Date:         Wed, 22 Nov 1995 05:47:49 -0600 (CST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Dan Beatty <danb@sound.net>
Subject:      Re: Heater motor gone?

At 06:59 PM 11/21/95 -0600, you wrote:
>
>No,(well maybe) and Yes, just what you didn't want to hear.  Try running the
>fan all the time, on 3 if needed to keep it spinning. Quit if it starts
>popping fuses. My theory is that it is the plastic fan and housing
>screeching, not the bearings, and if you can outlast the noise it will go
>away.  

The bearings in the Vanagon blower are the commonly used "oil impregnated"
bronze type. The lubricant for this type of bearing is contained in the
"porous" bearing material and is slowly metered to the running surfaces.
When the bearing ages and starts to squeal their life can sometimes be
extended by running at higher speeds and thus creating enough heat to
release a little more lube from the bronze. At this point they are
effectively at the end of their service life. :-(

Is your plastic housing the cause of the noise? Well this is certainly
possible also. :-) But it wouldn't be my first guess

>Working so far on my '87 Syncro.  On the '85 I let the fan stay off,
>and ended up pulling the dash to fix it.  Now since I let the bugger grind,
>it's silent all levels now, whereas it was stalling/squawking on 1 or 2 last
>year, only 3 worked, under labour.  Very cold weather may kill it however
>due to plastic warping more. We'll see.  Tim Smith.
>
>
>