Kamel
Active Member
- Joined
- October 9, 2008
- Messages
- 94
- Reaction score
- 1
- City, State
- Orange Park, FL
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '95 Ford Ranger XLT 2.3L
For inquiring minds, I have given a fairly detailed introduction to this. If you just want to get to the beef feel free to scroll down until you see HOWTO: Change your blower motor.
Alright, I just had a go around with my blower motor. I'm much less experienced with this sort of thing than most so maybe a lot of what I am saying here seems obvious to the veterans among us.
While it is fresh in my mind, I'd really like to post a quick tutorial on how to handle this when it happens to you.
Scenario, you're going down the road and all of a sudden your A/C or heater stops blowing any air at all. Place your hand on the vent, and it feels hot/cold but there is no air being forced out of the vents. The same thing happens on the heater and the AC, this must mean you are having blower motor problems.
With a blower motor, it is my understanding that there are really only about 3 things that can cause it to go bad. The first thing to cause a blower to blow no more would be the relay/fuse. Cheap and quick, you'll be having a good day if it's simply a relay. The next thing to check would be the blower resistors. These go out fairly commonly and usually it results in the blower only working on the high position. To change that has been covered elsewhere and is beyond the scope of this tutorial. The final problem is the blower motor itself.
It's quite easy to diagnose if your blower motor works or not. All you have to do is put 12 volts to the connections. If the motor blows fine, the motor is presumably fine. If it does not, however, as far as I know replacing the blower motor is the only way to fix this. The other way to do this if you do not have a good way to directly connect the blower motor is to use a digital multimeter or voltmeter. Check the wires going to the blower with the fan on and see if you're getting a full 12 volts.
The good news is, it's not that bad especially when you know what to expect. It is also cheaper than one might think. I believe my repair cost me $42.00 with a lifetime warranty on the new blower.
HOWTO: Change your blower motor in a '93 Explorer
The blower motor is located at the top of the firewall on the passenger side.
1) Diagnose
First, take the connector apart going to the blower and test if it has voltage with the fan on inside the vehicle. If it does not, chances are the problem is elsewhere. If you don't have the ability to do that, connect 12 volts to the blower and see if it blows.
2) Clear the path
Take your air filter's housing off. First, remove the hose clamp between your filter housing and the intake hose. Careful not to dirty up your air filter. Take off the 2 retaining screws around the housing at the front. Next, there are 2 lines in the top back of the filter going to a sensor of sorts (sorry, unsure what it is). Take the one on the left off, the one on the right should be long enough to not have to worry about.
Next take off the top of your air intake and lay it over on the engine. Take your air filter out and place it someplace safe. Next, there is a screw on the bottom right of the bottom of the housing. Remove this screw then tilt the bottom of the housing to the right (clockwise). On the left side should be 2 cones stocking out of the housing to make a good connection to the bottom plate of the intake housing. Once they are free, remove the rectangular hose from the inside of the intake. It may take some squeezing, but the hose is bendable. With the tabs bent in, free the lower half of the intake housing. This should give you all of the room you need to work with.
One last note, I tried very hard not to do this and it was impossible for me in any way to get the blower motor out without damaging it without removing this. It also makes it much easier to get the screws out in the mean time.
3) Remove the old blower
There are only 3 screws holding the old blower in. The top one is quite simple to take out. The one on the left is more difficult to remove, and the one on the bottom right gave me the most trouble by far. I got a socket to the bottom right and just slowly but surely turned about 1/8th turn (1-2 clicks on my ratchet) until it finally was out enough to finish by hand. Keep in mind that I did not have the intake removed, however. I used an adjustable wrench on the second one which worked fine. Had I had a wrench of the appropriate size, I'm sure it would have been much easier all around.
Once all of the screws are removed, be sure to disconnect the wiring harness. Also, on the bottom right, there is a tube going into the blower motor. Be gentle with this as it will need to be reused, but the OEM hose has a rubber part that wraps around the entire back of the blower to keep it securely in the blower. This is an important part for 2 reasons. First, it cools your blower motor to keep it from frying on a hot day, then it also keeps outside air out. Take the band off of the back of the blower motor then remove the hose from the blower. This can be done by pinching, it's pretty easy to remove and reinstall. Once this is done, pull the blower motor out. Note that the fan blade on the inside can not be removed while inside the duct work, it must be done when the blower is free from the car. You'll understand why soon (I was very tempted to try this when I realized I would have to disassemble the air intake).
