I think I need to replace my blower motor it's been making noise for a few years now and now it just baairly spins ... so I guess my question is how hard is this and has anyone seen a good write up on how to do it.....? ?

1990 Audi v8 quattro....

 

There's some info on heater core/blower replacement on Chris Miller's 200q20v website <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070222145728/members.aol.com/c1j1miller/climate.html"> HERE </a>. The systems are basically the same on the V8.

You can replace the blower motor by loosening the heater core box without removing it and just lifting the forward edge enough to get the air plumbing from the A/C evaporator box removed (requires cabin footwell outlet disconnections). With the plenum from the evaporator box out of the way, you can reach in and extract the fan/motor assembly once the fasteners on the driver side of the box are disconnected.

 

Just ran across this info too:

I had a failing blower motor and put off the job for 2 months, having all the parts ready to do it. The blower motor finally bit the dust and I had to. So I changed the heater core as well.

There is no good or accurate description of this job anywhere. I should have taken pictures of each step to help someone else.

---+++Motor and Core Removal

1 I took out the 2 footwell trim pieces and removed the ducts on each on side.
2 I took off the the passenger side windshield wiper.
3 I removed the rainguard cover.
4 I then took off the other wiper and removed the whole windshield wiper assy. This gave me a lot more room to work.
5 I then undid the gold band around the heater core/flap box and set the band aside.
6 I then removed the 2 coolant hoses. I had 3.8 plug and caps I bought at Auto Zone to keep the coolant from leaking. It worked great. You need 4 caps and plugs or connectors to put in each hose. You put the extra 2 caps on the heater core.
7 I then undid the vacuum lines and secured them out of the way.
8 I unplugged the blower motor and the heater flap motor.
9 I then turned the black duct from the air conditioner unit and pushed it into the white duct on the heater box. %BR% %BR% *Now I was ready to pull the sucker out.* %BR% %BR%
10 It is the adhesive seal that is around the front of the box that makes it so hard. It is best to have a mechanics cover and lay it directly center in the engine. I laid on it and just pulled and pulled. Be careful where you pull, so as not to break anything. I took a couple of breaks and came back and pulled some more. Finally it started giving and pulled out.

Breaking the adhesive seal is more a leverage issue than a superior adhesive issue. The quickest and easiest way of separating the box from the body is to work a wire or a cable around the box and secure it to a 2x4 beam spanning the width of the engine bay. Use a lifting action on the beam to lift the box up and out in less than 10 minutes.

11 Upon getting it out, I took a black permanent marker and and wrote the color of where each line went before taking it off. I then removed all of the vacuum lines and set them out of the way. I found it curious that there was an extra hole for a vacuum line on the far left drivers side of the plenum. It is not used. I don't know why that is there. There are 4 lines to the plenum but only 3 are used. They are green yellow and blue soft vacuum lines. Then there are 3 hard vacuum lines that are black white and red that are connected around and away from the box. %BR% %BR% *Now it was time to take the heater box apart.* %BR% %BR%
12 I took out the 3 Phillips screws from the white duct and removed it.
13 I then pulled the snap ring clip holding the blower motor and pulled it out. Make sure you get the black plastic cone or cover out. You will have a new one on the new blower motor.
14 I then popped the 5 metal clips that are around the center of the box with a flat small screwdriver.
15 Then I removed 3 long Phillips screws that are located in recessed areas of the box. 2 are are one side and 1 on the other. You will need a long Phillips screwdriver.
16 I then thought that I was ready to pull the box apart but it wouldn't pull apart. Then I finally realized that I had to take the white plastic cover off that holds the flap motor. I took it off and pulled the flap motor and the white plastic gears out. Make sure you look at how these gears go before taking them out. You pull out the main gear that connect to the box by just pulling it straight out.
17 I now could pull the box apart. When you pull it part do it slowly and leave the flaps in place. You will have 1 big creme colored flap attached on the left side of the box and 3 on the right. One small black flap on the right will hang loose and the others will stay.
18 I then took a mental picture of how all this looked. You may want to take a digital picture.
19 I then took a small flat screwdriver and removed all of the silicone sealant holding the heater box hose connections. It is dark wine colored and takes some time to get off.
20 I then pulled the old heater box and tossed it.

