Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 12:19:39 -0600
Reply-To: joseph Trussell <joetruss@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: joseph Trussell <joetruss@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: heater blower replacement
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Hi list,
I just completed the oft-maligned heater blower replacement in my '85 GL.
Last March, my blower motor, after months of horrible screeching, finally
stopped for good. The job was time-consuming, but actually pretty
straightforward. A few things:
--I was able to find a new blower motor at Import Car Parts of Colorado for
$85. That's cheaper than what I saw online anywhere.
--The dealer didn't have those little metal clips, so I used the black
office-supply kind to keep things tight on the blower case once I glued it
back together.
--The cone-shaped breakaway bolts on the steering column didn't have to be
cut like Bentley says; they came off easily with vice-grips (actually I
think that was mentioned in the archives.)
--I cleaned up all of the contacts and grounds behind the dash with
electrical cleaner and sandpaper, and while I'm not sure what difference it
made, it seemed like the right thing to do while I was in there. I also
cleaned up the stereo wiring--there was a lot of unneccessary junk from the
stock wiring back there, and I was able to get rid of it.
--Be sure to mark the heater control cables when you're taking them off of
the heater box...I neglected to do that, and got a little bit confused
during re-assembly but finally figured it out.
It all went back together, cleaner and tighter than before, and now my
heater blows hard and fast.
A million thanks to the folks who've discussed this task at length in the
archives...It sounded like a daunting job, but after reading Ken Wilfy's
submission, in which he states that it's not all that horrible, I was ready
to jump in there and get it done.
This webpage helped a lot, too! Thanks!
http://www.knology.net/~vw/dash/
Oh--my question--What kind of difference does it make to clean up all of the
grounds and all of the wiring? Less resistance?
Bring on Winter!
Joe T.
Denver, CO
'85 GL "action van"
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