so my blower finally kicked it after 23 (mostly noisey) years. here my question: i just want to make sure i need a new blower motor before in go all the way in there. when i turn the blower on using the dial it doesnt turn on, of course, but my volt meter does plumet into the red. is this in fact due to a completely busted blower motor (the fuse is fine). i havent hit the system with a multimeter, but i just want to check in case this is a dead givaway of a connection problem of some kind and not just a totaled motor. any feedback would be much appreciated as it has recently decided to stop being a mild winter in new england. thanks ahead of time.

Good news gyus the job has gone well. im mid job right now and have had to stop as i was not smart enough to buy new fan blades to replace the noisy one i already have. didnt take to long and im about half way through the reassembly (as i could put one side back together). anyone know if it matter what side i put what blade back onto?

I am mid process in swapping out my heater fan motor. Motor is in. fans are in the mail, but I tried to drive my car with the dissembled dash and the car stalls after starting. Ground problem right? Yes. I grounded all the circuits I the dash and started the car. Runs great, but draws low voltage. When I turn on the lights all the light oriented lights on the dash light up and the car stalls out, presumably from insufficient voltage. Am I right? What did I break? Or did I just not complete all the necessary dash circuits. The only things not hooked up are the lighter (however I did try connecting and disconnecting the black wires that go to the lighter and the ac (which doesn’t work any way). worst fear: putting (jamming) the drivers side fan cover back on i broke a circuit somewhere back there involved in the head lamps or something. what do you think? ps - I don’t own a multimeter. good time to buy one?

Hi,

You can see that Bulletproof is correct in a clear picture of the right side impeller blade. Scroll down to step 12 on this page: http://cleanflametrap.com.


--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

anyone know if it matter what side i put what blade back onto?

It matters. It's a good idea to mark them left and right on removal.
So, imagine you're inside the car looking forward with the heater right in front of you. You want to install them so that the blades closest to you are curving up as they come out from the center.
--
'80 DL 2 door, '89 DL Wagon

Someone developed and documented a "fast and dirty" way of changing out a 200 series blower motor. It does not involve taking the dash apart, but dremelling through the end of the blower motor casing instead.
I've seen it in the archives, but forgot to copy it :>(.
Having done one blower motor, if I was facing another I'd be looking through the archives. It's a thankless job.

Much good advice from Robert below. Only hint of hope I see is if you have a high-resistance feed from accessory terminal of ignition switch, from which both voltmeter and blower are fed. Since they use different fuses normally the well-known problem of the corroded fuse end is not suspect. Turbo cars have gauge packages pre-installed and as such should have voltmeter fed from fuse 13. But it is worth a try to be sure before diving in: Try your test again, but next time start with switch in HI (avoid destroying resistor if possible) using ignition switch to turn on. Hold for 1-2 seconds, then carefully determine if 25A blower fuse got hot. With a shorted or locked up blower, something is going to smoke.

Should you determine the blower needs changing, you could refer to some good pictures of the grinding of the mounting bosses (Robert's post) shown on this site www.cleanflametrap.com

I have not personally changed a heater motor in New England or elsewhere, and I'd think you would not want to do this unless dead sure it needs being done.

Yah dude that's a bad motor. The bearings have failed and the motor is locked up, or at least the rotors are up against the housings, and can't turn. So it draws a TON of current.

To replace this in an original 1982, you will find, once you get in there, that the old motor had ears with plastic bumps on the heater housing. The cast aluminum or zinc motor body went over these bumps- the new motors are different, and have a flat mounting surface. That means you need to reach into the heater box with a dremel tool or similar thing to cut off the bumps and allow for the flat motor mounting flange.

It's not as hard as it sounds, at least not as tough as the whole rest of the job, which isn't fun. You do have to be careful in there to not cut into the heater core but it's just a matter of having a fairly steady hand. The plastic cuts easily at least.

First one I did took me 4 hours. I don't remove the dashboard unless there's some other good reason to have it out. You CAN remove all the heater box side clips to complete this without removing the dash. You do need to remove all fasteners from the switch panel/ center housing to pull it back into the car and out of your way.

Last car I did it on was my wife's 82 245 come to think of it...
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: Roterande Fläkt Och Drivremmar!