(Fwd) Revised blower replacement

["Al Powell" <apowell@agcom.tamu.edu>]

For the record, here's the fan/blower replacement procedure.  
Original from Eric Fletcher, modifications by Frank Bauer (fjb).  I 
have eliminated the references to Eric's famous steak knife, as it's 
not really required.

Notes I would add:

1)  Remove all cable ties which appear to be in your way.  The 
clipped ends on some of them really cut up my hands!!

2)  You WILL need split ring pliers to get the split ring/circlip off 
the end of the fan motor.  This ring retains the motor in the blower 
housing. This is obvious when you see it; it's on the driver's side 
of the housing.  HINT: wait to remove it until you have the heat 
housing pried upwards.  It's MUCH easier to reach then...but DON'T 
let the split ring fly off to god-knows-where when it comes loose!

3)  Protect the fenders while doing this.  You will be leaning over 
them a lot and jean rivets, etc can scratch them easily.

4)  The old blower has a plastic cover on the back end.  After 
removing the blower, if there is no plastic cover on the rearmost 
half of the motor,  look inside the blower and make sure the housing 
has come out - it often sticks inside.  If it's there, it will look 
like three wide fingers pointing toward the open side of the blower 
housing.  Just reach in and pull it out - you can't put the new 
blower in place till this is removed.

I have also added a few notes to Eric and Frank's comments.

Original from: fjbauer@dsavm.e-mail.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 20:20:26 EDT
Subject: 5000 blower and steak knives
            
Subject: 5000 blower and steak knives                                           

Here is the post from Eric.  I have made a few edits/additions - I 
just performed this procedure.  (My changes marked with "fjb>")      
Frank                                                             
  

Eric's post begins...

Well I finally got around to doing the heater blower in my beast.  
 With this method you only have to raise the blower box up about 3 
inches, and it can be done in about half an hour. 

Al:  If you don't have Eric's magic fingers, est= 2.5 hours.

Tools required:                                                                 
2 Flat bladed screwdrivers one short and one of the MONDO varitey.              
1 Short Phillips head screwdriver                                               
10mm socket                                                                     
13mm socket                                 
3" and 9" extender bar and Ratchet      
Outside Snap ring pilers                            


Remove wiper blades with the 10mm socket.                                       

fjb>It's a 13mm                                   
fjb>  watch for the spring washer under the nut when you pop 
the blades loose.

Remove the black plastic shield with the Audi Logo on it.             
fjb> careful popping the clips or you'll crack the shield.
         
Remove the wiper assembly (one bolt per wiper, one on the motor, one 
electrical connection) 10mm Socket here, You might want to lube the 
linkage while it's out....                                     
fjb> You might want to vacuum all the crap out of the area at this 
point        
Al:  DO IT!!!  There is more crap in there than you'd believe!!

Remove the Heater box Retaining strap with the phillips 
driver. 

Remove the Upper Radiator hose to dump about 1 quart of coolant and 
reinstall; this will prevent a mess in the next step.                 

Remove the Heater core supply and return lines.                       

Remove the Electric plug and Outside Snap ring from the back of the   
blower motor.
Al: There is also a large washer - don't forget it when putting it 
back together!

Shove the round Black Blower duct (passenger side) into the heater 
box.   
fjb> ...up to the bellows                                      

Take the small flat bladed screwdriver and run it around the seal on 
the the firewall to loosen it.              
fjb> just need to pry it loose here and there - enough so it will 
move some.    
Al: Agreed.  It will come loose with a firm, persistent pull....

fjb> now go into the passenger compartment and remove the lower 
panels, console panels and footwell ducts from both sides. Also 
remove  corrugated ducts for upper vents from both sides.  Now 
everything will move freely enough for the next step.

Take the MONDO Driver and pry between the engine bay firewall and 
the blower housing to raise the housing 3". 

fjb> raise the housing enough so that the Black Blower duct will 
clear the black A/C heat exchanger box.  It may help to do 
some of this from inside the passenger compartment since 
there is much left/right clearance here.  the blower housing 
can be tilted up slightly on the passenger side to acheive the 
necessary clearance. 

Al: I did all my prying on the engine side.  Careful not to bend the 
firewall foreward of the heater housing, and DON'T pry where the 
AC tubing is under your prybar!!

With the housing raised take the steak knife and cut the black blower 
duct so that it can be compressed on itself and slid futher 
into the blower box duct. 
fjb> ***skip the last step***           
Al:  Agreed.  It can be shoved back far enough that this is 
unnecessary - You only have to get it clear of the AC box.

Remove the 2 visible phillips head screws holding the blower duct 
adapter onto the blower housing.  

fjb> Rremove all three screws - you may need a long phillips for the 
lower one.  
Al:  I don't see how Frank reached this with a long screwdriver.  I 
managed it using a stubby Phillips and prying the heater housing WAY 
up.  If I had needed to, I would have broken the screw free, but it 
was not necessary.  However, I could NOT get the third screw back in 
when re-installing this part...so I just left it out.

Eric: Take the MONDO screwdriver and break the lower screw out 
of the blower housing.                                       
fjb>[and Al] ***skip the last step*** Remove the duct adapter.

Remove the blower motor cooling hose.                                

Push the blower out of the housing through the duct hole.   

Install as they say is the reverse of the removal.  Use the RTV or    
Silicone to seal the blower housing back  to the firewall.  That's 
it.  I did this in Half an Hour by myself in 30F weather.             
                                                          
fjb> skip the RTV part - add 1 hour to your time estimate.           

Al: Don't believe them.  Allow 2-3 hours.  It took me 2.5.  And the 
sealant on the box was sticky enough that I didn't use any RTV - it 
appeared to me that the seal was still good.

fjb> Wwhen lowering and repositioning the blower housing, 
make sure the oval rubber grommet/hose thingy on the 
bottom lines up with the opening atop the transmission 
tunnel.                                              
fjb> muchas garcias to stediric!                                      

Al: Lotsa Dankes to both gents!


*******************************************************
Al Powell, Ph.D.                 Voice:  409/845-2807
107 Reed McDonald Bldg.          Fax:    409/862-1202
College Station, TX 77843      
Http://agcomwww.tamu.edu/agcom/satellit/alpage.htm
*******************************************************