4) Recover your fan blade
Once you've got the sucker out of there, you're gonna want to recover the fan blade that's on it. The blade is sold separately from the blower motor and costs ~$15 or so, so be careful with it. When you look in the blade, there will be a post sticking up through the middle with a clip around it. I pried this off with some pliers and ended up breaking it in the process. Mine was very difficult to remove, but your mileage may vary. I would suggest spraying some PB blaster or WD40 on it if you have any and taking a little break while it soaks. I opted for putting the thing back together without a clip, I'll try and remember to update this post down the road to see if that was a bad idea or not.
Once you get the clip off, you're going to have to remove the blade itself from the motor. This for me was a very messy job so be prepared. What I ended up doing was putting my feet on the edges of the motor housing, then pulled with both hands at once on both sides. Once I gave a tug, I'd rotate. If you have an extra set of hands it may help for this. It came very very slowly (I doubted many times it was coming at all), but eventually did come free. Just remember that it is not cheap to replace so don't rip it apart with too much force. The OEM plastic blade seems quite durable, however.
With the blade off, remember to get the hose out of the vehicle which connects to the motor (the one with the band that goes around the motor). It should come right out with a little pull.
5) Putting the old components on the new motor
Once you have the short hose and the blade, the next part is pretty straight forward. Put the hose in the hole on the blower motor and wrap the band around the motor housing. Next, put the blower motor blade on. Just line up the flat part of the shaft with the flat part of the hole and push it on. Mine fit pretty snug fortunately.
6) Test the new motor
Of course this is optional, but I opted to test the new blower at this point. I wanted to both verify that my diagnosis was accurate and that the new blower was not defective. The last thing you'd want to do is put it all back together just to find that it doesn't work.
Have a partner turn the key in the on position while you hold the blower motor by the back housing. Have your partner turn the fan on inside the car and verify that it works at the different speeds. Remember to hold on tight as it can spin quite fast at the highest setting. I don't recommend doing this alone as it may cause the fan to tip over and cause damage.
7) Putting it all back together
Assembly is the same as disassembly for the most part but I will go over a couple of important parts. The bottom right screw I opted to put in first as it was the most difficult taking out. It was, again, the most difficult putting in. The problem I had was I kept dropping the screw and getting it stuck. I resorted to putting the screw through the sticky side of some duct tape and taping it to my socket. This worked wonderfully, I might add. This may not have been such a problem if I had a little better tools, or if I didn't have such fat hands. Also remember to connect the new blower if you haven't already.
Second part to remember is to make sure you remember to put your air filter back in. Also remember to reconnect the cable to the top of the intake housing.
That should be it. Please let me know if you have followed this guide, and/or if you have any suggestions for improvement on this guide based on your experience.
Alright, I just had a go around with my blower motor. I'm much less experienced with this sort of thing than most so maybe a lot of what I am saying here seems obvious to the veterans among us.
While it is fresh in my mind, I'd really like to post a quick tutorial on how to handle this when it happens to you.
Scenario, you're going down the road and all of a sudden your A/C or heater stops blowing any air at all. Place your hand on the vent, and it feels hot/cold but there is no air being forced out of the vents. The same thing happens on the heater and the AC, this must mean you are having blower motor problems.
With a blower motor, it is my understanding that there are really only about 3 things that can cause it to go bad. The first thing to cause a blower to blow no more would be the relay/fuse. Cheap and quick, you'll be having a good day if it's simply a relay. The next thing to check would be the blower resistors. These go out fairly commonly and usually it results in the blower only working on the high position. To change that has been covered elsewhere and is beyond the scope of this tutorial. The final problem is the blower motor itself.
It's quite easy to diagnose if your blower motor works or not. All you have to do is put 12 volts to the connections. If the motor blows fine, the motor is presumably fine. If it does not, however, as far as I know replacing the blower motor is the only way to fix this. The other way to do this if you do not have a good way to directly connect the blower motor is to use a digital multimeter or voltmeter. Check the wires going to the blower with the fan on and see if you're getting a full 12 volts.
The good news is, it's not that bad especially when you know what to expect. It is also cheaper than one might think. I believe my repair cost me $42.00 with a lifetime warranty on the new blower.
HOWTO: Change your blower motor in a '93 Explorer
The blower motor is located at the top of the firewall on the passenger side.
1) Diagnose
First, take the connector apart going to the blower and test if it has voltage with the fan on inside the vehicle. If it does not, chances are the problem is elsewhere. If you don't have the ability to do that, connect 12 volts to the blower and see if it blows.
2) Clear the path
Take your air filter's housing off. First, remove the hose clamp between your filter housing and the intake hose. Careful not to dirty up your air filter. Take off the 2 retaining screws around the housing at the front. Next, there are 2 lines in the top back of the filter going to a sensor of sorts (sorry, unsure what it is). Take the one on the left off, the one on the right should be long enough to not have to worry about.
