RE: Replacing A/C Blower

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

I just did the same this past weekend on my BiL's car ... 

My preferred approach is to loosen the airbox after removing the wiper
mechanism, remove the lower covers on the driver's and passenger's side, and
slide the duct from the A/C evaporator back into the airbox.  Detach the
hard plastic ducts that go to the driver's and passenger's footwell and the
soft ducts for the dash vents.  Now you should be able to lift up the airbox
(with the requisite grunts and snarls) just enough to be able to extract
that duct that goes to the A/C evaporator (I had to wedge the top part out
by hand far enough to get the duct to slip out the top).  I was then able to
get a small #1 Phillips driver to access the lower screw on the blower motor
access cover by sliding the handle into the evaporator box outlet.  Things
are pretty easy from here out ... remove the access cover, pull the snap
ring that holds the motor in place, slide out the old blower.  The black
cover housing from the old motor will probably remain in the blower box ...
it is pretty easy to reach in and take it out.  When installing the new
blower I use some silicone lubricant (or equiv) on the rubber slides inside
the airbox that serve as a vibration isolator as well as the 3 black
extensions on the black cover housing.  There is a indexing key on the end
of the motor near the electrical connector which is oriented up.  Slide the
blower in place and replace the snap ring.  Reinstall the blower access
cover and the evaporator duct.  Push the airbox back into place and secure
with the strap.  Reinstall the wiper mechanism and reattach the parts taken
off inside the car.  

You may want to check the recirculate flap mechanism as well ... if the car
is of the '86-88 vintage and hasn't had the fix applied before the door is
probably swinging free.  A few days ago I posted a slight correction to the
parts list Wallace supplied.  On my BiL's car, before I had a chance to fix
it I took a chunk of foam rubber and used it to hold the door in fresh air
mode ...

HTH!
Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)

> ----------
> From: 	John Larson[SMTP:jdlarson@ix.netcom.com]
> Sent: 	Tuesday, July 20, 1999 3:54 PM
> To: 	quattro@audifans.com
> Subject: 	Replacing A/C Blower
> 
> Good afternoon. I have a fellow lister's 5KCSTQ in the shop for a list
> of problems, and it's time to do the A/C blower motor. Anyone out there
> with a shortcut?  I really don't want to treat this as if it were a
> heater core replacement unless I really have to. Looks like it wouldn't
> be too hard if you could just get the bottom screw out of the "air
> plenum", as Bentley calls it. Should we lift it up, take it out, or
> somewhere in between?
> TIA, John
>