Blower Replacement

[Robert Dalton <rpdalton@netzero.net>]

Hello Al,

Thanks again for your great post on repairing the door locks.  Also
thanks to you and Fletcher for the post on blower replacement.  I just
replaced my 1990 Audi 100 blower.  You guys are speed demons though, it
took me longer than 3.5 hours.  Of course, next time I could probably do
it in a half hour.  

Some tricks I found follow.  I want to doubly emphasizre the caution
that must be used when prying around the air conditioning freon hoses. 
I almost got carried away once, and would have bent one if I hadn't
caught myself.  I didn't have to remove any air hoses inside under the
dash.  They must have had enough slack.  I found that gradual and
repeated prying at all accessable corners was enough to loosen the
heater box on the paasenger side by 3 to 4 inches.  I then propped this
side up with a block of wood.  The blower doesn't fit without carefully
squeezing the outer edge of the plastic squirrel cage.  A couple days
had gone by before I got the replacement blower, and I had forgotten how
it fit so I took the old one and played with it until I saw the proper
orientation.  This way I didn't risk breaking the new one.  It magically
fits only one way due to the tight clearance.  When pushing the blower
into the heater box note the orientation of the raised plastic edge
before the vent hole in the motor.  As the motor is gradually pushed in,
keep checking to see if the edge (which aligns with the hole) is
centered correctly in the air hose hole.  If not, you can use the raised
edge as a pry point to twist the fan around with a screwdriver.  I got
my blower for under $100, so I figure I saved/earned maybe $40/hr
compaired with Northern Va Audi dealers, and it went together pretty
easily.

Rob
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