. By now your motor is well past it and although it might free it for a time, it won't last. Plus with dash out you can do all those tidy-up jobs with the wiring that have needed doing.

[RCN]

Do i really need to remove the drivers seat?
Does it matter if it's a LHD, automatic transmission?
If I do have to take it out, it that a straight forward job or is there a trick to it?

[kevtherev]

The drivers seat is on a runner
It just slides out

[RCN]

Beauty

[ghost123uk]

But don't forget there is a tiny catch by the triangular plastic bit where the seat back meets the seat base. You have to lift that catch up whilst you slide the seat the last couple of inches. I guess that extra catch is there so you cannot accidentally slide the seat right off the runners (like when adjusting the seat position when driving - which is probably a daft thing to do anyway )

[ghost123uk]

Ah, just remembered this from a previous post (here) re turning the seat round (for camping) without having a swivel base fitted

http://vid1244.photobucket.com/albums/g ... 132303.mp4

to get the battery out on the westy but same principle.

[CovKid]

removing the seat not only gives you far more access (best if both are out in my view) but gives you somewhere to lay the steering column. Thats why you remove the drivers one certainly.

[Sunray]

The fuse blew for the blower motor last night. Popped in a new fuse and and turned on the switch, no fan noise except a drop in rpm just before the fuse blew again.
It has always sqeeled a bit when you turned on the motor, so i knew this day would come.
Read the Wiki pages and it looks like a dashboard and blower fan out job.
What is the opinion of people:
1-Replace the blower motor with new or used
2- As per Wiki, drill the hole and oil the bearing and shaft
Cheers
BTW, how long does it take to remove and replace the dash and blower?

Replace it, mine seized up again 2 weeks after I drilled it, a new fan is 30 quid.

1st time I did it, took me 10 hours all told, partly because the heater box is glued down and needs chiselling open.
2nd time did it, took me 3 hours, which is about as quick as possible and no chiselling. Did a better job of sealing it shut too.

[ghost123uk]

How come you had to do it twice Sunray ? (or shouldn't I ask )

[chuggers72]

Don't count on doing it too quickly for the first time - definitely dedicate a weekend to it.

I replaced the fan switch, wiring & resistor as well as the blower whilst doing it (not much in parts from Brickwerks) - you don't want to do it twice. You can also check/replace hosing & nozzles for wipers if necessary.

Go for it and get to know the inners of your dash

[RCN]

Spent about 4 hours in total to do the job itself. I didn't have the box with clips, so out with the Stanley knife and flat screwdrivers.
I then spent about 2 hours, wiping away 24 years of dust and tidying up previous owners wiring (speaker wires, radio connections, and god knows what)
2 suggestions for anyone else who does this job

1- make sure you run the new motor before you put it back together to make sure the connections are on the right way. When i did mine, they were reversed and i would not have been happy to have to take it all apart again for such a simple error.

2- the old motor had 1 male and 1 female connection. the new motor had 2 males. I spent about an hour searching my shed and my neighbours shed for two female connectors and a piece of wire. Lucky for me, the garage down the street gave me them and I was back in business.

Again, thanks to everyone with the help and advice. It made the job a lot easier to do.

[Reimotim]

As everyone else has suggested, replace the motor.

Remember to order the clips you need to put the heater box back together once you've chiselled/hacked/pushed/pulled it open. I think you need around 12. They're not expensive and mean that if you ever need to repeat the job they just pop off.

I managed to do mine without taking the drivers seat out, but I did remove the steering wheel. However, as mentioned previously the drivers seat does just slide out so it's not a problem.

I recon a weekend is a sensible amount of time to set aside. And plenty of cups of tea.

Have fun

Tim