I spent about 3hr./day replacing the heater fan motor in my 240
over the past three days. I won't go into the whole procedure, but
here are some tips for the uninitiated (I used the full procedure,
not the "chainsaw" method):
* the passenger ductwork comes off easily. Remove it and it will
make removing the fan cover on the passenger side much easier
* stuff a rag into the beginnings of the rear footwell ducts on both
sides before removing the clips holding the fans to the motor shafts.
Otherwise, the clip will fall in, and you'll have to wrestle the
ducts on and off under the carpet unless you want to remove the front
seats. (Don't ask how I know.)
* the vacuum hoses to the rear footwell damper flaps are too short
for easy reassembly. Replace them with longer ones. After
reassembling the fan housings, suck on them and make sure that the
flaps can move - it's easy to install the flaps so that they're
stuck.
* don't forget to install the temperature sensor for the heater valve
into the left fan housing!
* the little bulb holder in the hazard switch tends to pull out
easily, and then the switch doesn't blink with the hazard lights.
Beware.
* replace all of the little bulbs in the instrument panel and center
dash. They're easy to get to while everything's apart.
* Cut the ground wire to the old motor. Cut the connector off of the
new motor's ground wire. Solder the two together and insulate. The
ground screw for the fan motor is impossible to reach without even
more extensive disassembly.
* Connect the motor to a 12V source and check if it works *before*
installing it. You don't want to close things up and have to do
the job over again!
* Having the holes drilled in the motor housing for lubrication
makes installing the motor bolts slightly easier (a finger can be
inserted in the left hole to guide the rear bolt).
* Washing ~16 years of road dust out of the heater ducts is never
a bad idea.
Good luck (I only broke one thing - the cover plate for one of the
extra gauge spaces, and it's time for an oil pressure gauge anyway :)
-b.
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