Club 80-90 Forums

eyup ducks,i dont fancy having to have to strip all the dash out to fix the cab heater,i think its just stuck,so are there any bodging things i could try first,i remember hearing someone say you could drill a small hole in the heater somewhere and try spraying in a little wd40?................any sensible ideas would be appreciated,otherwise its the big operation,and hope a second hand unit is going to be ok

Sorry
I think if its got to be done its got to be done and if yo are stripping the dash down get a replacement blower just incase the old one cannot be repaired.
If you want a hand drop me a line, your not a million miles away from me
TTFN Kris

It is possible to drill a small hole in the assembly and spray oil on the bearing.

BUT.

You need to strip the dash out to get to it!

And while you've gone that far you just as well finish it and do the job properly.

When I did mine it was good to repair all the previous owners electrical bodges whilst dash was out.
The heating assembly needed a damn good clean and service after years of cruddy air going through it.

Dont bodge it, do the job properly and enjoy it. If not get someone else to do it.

I had the same problem, didn't want to strip out the dash to get to the motor. Took the plunge one day and had it ready to come out in 20mins! Really not that bad of a job, and as mentioned you can get in and repair in dodgy wiring.

i thought my motor was shot but turned out it was the earth cable that goes onto the earth block above the fuse box. There was water coming in through a gromet hole that wasn't sealed And shorting out the wipers and heater. Cleaned the earth block and earth lead and away it went! Job done

check that out before doing the dash out job, but it can be done and done easily

Oldiguana

Now look here our kid, yo takin the easy way out?

Get the dash off man. Its not THAT bad once you get started - mole grips should sort steering column bolts. No need to remove column - just drop it down with seat out. WD40 usually sorts motor - if not pick up a working one.

I too wore a wooly hat and scarf till I got it sorted....

as above doesn't take too long getting dash out
check the problem isn't with the heater switch before you go pulling the heater out. If you have to swap the heater for another the heating ducts vary between models so make sure you either get same heater or all the air ducting with it. the screws which mount the heater to the front bulkhead are a bugger to reach, so if you don't have one invest in a nice long cross head screwdriver before you start, it will save a lot of time.
When I did mine I got seriously distracted soldering and heat shrinking all the dodgy wiring I found so it took me a couple of days.

Oh and a gentle tap with a lump hammer got the screws along the bottom of the windscreen moving

cheers for all the input guys,ive been putting it off for 2 years now so i will have to take the plunge and do it,i think the motor was only stuck,but the missus decided to try and demist the window with it last year and started screaming when smoke started comin out of the dash,so she might have finished the motor off,but it didnt blow a fuse so might still be ok,and cheers to "KRISIS"for the offer of some help-its most appreciated,but now im not working i can do it through the day and with me still weighing in around 26 stone,theres not a lot of room in the cab when im in!!!!

I too have been putting this of since I got my van ( 2 Years ) as my heater motor make a horrid screechy bearing gone sort of sound.

Someone above said 20 Minutes - flip it looks a much bigger job than that to me but obviously I am mistaken ( as I often am )

I still don't fancy doing it !!

I think 20 mins is pushing it. More like a leisurely morning. Things you might encounter:

Rusted screws under windscreen and far more likely - bolts that hold blower unit tough to get out but once done, you've freed off upteen years of corrosion etc.

It really isn't as bad as it looks - suprising. Plus, depending where you're parked, you find people come up and chat - curious that.

Now, heres one big tip - go buy a few metres of silicon (soft) aquarium pipe - to replace all the old windscren washer pipe while you can get at it. I found mine were rock hard and full of crud. In fact I swapped my windsceen washer jets for funky light up ones with twin jets on each - never regretted that mod.

Ive done loads of 'em.
20 minutes will see the dash on the floor, then you have to start removing the heater box.
The heater box is impossible to have sat on the floor in 20 minutes.
As a guide I charge 4 hours for this job.
Worse part is getting the siezed heater box screws out.
The brown earth wire will pick out of the loom and unplug from by the fusebox, the power wire to the fan switch will have to be cut (black and red from memory...) or remove the terminal from the terminal block for the heater fan switch socket.
Obviously the job get much longer when you have dash (un)tidies to contend with, gauges, alarm flashy lights, p!ss poor wiring "mods" and the like.

It's not bad, not difficult, just time consuming.

its not just the heater switch is it? if so a fiver in gsf and 5 minutes to swap. i did mine last week as my heater wouldnt work. it does now

jed

Hey Simon, we could have a blower box removal race

Mine was done the week before last at Volkswerke in Taunton. Reliable second hand motors are like hen's teeth. In the end he sourced a new VW genuine part, apparently it was the only one in the country.

It Cost an arm and a leg. And of course seasonal temperatures are now at a high!

A year or more ago, someone on here did post some pics and details of how to drill a hole or two under the dash tidy to get a thin plastic pipe to the motor to get some oil on the bearing. ( iirc )

I think I will live with my noisy one !!

The dash is easy to get out 20mins
getting the heater box apart now thats a trip to hospital make sure no one is in the way of flying things and dont do it when you are due to go away in 5 hours time