Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 08:51:17 CDT
Subject: (Fwd) Revised blower replacement
Author: Al Powell (http://www.ezlink.com/~powells/blowerfix.html)
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!
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