Earlier today I reposted something from the old VCOA listserv concerning a quick fix for the blower motor in the 240's. I had looked it up because I have a noisey one in a recently purchased 86 240. Tonight I went ahead and removed the front of the dash and the heater control panel to reveal the blower motor housing. As per the old post I drilled two 1 1/4" holes in the housing (well actually three in my case) to reveal the ends of the blower motor where the shaft exits at each end. The instructions call for spraying lubricant in that area to lube the bushings. I can't see how this is really going to be very effective as there can't be much lubricant seeping into the bushing where it might do some good. I sprayed with some PB Blaster first and followed up with some LPS3. I used a flat Speed Bore bit so I ended up with a puck from the hole that I will glue back over the opening. The motor doesn't sound any better and I think I would have been just as far ahead if I would have splashed some chicken soup in there. Let me add my voice to the throng of people who say that is a very dumb setup for a climate control fan.

Randy (the old post for those who might not have seen it earlier)

First disconnect the battery.
Remove side panels. This is done by removing the two screws on top
and two plastic clips on bottom of each side panel.
Now console face should pull forward at the top, a little.
Remove two phillips screws from bottom of console face.
Pull console back and remove wires from switches and lights on top of
console face. I marked these wires with electricians number tape but
you can just remember if you want. I left in the a/c control switch
attached to it's capillary tube (white plastic coated flexible tube)
and just moved the console face out of the way by removing the first
of 4 big screws holding the console to its supports and slipping the
cap tube by.
Remove the other 3 big screws, the console should be loose.
Remove the 4 smaller screws that hold the plate with the heater
controls, ( temp slide, vacuum buttons and motor switch).
You should now be able to remove the console and this should be all
you need to take apart.

Now, move the wires out of the way and take a good look at the plastic
motor housing. Mine is tan plastic, the motor sits in this in a
horizontal positions. One each end is a fan blade housing attached to
the motor housing. Drill a hole (I used a dremel type tool) small to
start, about 2 inches in from the end. Be careful, if you are too
close to the fan blade housing you will drill in to a lip of that on
the inside of the motor housing. That won't hurt anything, it will
tell you where you are and you can drill a little more toward the
motor. You want to stay out from the motor as far as possible in order
to get a good angle to shoot the lube into the motor bushing.
At this point I used a flexible light on a tube that a friend lent me.
Walmart sells them for $14. the light is at the end of a 12" tube and
can fit thru a 1/4 " hole. It also helped me portion the spray tube so
I could spray the lube into the bushing.

The holes ended up being about 1" dia and could have been bigger
without hurting anything. The motor shaft is about 4 " lg on each end
of the motor. I covered the holes with aluminum duct tape but cloth
would work too.

Put it back together and that is that. How long the fix works is
unknown to me.

I read the old posts too and last fall I tore my '85 apart and sprayed lubricant at the blower motor. No holes for me I took the housing all apart. About a month ago I tore it apart again having bought new bearings($6), as indicated in one of the posts, because the noise was coming back. This time I actually removed the motor and found that the lubricant I sprayed last year really didn't penetrate much because of the way the motor is sealed. It also will not take the bearings I bought as it is a different style motor than the 70's early 80's(?). I lubricated the motor with a very light weight oil while running it for short periods with jumper leads off of the battery. There was no significant wear as shown in some of the posts where the fan blades have been chewed up from rubbing the housing. Put it all back together and it sounds good, better than last year for sure. Doing it this way is basically an all day job though.

1985 245T 250K Km

Not long.
Worn bushings mean worn bushings

I have performed this operation with success in my old '79 244. Only I used an aerosol white lithium grease. Be sure to aim the spray at the shaft as it comes out of the fan motor housing. I then just used duct tape to cover the holes. No more squeaks or squeals for the last 1.5 yrs I owned the car.

Ron Tewksbury

I too had success with this method on my '81-- thanks to Ron Tewksbury. About 6 years ago Ron sent me his excellent instructions for lubricating the blower motor and I was able to "milk it" for 3 years until I sold the car.

To direct the lube right onto the bushings, I connected 3 or 4 of those red straws that I saved from aerosol cans and stuck them together with heat shrinkable tubing for wires. Ron advised trying this too and makes for a nice long straw. I kept the battery connected and would turn the blower motor on and off for awhile between shooting with lube. When I finished, I just covered the holes with duct tape.

Be careful what kind of lubricant you use because every time you turn on your heat you'll be smelling it-- so definitley no PB Blaster here.

Lubricating it 3 times in a couple years certainly prolonged the motor's life and quieted things down.

Chris Mika
'87 245 DL (250 K)
'81 245 GLT (328 K) sold and still running