5kS blower motor R&R

[erict@cta.com (Eric Thorstenson)]

Hi gang. Performed a blood (sweat ??) sacrifice on the
5kS this weekend - had to fix the A/C blower motor.
(Why is it these things crop up when it's 100 F out, not
when it's a pleasant 75 ?)

Symptoms: blower motor doesn't always start, and 
when it does, it takes its time and is pretty anemic.

Diagnostics: A/C electronics and blower motor control
unit check OK per Bentley. Proper voltage present at
blower motor connector. The clincher - turned on A/C,
fan didn't start, gave fan a kick start through small access
panel on drivers side of blower housing, fan starts and
runs. Looks like bad bearings or brushes at this point.

Removal of the blower housing is conceptually
straightforward, but it's one of those jobs that's just a
pain in the ass. There's a fair amount of stuff, most of
it under the dash and behind the console, that needs to
be removed to get that sucker out. Here are a few notes
that might be of help to the next poor sap that gets stuck
doing this:
  - Look at Bentley. Marvel at how something like removing
    the blower housing can be completely omitted from the
    book.
  - The stuff in the engine compartment is pretty obvious.
    There is one vacuum hose and one cable that need to be
    disconnected. Also the heater core hoses. Remove the
    wiper motor assembly. You will probably need to cut
    some zip-ties and move some wiring harnesses.
  - I removed the console. In retrospect, you probably
    don't need to do this, but it's not that hard and it
    does make getting at the blower housing a lot easier.
  - Remove the floor ducts on each side.
  - Disconnect the two big round ducts on each side of the
    housing.
  - Disconnect the rubber duct between the housing and
    trans tunnel (anyone know what this is for?)
  - Disconnect the three vacuum lines connected to the
    actuators mounted on the housing. You don't need to
    remove the actuators.
  - There is a wiring harness that runs through the
    blower housing. Disconnect this from the main wiring
    harnesses.
  - Remove the housing. This takes a lot of wiggling and
    some careful application of 3D geometry, but it will
    come out.
  - The motor can now be removed by removing the plenum
    cover and the circlip at the motor connector. Don't
    split the blower housing, or you get to figure out
    how all the air conrol flaps work. (Strangely enough,
    Bentley does talk about all stuff *inside* the
    blower housing!)
  - Installation, as they say, is the reverse of removal.

In my case, the brushes were worn down to itty-bitty little
trapezoids. Got new ones at Home Depot (local home improvement
store). They weren't and exact fit, but work nicely.

Hope somebody gets something out of this...

Eric T.    '86 5kS