---+++Putting It All Back Together

21 I put the new heater box in place and then slowly slid the 2 box halves together. You don't need a special 2076 flap tool. This was easy. Just look on each side of the box and guide the flaps to the appropriate holes on each side. The small black flap that hung loose is the hardest to get in place. You never touch the flap levers on the right side of the box. You have kept the flaps in place by slowly pulling the box apart and slowly pushing it back together. I was worried about this part but it turned out to be the easiest part of the job.
22 One I got the round end in the appropriate holes on each side I put the 5 metal clips back on the box.
23 I then screwed the 3 long Phillips screws back in.
24 Then I put the blower motor in.
25 I then put the white duct cover back on over the blower motor with the 3 small Phillips screws. And then pushed the black duct back into the white duct.
26 I attached the snap ring to them left side of the blower motor.
27 I then went to reassemble the flap white motor box. %BR% %BR% Be very careful doing this. I broke the plastic gear that goes between the flap gear and the motor. The plastic is old and brittle. I ordered a new part from the dealer for $3.00 and had it in 2 days. In fact it might be easier to do this later as I had to do. You will need to make the motor gear go all the way toward the car interior side. I got a print out of the ETKA from the dealer to show me exactly how it needed to go together. You attach everything together fist and then slide to the assembly on the white gear. It took me a couple of tries to get right. You can do this job as I had to do after everything is back together.%BR% %BR%
28 I sealed the heater core in the box. The core will slide back and forth if you don't. I got some high temp black silicone and pulled the nipples out and tilted the box so the nipples stayed out. Then I filled that end with silicone. I let it dry for an hour and took a break.
29 I then cleaned the box area out of leaves and debris.
30 Before putting the box back in you will want to pull the 2 coolants hoses out of the way into the engine compartment. Remember that you have plugs in the hose ends so leakage is not a problem. Spray the hoses with Windex and pull them out. They will be bent up in area behind the hydraulic fluid container. Also remove the rubber gasket that the hoses go through. If you don't, it is real pain to get them back in as you have no room. I took this rubber gasket and cut out the whole center and then put it back in. Now you can get the hoses through but it is still hard to do. The metal is sharp that the hoses pass through and I thought that having rubber there would be smart versus leaving only an open hole. The new ETKA no longer calls out a part no. for this gasket. You can only find the part no. by going to the 5000 ETKA. It is the same.
31 I then reattached all of the vacuum hoses.
32 I then went to put the box back in. This was the hardest part. There is a tough black rubber hose or boot that connects between the box and the center duct in the car. When you pull the box it can either stay on the box or stay on the duct. I tried 4 times putting the box in and each time I could not get the damn boot to get on the duct or vice versa. Even having a helper would not help to guide with. I finally got ahold of George Sidman who has done this job 3 times and he said to leave the boot secured on the duct and not the box and keep trying. Finally after a couple of more tries the boot was under the box opening. Then you have to lay on your back in each footwell and push up on the boot to secure it to the box. I used a small pry bar with tape on the end so as not damage the boot. There is no damn room to this. Finally mission accomplished and it was on!
33 I also had trouble putting the drivers side footwell duct back on. It came off easy but would not go back on. No room and the lips were bent a little. So I had to remove the kick panel to get it back on.
34 I pulled the coolant hoses back through the firewall and connected them. The hose from the heater valve goes on top and the hose from the block goes on the bottom.
35 Everything else is just the reverse of removal.

I had no problems with my heater core but noticed that the plastic nipples were getting brittle. I am so glad I changed the core as I would not want to do this job again. If I would have had a bad core I would have changed the blower motor if it was the original. I can see now why I put this job off for 2 months. Everything works great now. I only lost a couple drops of coolant.

-- Main.KentMcLean - 17 Jun 2006

---+++ Alternative method to access the fan motor:
I have a 1993 100CSQ. Heater fan began squeaking in 2000. Faced with the labourious process above to properly change out the heater fan, I was encouraged by another post I read on the old forum that involved simply exposing enough of the fan motor to lube the bearings. That gave me the encouragement to try it. This was done in 2000, and the motor has not squeaked again until August 2006. I successfully repeated the process and got rid of the squeak again, but now (14 years since leaving the factory) the brushes are nearing their end of life. Next time I dig, the motor will need to be replaced.

Access the heater fan blower in front of the windshield. Disconnect and move out of the way all the vacuum lines, and various connectors, motor power and the vacuum solenoid valve on the passenger side of the blower housing.

Remove the rubber duct between the A/C evaporator core duct and the fan housing.

Two Phillips screws hold down a short (~10 cm) plastic duct to the side of blower housing. Remove screws, then rotate this short duct and try to remove upwards. My A/C evaporator duct (the one that goes to the passenger side A/C core) has some unused plastic mounts on top next to the rubber duct. I trimmed the front corner of this mount with a Dremmel tool to facilitate removal of the short plactic duct. It is a tight removal for sure, but the plastic duct is flexible enought that it comes out without requiring any trimming of the actual duct. You may have to spend a couple minutes rotating the duct to find the best way to make it come out.

Now you have visible the squirrel cage blower. On the driver side of the housing, remove the circlip and washer that holds the blower motor to the housing. You can now pull the motor and fan out towards the passenger side and the opening you have exposed.

The shaft and bearing on the fan side are completely exposed to the air being moved through this fan. Using a light sewing machine oil and a little pipette as found on a can of WD40, I maneuvered the pipette to the bearing and deposited a few drops of oil. WD40 is way to light to last more than a day. You need something heavier.

The brush side bearing of the motor has a plastic cover over it and cannot be lubed this way... at least I couldn't find a way without fouling the commutator or brushes. Inspect this area to get an idea how much brush the motor has left.

That's it. Put the motor back into the blower housing, and reverse the process above. Reinserting the plastic duct is easy going in. The rubber duct must be mounted on the bottom first then work your way up... some soapy water makes it easier.

Note that you will not be able to remove the motor/fan completely using this process unless you figure out a way to pull the plastic fan from the motor shaft. I don't have a spare fan, so I haven't attempted this. The other method is to surgically cut away a portion of the evaporator duct in a way that allows it to be replaced later. Some duct tape or other methods required to seal. Still seems easier than removing the entire heater core/housing!

 

wow thanks more then i could have hoped for I will start on this this week sometime ...

 

Is this for the V8Q? I have my entire box loosened under the rain guard but for the life of me we cannot remove it. Is it because we didn't remove the floor ducts?

 

If you wish to remove the box completely, you need to disconnect the air plumbing inside the cabin.

 

I still have been putting this off ..lol it's a catch 22 it's to cold to work on it and it's to cold not to have a heater ... I found that a swift hit a few times on the box gets the fan spinning for a few miles so thats what i have been doing ..

 

Thanks for all the replies! It is out and swapped. I decided to change out the heater core as well. You know gibson, it actually was a fairly straightforward swap. The only pain was trying to pry the unit out and around the AC lines and harness cables. 2 hours total and some new heater hose. I was doing like you are, swift strikes and instaheat. If you have questions let me know.

Thanks again to everyone for all the help.

 

you are a far braver and better mechanic than I.

 

HEHE I am not so sure about that!