A "How-To" Guide.
"Hep! My feets is cold!"The one thing I can say about THIS Jeep is that it has a dang good heater. But all of heat won't do anyone any good if the blower motor stops working - as mine did with rather spectacular results. Words can't describe the racket it started making. Like a cross between an animal howling and rolling wooden blocks around inside a metal drum.
Hey - at least if your heater blower motor commits suicide, it should be a loud, noisy affair that gives you some warning. The bearings on these motors appear to wear out allowing the squirell cage fan to flop around or ride on the motor housing... either way, it'll make enough noise running that you should have enough time to get it fixed before it siezes up completely.
Repair is really quite easy compared to many other vehicles - the blower motor on my 1990 is accessed from beneath the hood on the passenger side firewall.
The pictures are pretty much self explanatory and you won't need much more than a basic set of tools for this.
- Remove the three screws holding the motor in place.
- Disconnect the electrical connector.
- Slip the rubber external condensation drain loose. (This drain often gets blocked and soaks the carpet when the air conditioner is used... so clean it out while yer in there!)
- There is a circular foam gasket that goes between the motor housing flange and the firewall... it'll probably fall apart so you can either make a silicone / rtv gasket or use some very soft foam sealer tape. Don't gob the rtv up inside the housing or on the fan!
- Clean out any debris from the motor housing while yer in there and be sure to reconnect the condensation drain hose!
(Optional
squirrel nest shown above may not be present on your vehicle.)
To quote the
Hayne's Service manual...
"Installation is reverse of disassembly."
If you have pics of your own repairs or can suggest other methods - please contribute your ideas (and pictures) to this article!
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Revised on:
October 10, 2006 |