[s-cars] Blower motor......again

[ron kirkham]

So I'm nads deep in replacing my heater blower motor and have issues.
First, thanks to Fred Munro's writeup, this has been somewhat painless,
albiet fiddly.  Thanks Fred.

First problem:  The Meyle blower I sourced does not fit.  The fan is not
quite 1/16" taller than the Bosch unit that was removed.  This makes the fan
hit the housing when installed.  The fan seems to be pressed down on the
shaft too far as there is about 1/8" between the fan cage and the shaft
clip.  I suppose I could try to pull the fan up on the shaft, but it's a
very tight fit, and I'm guessing this will throw the balance off, if it was
ever balanced by the good folks in China to begin with.  I think I'm going
to bite the bullitt and get a genuine part at over twice the cost.  Ouch.  I
don't want to do this job again.

Second problem, issue:  Frustrated by problem one, I decided to feed the old
Bosch part some juice and see whats what.  A full 12V from the underhood
post makes this thing almost jump from my hand!  WTF?  The CC head said that
the fan was shot, and all my flaps are fine.  The fan has not blown in
almost a month, but it sure works now.  Does this fan not see a full 12v
from it's source when installed?  Maybe I just broke something free when
I removed it, even though it spun freely in the car?  Is there another
component that would keep the fan from getting juice?  Are both the CC head
units I used to diagnose with lying?  Interestingly, the Meyle units fan is
very stiff to turn by hand, I guess it's just 245k mile worn brushes on the
original?  I have not powered the Meyle as I'm hoping to get my money
back on it.

I think I'm going to put the old motor back in, and see what happens.  Since
it's all torn apart anyway, it can't hurt right?  A new part is easily
4-6 days away, so why not?

Anbody have some other thoughts?

Ron
93 S4 with 245k and no blow