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Hi oldduke!
It was quite a job for sure. I bought a VOD (Siemens) motor from IPDUSA. I also replaced the resistor (glad I did, as the old one had minor cracks). I don't remember what the old one sounded like, but this one is pretty loud when on high.
I followed the cleanflametrap.com guidelines, but the order of the images seemed to be repetitive at times. It could have been my brain, though. Had my friend/second cousin not have helped, I'm not sure I could have done it solely on my own. I'm an older Volvo enthusiast, though, so it was something I had to try, especially since the best price for an experienced repair person in Phoenix was about $1100.
It took about 17.5 hours to do this. Extra time was spent figuring out how to get the doggone clip off of the fan blades (it helped, after lots of time not getting them on, to hold the end of the clip with pliers and sliding it on that way). Also, the new motor's holes were too small for the original screws, so a trip had to be made back to Bob's house to drill them out larger. Unpinning the wires from the wire holder took a while, too.
I thought I adequately labeled all screws and took adequate pictures during disassembly, yet I didn't. I had a few leftover screws. All wiring was taped and labeled, which helped a lot. Putting back together the vents was again tedious, as I wasn't sometimes sure where wires should hang in relation to parts (again, more pictures would have been great). It also would have been beneficial to write down what I did each step of the way, even with following Art Benstein's instructions (again, I had issues following them).
All in all, I'd do it again but with better preparation (labeling of screws/pictures). I learned a lot about the inner workings of the car, too. I really don't believe that 17.5 hours is bad for the two of us as complete novices in this repair. At the shop I go to in PA, I am told that Jim can do this in 4 hours. I was told that it might take me 8 hours. But I'm still good with the time. Had I done it alone at the same level of experience, I'd give myself 4 solid days. Maybe now I could do it in 2 days on my own.
Hoping that the freon is just low since the compressor isn't kicking on.
Wishing you the best if you ever do this repair! I'd have to say that I'd think a heater core would be even more challenging!
Take care,
Susan
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