81 Rabbit Blower Motor Removal

[bscutt]

ok that sounds better. So as an HVAC guy you will appreciate this. My house is 48 years old and has the original furnace. I replaced the outside compressor/condenser unit in 1993. I replaced the original blower motor about 7 or 8 years ago. The previous blower I was told could not be lubed and until it started squealing I believed the service guy. Took it out, pulled the rubber plugs on the bearing oilers that "were not there" and lubed it and got 5 more years out of it.
My neighbors put in new units 20+ years ago and all have replaced them again, most only lasting 10-15 years. So I am one of those "if it ain't broke don't fix it" guys and if it's broke, see if you can fix it before replacing. Guess that's partly why I drive a 32 year old Rabbit.

[uzzo2]

ok that sounds better. So as an HVAC guy you will appreciate this. My house is 48 years old and has the original furnace. I replaced the outside compressor/condenser unit in 1993. I replaced the original blower motor about 7 or 8 years ago. The previous blower I was told could not be lubed and until it started squealing I believed the service guy. Took it out, pulled the rubber plugs on the bearing oilers that "were not there" and lubed it and got 5 more years out of it.
My neighbors put in new units 20+ years ago and all have replaced them again, most only lasting 10-15 years. So I am one of those "if it ain't broke don't fix it" guys and if it's broke, see if you can fix it before replacing. Guess that's partly why I drive a 32 year old Rabbit.

You're fortunate, most of the big guys in the HVAC business around here usually send a guy out and tells him if the unit is more than 5 years old to sell them a brand new system. It doesn't matter what's wrong with it mind you. Could be a 20 dollar capacitor gone bad. But they're going to try and sell you a new one regardless. When I got that blower motor out and looked at it. That was the first thing I noticed was the holes for oiling it. Two on the sides and 2 on the end. They didn't have the little plugs in them like you usually see on the older motors. But they were definitely there for a reason. I wish I would've checked amp draw before I oiled it. I only did it afterwards and it was only pulling around .34 amps. So it was less than half an amp draw. I'll just keep running it. Now the wife wants me to buy her a 2006 Volvo S40. The more I look at that thing, the more it scares me because I know I won't be able to afford to pay someone else to work on it.

[bscutt]

I like the Volvo's, my neighbor ran over 300K on his before donating it (early 90s 940). However if you have a transmission problem the newer ones run into several thousand to replace. He still has some newer ones and swears by them, all bought used. But I agree, would not want to do much work on them. Drive trains are pretty robust these days, it's the other stuff that bothers me.

As for the HVAC guys I don't let them in. A friend is good at HVAC and my system is so simple that unless it all rusts out there's not much to go wrong. I may pay a little more for fuel and electricity but nothing like the 10K they charge for replacement units that I can't fix. However any machine reaches the point at which it either cannot be repaired or it's just not economical. Hoping that day does not come any time soon.

[uzzo2]

Hoping that day does not come any time soon.

If it does just let me know. Mt. Vernon and Monticello are on my bucket list.

[bscutt]

deal. Mt Vernon is maybe 10 miles from here by road. Monticello is about 2 hrs away.

[Quantum-man]

A little late perhaps, but that blower is the same as the ones in the Quantum a/c or not. Casing wise at least

[Fatmobile]

$150 seems pretty high. I think I have my old one down in my parts shelf somewhere and it turned out the noise it was making was not the motor bearings but the wheel hitting the plastic housing (mounts had come loose if I recall)
I also parted out an 81 rabbit diesel that was just a mess (left to die in the woods) and don't remember if I grabbed the blower out of that one or not. If I have a good spare to sell I'll let you know. If the lube worked it may work for a long time but I'm not sure how long PB blaster will work as a lube. I like thin motor oil (using a syringe) for motor bearing lube or something that will hang around for a while.

I just used PB blaster to loosen it up. I then took a zoom oiler that I use for oiling motors in the line of my HVAC work. It's just mineral oil in a little bottle with a long thin flexible telescopic plastic tube. I don't know why I keep it since all condenser and blower motors are all sealed now. So I put a generous helping of that along with the blower motor. I'll just run it a while and see how it does.

That zoom spout is the stuff they recommend for oiling the fan motor.
Some day I'll find some a place that make/sell replacement bushings.

[uzzo2]

$150 seems pretty high. I think I have my old one down in my parts shelf somewhere and it turned out the noise it was making was not the motor bearings but the wheel hitting the plastic housing (mounts had come loose if I recall)
I also parted out an 81 rabbit diesel that was just a mess (left to die in the woods) and don't remember if I grabbed the blower out of that one or not. If I have a good spare to sell I'll let you know. If the lube worked it may work for a long time but I'm not sure how long PB blaster will work as a lube. I like thin motor oil (using a syringe) for motor bearing lube or something that will hang around for a while.

I just used PB blaster to loosen it up. I then took a zoom oiler that I use for oiling motors in the line of my HVAC work. It's just mineral oil in a little bottle with a long thin flexible telescopic plastic tube. I don't know why I keep it since all condenser and blower motors are all sealed now. So I put a generous helping of that along with the blower motor. I'll just run it a while and see how it does.

That zoom spout is the stuff they recommend for oiling the fan motor.
Some day I'll find some a place that make/sell replacement bushings.

It's just highly refined mineral oil. Any non gumming oil should do about the same thing.