Armed with Art Benstein's excellent guide and the help of a friend I spent a long day replacing the blower motor and switch (some notes below). When I took the old motor out and tested it, it worked fine. Put in the new motor anyway -- the old one was known to be the original. The old resistor pack looked better than the aftermarket replacement, so kept the old one when it tested fine. Put everything back together and... still no working blower motor! Checked fuse again, tested good, replaced anyway, no difference.

Also the instrument panel and console lights stopped working, except for the light in the small clock, which I put in along with a tach, replacing the big clock. It lights up fine, controlled by the rheostat to the left of the instrument panel. Everything else: darkness. Hmmm.

Suggestions welcome. :)

- Matt

'91 245, 170k ('90 780t 216k let go this weekend.. sad, but to a good home!)



Notes on blower motor replacement:

- Art Benstein's page (cleanflametrap.com) is, as noted, for an older 240. For a '91 like mine, replace all instances of "Philips" by "Torx", except for the screws that hold the glovebox in. In a few cases, you'll need a slimline Torx bit with a long thin shaft to get at the recessed bolts in the drivers side knee pad, and the center console.

- I didn't find it necessary to remove the left side vents. It was enough to loosen them and pull them to the side, allowing the outer distribution casing (on either side of the blower motor housing) to be removed. The right vent was tightly wedged in against a large silver module, to me unknown (ECU?) so I didn't dare remove it first. Doing so would have made removal a lot easier.

- Do not drop the screws that hold the motor while still in the motor housing, because they will end up under the heater core and be difficult to retrieve!

- My replacement motor was a VDO part made in Canada (ordered from FCP Groton). Confusingly its wires come out in the opposite, "up" orientation from the original motor: this caused me to initially mount the new motor the wrong way round (with the wires pointing down, just like they did in the original). If you do this the impeller shafts will be offset and things won't fit back together.

- There is a flexible piece meant to go over some of the sharp edges inside (I think) the center console somewhere. This is the only part I had left over after putting everything (else) back together. I guess this is supposed to prevent wire chafing, so it's worth paying attention to where it goes.