'99 V70 XC Blower Motor Repair

[gooproduct]

A couple weeks ago my wifes blower motor completely stopped working. The temp outside was in the 90's and very humid, so I was encouraged to fix the problem quickly.

I hooked up VIDA and confirmed the fan speed switch was working properly so I narrowed it down to the resistor or blower. (I had fault codes appear for both parts)

After finding out that the price for a new blower was so expensive I decided to try the local bone yard, they had one V70 there so I took the blower motor, and resistor, not knowing which of the two had failed.

I replaced the resistor first however that did not solve the problem, The blower motor however did and I was happy.

The old "Broken" blower moter had not been discarded so I ran a search on repairing blower motors with very little luck. I have worked for many years repairing/rebuilding vacuum motors (Lamb and Amtek mostly) So I know they had to be very similar and I decided to try and open the old motor up and take a look inside for any obvious failed components.

Pretty much everything I found online gave indication that these motors are manufactured as sealed disposible units, and that just buying a new one is the best option.

This Motor says "Behr France" and a date of June 1998 and I found no evidence of tampering/replacement before myself. After removing the three TORX screws and seperating the plastic from the motor, I found the motor to be stamped with "DELCO Products USA"

Delco USA? What the heck? HAs this blower been replaced?

So, I figured I'd go ahead and open this sucker up.

It was simple, it has four metal tabs which fit into cutouts on the round end plate. The tabs are split down the center as to cause them to expand hence securing the
plate to the magnet body. I squeezed the tabs back together with channel locks, then with a regular flat head screwdriver located a notch that allows seperation of the plate and body through prying.

The internal windings, magnets, and in general everything were filthy with slightly sticky black carbon and dust. I sprayed brake cleaner through the open side and through the ports on the fan side. A shower of black turned clean. I then blew out motor with compressed air, confirming it was dry and placed the end cover back in place. The tabs were bent back, motor and plastic cover reunited and I was done.

It looked much cleaner, the blower no longer made any noise when turning the wheel by hand so I applied 12 volts to it and bam! Dead quiet, very strong air movement.

Now as a side note. I didn't completely disassemble the entire motor, only removed the rear cap. In order to remove the entire assembly, the fan wheel would need pulled off the shaft. I saw no need for this so I left it on since my only intention was to clean it and not inspect the internal electricals. Also, it is most likely possible to clean it without even removing the rear cap by spraying through the small holes but I would think this would take longer and may not clean/drain as well.

I just wanted to share my experience. The pics may not be in order but I'm posting as a visual anyway.

[Ozark Lee]

Interesting, and thanks for sharing.

Did the Delco blower have any other part number identifiers on it. I would love to buy a $20.00 Chevy blower motor to retrofit the otherwise expensive Volvo part.

...Lee

[gooproduct]

I agree with you LEE.

There is a sticker on the motor that says 22137253 and a date of 9-25-98 My car is a '99 so I highly believe that motor with that date is original and not a replacement. But if one can replace that motor with a $20 Delco then, hey mucho money saved.

[deepsouth]

My blower motor went bad about two weeks ago--would only barely blow on any speed. Removed it and hot wired it straight to the battery and it fired up like mad. Assumed it was the resistor and swapped it but no dice. Got a junk yard motor for $40 and plugged it in with the (old) resistor and worked like a charm.

I'm sure someone could shed light on this but if my motor went bad (as was clearly the case) why would it work like gangbusters when hot wired to the battery? My junkyard motor and old resistor work great together.

[abscate]

I replaced my blower with a new one, but in true New England fashion, the old one is sitting on my workbench. My poor kids have an hour lesson of "how an electric motor works now", thanks to your post.

Thank you for your service.

[gooproduct]

Cool, my kids love learning with dad too, have fun!

[JimBee]

I've "fixed' a couple of 850 blower motors in more or less this way. They appear to be made differently than the later model ones, with brushes that run on a commutator. Carbon dust from the brushes eventually seems to cause poor contact with the commutator, and the rear shaft bearing loses lubrication causing them to bind on lower settings.

I think I got the cases apart by supporting the blower wheel (near the motor housing) with a couple of flat bars elevated on 4 x 4's, then tapping on case flanges—something like that. There's a screw or two holding the case on that needs to come out first.

With the case off, I spayed the motor parts with electric parts cleaner until it came clear.
Then, I worked some white lithium grease into the bearing housing at the back end of the shaft. That's tricky, but turning the shaft, applying a little more, turning, letting it sit for a few minutes, etc., you can get some grease in there. Spin between applications and let it sit after adding more grease. It just takes a little.
Clean up the brushes and the towers they sit in and any electrical connections back there.
Both that I've cleaned up work. For how long? We'll see.