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Date:         Sat, 5 Oct 1996 02:28:15 -0300 (ADT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         smitht@unb.ca (Tim Smith)
Subject:      <HOW TO>: blower fan replacement

Winters close enough I needed to fix the heater fan up front, in TWO vans, grumble. Got the '85 apart and out in less than an hour, then futzed about for another 1.5 taking apart the fan/housing etc. only to find a severely toasted motor, armature wiring cooked to charcoal. Checking the airbox, and everything else showed a nice crust of fine salt deposits on all the airways, no wonder the thing died. As far as I can tell Bosch (the motor folks) used steel bushings for the bearings, not bronze. Rusted solid. Lubrication is via (perhaps?) a felt wick. Probably good for the first 6 months.

Thanks to whoever posted the note that Rabbit fans drop right in, as indeed they do!! Uses 1977-84 years fans. FYI removal from Rabbit/Jetta is mostly from under the hood, except for one screw. Four 8mm head screws hold the heater console to the firewall, use a 1/4" drive socket, not much space. They are at each corner of the heater. One Phillips screw holds the blower into the console, pull off the resistor (and keep it) then unscrew. One last screw is under dash, at centre of vehicle, Phillips head. Then simply push the console down an inch or so and rotate/slide the blower out after unplugging the two leads. Takes <5 mins.

Now, who can tell me why the fan in my '82 Rabbit is just fine, while those in the '85 and '87 vanagons are DOA? Oh, I oiled the motor bearings before putting in the Rabbit fan. One end is open/easy. The other end is under the fan hub. Taking that apart may hurt the motor/fan so I drilled a hole just big enough for the extension tube from WD-40 to fit, and pumped sewing machine oil down it, right to the bearing. Small enough hole not to unbalance the fan. Those of you looking for the fan control resistor will find it thoughtfully inside the airbox BTW, just in case you're looking for it.

Another note, DPO had torn out fan switch (and the cover plate too) and wired '3' through a toggle switch drilled into the lower dash. Got rid of that but was testing fan at speeds by holding wires together in thumb and finger. No probs on 1 or 2, but holding it for 3 burnt my fingers. The feed wire got REALLY hot really fast!!! Couldn't believe it, checked Bently to see if DPO had picked up the wrong lead, nope, right colour, right diam, HEY! For some unknown reason VW has run a thin 1.0mm wire to the switch and thicker 1.5mm wires out to each speed. I'd have to say that the factory wiring is way inadequate to handle '3' setting. Wonder if that's true for the switch!? Anyhow, traced back feed wire and swapped in a heavier piece. No heat anymore. Now to find a new switch/panel. So seriously folks, don't use position '3' on the dial, except very briefly. I'll post once I've done the '87 in case this has been fixed in later years.

Also fixed the broken heat control cable. Rebent the broken end with needle nosed pliers to fit into handle again. Adjusted cable sheath position in clamp, and voila, controllable heat once again, for nada $$! Need to pickup a new antenna in the AM, tunes again soon. Will reinstall dash then. I'd say 2 or 3 hours would cover this job if you did it as quickly as possible, everything at hand. I needed a Phillips bit on a 3/8" extension to reach/crack the screws that hold the airbox to the front tin. I spent some extra time wiping out the front tin and airbox, and rust spraying it thoroughly, VW charge for 4 hours, $240 and want another $250 for the blower, plus taxes, just under $600 total if VW got at it. Time to go wabbit hunting...hahahahaha.

bye, tim


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