[850] Killed blower motor with hammer?

ToriWhite · Post by **ToriWhite** » 23 May 2020, 17:45

I was hammering the fan blade back onto the axel of the blower motor when I noticed the motor bound up for some reason. Was nearly free spinning, merely 20 hammer-blows to the butt ago. Any thoughts? Anyone aware of any guides on how to pull apart / restore these guys?

After a lot of unnecessary headache, I finally got my blower motor / resistor trouble-shot and squared away.. new resistor came in the mail, everything working out just fine.
But before I put that knee-bolster back into place.. why don't I put some lube on, just a little bit for the road, y'know?
Pull the motor back out, prop it on 2x4 and tap the 'squirrel cage' fan off with hammer and lube up the two bearings, top and bottom with a bunch of white lithium. Flip it over and hammer the butt of it to get it back into the squirrel cage.. at first it feels like I hammered it too far- but no, it's not rubbing. For some reason, hammering on it's butt, - it lost ALL looseness. A lot of black dust was coming out, too.

I was so close! I should've just been happy with a noisy motor..

Post by **jreed** » 25 May 2020, 06:24

I know that feeling...
I haven't tried taking apart the blower motor. The closest description I could find here is:
viewtopic.php?t=28203&p=125619
Another good option might be to get one from the junkyard or buy a rebuilt or new one. I bought a rebuilt one a few years ago when my old motor started squeaking all the time even though I had removed it and oiled it. It has been working fine so far.

Post by **ZionXIX** » 25 May 2020, 06:32

I didnt have any issues after hammering my fan blade onto a new motor. I made sure the shaft was braced against a work bench. I hammered the fan onto the motor, not the motor into the blade.

ToriWhite · Post by **ToriWhite** » 25 May 2020, 13:16

ZionXIX wrote: ↑25 May 2020, 06:32 I didnt have any issues after hammering my fan blade onto a new motor. I made sure the shaft was braced against a work bench. I hammered the fan onto the motor, not the motor into the blade.

Yeah, I really wasn’t thinking, that’s obviously the right way to do it- hammering the fan onto the motor, not the other way around..

Fingers crossed it’s just some graphite(?) dust or chunk dislodged and binding.. I’m going to gently tap the fan back off and see if I can shake/spin anything loose, give it a visual once over to see if anything looks obviously amiss.

My fear is the hammering busted one of the bearings, which would K/O an otherwise fine motor since I don’t have the machinery to remove / replace those bearings, unless I’m mistaken on thinking you need a press, and it can be done with a hammer

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 25 May 2020, 13:26

Volvo 850 Blower Motor fan Replacement a correct way.

ToriWhite · Post by **ToriWhite** » 14 Jun 2020, 15:14

RickHaleParker wrote: ↑25 May 2020, 13:26 Volvo 850 Blower Motor fan Replacement a correct way.

Yes. For future reference, do NOT hammer the motor into the fan cage, set the motor upright, and hammer the fan cage onto the motor!

My motor, which was binding, was luckily 'restored' to a normal spin after I hammered the cage off, and back on the right way. It was probably a piece of debris? Who knows - but, I don't have to scrap the motor, yay! Now, having a working motor.. it's making rubbing sounds when I try to install it! Just work already, dammit!

With the motor plugged in &...
- Out of the plastic cage motor cage, it spins like a champ, no unexpected sounds.
- Installed in the plastic motor cage w/out the rubber-gasket screw tightened down.. spins like a champ.. BUT if I tighten the screw down all the way, and it starts to make a 'rubbing' sound. Ok, lets try and install it into the car without the screw tightened down..
- Installed in the car, without the top screw tightened down, it makes a DIFFERENT rubbing sound!

I've scooted the fan cage as far down the shaft as I could without it starting to rub on the black motor housing.. but that's a game of millimeters you can only adjust with a hammer. I think there's progress to be made there, considering Roberts video shows his fan cage sitting a lot further down the shaft than mine, I'll have to check that next time.

Here's a video from someone else, that demonstrates the same sound. I have checked, and there are no leaves to remove, I wish it was that easy of a fix!

Any thoughts appreciated!

Post by **oragex** » 14 Jun 2020, 16:26

Yes, damaged motor, I don't remember the part exactly that cracks inside the motor, but I did exactly the same thing. It's really not worth trying to remove the fan blade to lube the upper sleeve busing that squeals in cold weather, the shaft is really rust stuck on the fan blade. Replace the whole unit and keep the resistor for spare. Even if you succeed to remove the fan part, it will bend and be out of balance (vibrations, noise..)