93 - 240 B230F. Heater fan is unstable - speed wanders up and down. No respomce in positions 1-2-3. Need to go to 4 to get it working then back off to 3 till it works - but races up and down even at idle. Assume I need a new resister. Will Replace with a Volvo one and do a Volvo core at same time. Don't want to go at it again in 6 mos.

Who makes a good blower motor - is VDO any good - I see some mods may be needed.

The last two VDO motors I installed, I had to epoxy 2 or 3 flat washers over the bolt holes on the passenger side of the motor flange.

That was necessary to keep the drivers side impeller from contacting the blower housing. The flange does not seem to be located at the correct depth.

I don't know if the problem has been corrected or not. Those installs were about 2 years apart. Check it out before you bolt it all back together and have a squealing fan. Ask me how I know!
--
Bruce S. near D.C.

Think you might be best to get a blower from a recycler and fit a new resistor. Some of the blower assemblies are NLA.
Ian F

If you get a blower motor from a recycler as suggested, I would take it apart, check wear of brushes and commutators and lubricate it well. Trere are felts absorbant around the bushings.

Again, how long do you want to keep this car ?

If it is a near perfect car you could drill holes at the bushings at each end of the motor and slide in small poly tubings that extend behind the top of center console,above the flip switches. Then you can re-lubricate as needed. As you say, you don't want to go there again.

There are cut view pictures of a blower motor in the brickpix page 11, end of 2014. Also a post that I wrote at that time (although hard to read due to a picture pixel problem). It shows you where holes can be drilled to reach these felt absorbants. This is much much easier done with a motor on the bench.

I am very satisfied with this setup and re-lubricated that motor in 2020 as it seemed to be a little slow when there is cold weather like 0 or -10 °F.

For contrast, have a look at this thread on TB: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=362345 especially post #6.

Last replacement I did was to my daughter's 375K '91. Just a few weeks ago I replaced the VDO motor I put in it in '04 110K miles ago. I put the original Volvo motor back in it, given I only replaced it back then because I was "in there" to replace the heater core, which is still pristine-looking.

The VDO motor has the typical bushing egged out to the point where the impeller starts to shave plastic on the venturi. Rust on the shaft ends made the job of removing the impellers eat up at least an hour of my warm October Saturday.

The original Volvo motor had smooth running bushing and shaft. But the impeller on that side was beat up and I could feel a vibration in the steering wheel with it turned all the way up on 4. This tells me why, maybe, Volvo sells the blower as a kit complete with new impellers, but nothing about whether they've selected a good quality motor for this kit.

By the way, last weekend I tore down a "chainsawed" heater box on an '83 Turbo to which some previous owner had attempted, it seems, to find a way to lube the motor laparoscopically. These permanent magnet motors are cased in a steel shell vented to the outside. I can't imagine getting any effective lube to fall on the shaft between the impeller and the case that would migrate its way into the bushing. At least not the way this one was attempted. I can only conclude this was a more effective approach with the older design unless I'm missing something.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

There is always a right way and a wrong way to proceed: Two Jesuit novices both wanted a cigarette while they prayed. They decided to ask their superior for permission. The first asked, but was told no. A little while later he spotted his friend smoking. "Why did the superior allow you to smoke, but not me?" he asked. His friend replied, "Because you asked if you could smoke while you prayed, and I asked if I could pray while I smoked!"

We've tracked it down to the resister since it blows - just the speed wanders up and down quite a bit
.
My mechanic says the cores are quite sturdy though as are the motors.

1993 - 226K Kilometers (135,000 miles)

You might let your mechanic know the resistor is not the cause of the speed wandering up and down, although it may indeed be cooked by the increased current demand of the blower motor combined with the decreased air flow. Be a shame to go in there with a plan that won't fix it.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

“Never underestimate the difficulty of changing false beliefs by facts.” --- Henry Rosovsky

Thanks - so you are inclined to think it may be a motor issue as well?
Replace both while there?

Mike

Yes. The only way replacing the resistor alone would be the correct move is if three conditions are met: (1) The motor was recently replaced, (2) the resistor was not, and (3) the resistor looked like this:


--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

"If you can't fix it with a hammer, you have an electrical problem." -vwbusman66

OK - I ordered a new Volvo resistor and a new Motor - Siemens VDO
Thanks

Hi,

Who or what part numbers did you go with?

It looks rather confusing just in locating the proper number of speeds let alone the need for resistors and switches.
I have several cars and the number of speeds varies and there no mention of the types of bearings and how they are lubricated.

Very little salesmanship anymore!
I’m amazed that you are convenient in an Internet purchase.
It takes a lot of effort to exchange these things out. They don’t fall in your lap on just about any car.

I have done two and one I just cleaned up the bearings and added oil tubes from the outside that I have used once since on my 1978.
A younger man I was!


Phil

Got a VDO Siemens 1370241 PM3512

Google it for a photo

Hi and thanks for the direction you took!
So many say to watch out for modifications needed! Kinda ambiguous, I’d say!

To answer the threads question some ….
Years ago, I think i tried a Four Season brand motor and I was not all that impressed with its bearing qualities and housing stampings. It works but occasionally I hear a slow down but it gets over it and keeps running. I think it likes scaring me even when it’s not Halloween!

Sort of beats me why they just don’t put in sealed in grease roller bearings that are supposed to last a lifetime!
Sincerely, No one ever knows what that is going to be anyways, especially, if their not offered even by Volvo?
Volvos original motor sure was a heavier framed motor that spoke on some quality but it still plain bushing bearings with minimal lubrications points or a reservoir.
The rest of the car, that has accessible areas, lasts as long or longer.

Go figure, for a few cents more, that arduous task of getting into and out of that whole affair shouldn’t have been an idea over a some cents but to use more logical senses.

Even right now, I would spring for at least a shot of something better to experiment with!
Wouldn’t we all on ever thing we work for!

I still love our tanks for all the other character attributes it has.
Hope your happy and Thanks again!


Phil