Next take off the top of your air intake and lay it over on the engine. Take your air filter out and place it someplace safe. Next, there is a screw on the bottom right of the bottom of the housing. Remove this screw then tilt the bottom of the housing to the right (clockwise). On the left side should be 2 cones stocking out of the housing to make a good connection to the bottom plate of the intake housing. Once they are free, remove the rectangular hose from the inside of the intake. It may take some squeezing, but the hose is bendable. With the tabs bent in, free the lower half of the intake housing. This should give you all of the room you need to work with.
One last note, I tried very hard not to do this and it was impossible for me in any way to get the blower motor out without damaging it without removing this. It also makes it much easier to get the screws out in the mean time.
3) Remove the old blower
There are only 3 screws holding the old blower in. The top one is quite simple to take out. The one on the left is more difficult to remove, and the one on the bottom right gave me the most trouble by far. I got a socket to the bottom right and just slowly but surely turned about 1/8th turn (1-2 clicks on my ratchet) until it finally was out enough to finish by hand. Keep in mind that I did not have the intake removed, however. I used an adjustable wrench on the second one which worked fine. Had I had a wrench of the appropriate size, I'm sure it would have been much easier all around.
Once all of the screws are removed, be sure to disconnect the wiring harness. Also, on the bottom right, there is a tube going into the blower motor. Be gentle with this as it will need to be reused, but the OEM hose has a rubber part that wraps around the entire back of the blower to keep it securely in the blower. This is an important part for 2 reasons. First, it cools your blower motor to keep it from frying on a hot day, then it also keeps outside air out. Take the band off of the back of the blower motor then remove the hose from the blower. This can be done by pinching, it's pretty easy to remove and reinstall. Once this is done, pull the blower motor out. Note that the fan blade on the inside can not be removed while inside the duct work, it must be done when the blower is free from the car. You'll understand why soon (I was very tempted to try this when I realized I would have to disassemble the air intake).
4) Recover your fan blade
Once you've got the sucker out of there, you're gonna want to recover the fan blade that's on it. The blade is sold separately from the blower motor and costs ~$15 or so, so be careful with it. When you look in the blade, there will be a post sticking up through the middle with a clip around it. I pried this off with some pliers and ended up breaking it in the process. Mine was very difficult to remove, but your mileage may vary. I would suggest spraying some PB blaster or WD40 on it if you have any and taking a little break while it soaks. I opted for putting the thing back together without a clip, I'll try and remember to update this post down the road to see if that was a bad idea or not.
Once you get the clip off, you're going to have to remove the blade itself from the motor. This for me was a very messy job so be prepared. What I ended up doing was putting my feet on the edges of the motor housing, then pulled with both hands at once on both sides. Once I gave a tug, I'd rotate. If you have an extra set of hands it may help for this. It came very very slowly (I doubted many times it was coming at all), but eventually did come free. Just remember that it is not cheap to replace so don't rip it apart with too much force. The OEM plastic blade seems quite durable, however.
With the blade off, remember to get the hose out of the vehicle which connects to the motor (the one with the band that goes around the motor). It should come right out with a little pull.
5) Putting the old components on the new motor
Once you have the short hose and the blade, the next part is pretty straight forward. Put the hose in the hole on the blower motor and wrap the band around the motor housing. Next, put the blower motor blade on. Just line up the flat part of the shaft with the flat part of the hole and push it on. Mine fit pretty snug fortunately.
6) Test the new motor
Of course this is optional, but I opted to test the new blower at this point. I wanted to both verify that my diagnosis was accurate and that the new blower was not defective. The last thing you'd want to do is put it all back together just to find that it doesn't work.
Have a partner turn the key in the on position while you hold the blower motor by the back housing. Have your partner turn the fan on inside the car and verify that it works at the different speeds. Remember to hold on tight as it can spin quite fast at the highest setting. I don't recommend doing this alone as it may cause the fan to tip over and cause damage.
7) Putting it all back together
Assembly is the same as disassembly for the most part but I will go over a couple of important parts. The bottom right screw I opted to put in first as it was the most difficult taking out. It was, again, the most difficult putting in. The problem I had was I kept dropping the screw and getting it stuck. I resorted to putting the screw through the sticky side of some duct tape and taping it to my socket. This worked wonderfully, I might add. This may not have been such a problem if I had a little better tools, or if I didn't have such fat hands. Also remember to connect the new blower if you haven't already.
Second part to remember is to make sure you remember to put your air filter back in. Also remember to reconnect the cable to the top of the intake housing.
That should be it. Please let me know if you have followed this guide, and/or if you have any suggestions for improvement on this guide based on your experience.
