Blower motor housing instal

[fgross2006]

I just replaced my blower motor with a replacement from LMR. I'm not impressed or happy with the result.

First, I immediately noticed a decrease in air flow when the AC is on high compared to the way the stock blower functioned. I did test it before installing making sure all the settings between low medium and high all responded to the switch. I also replaced the blower resister for good measure even though I had changed it maybe 4 years ago and it was still good.

I replaced the foam around the housing where it mounts to left side of the HVAC box where the evap core is. I seriously doubt air leakage internally although I didn't change the thicker foam at the top where it pulls air in but that shouldn't make a difference.

Also, another headache I got is from the plastic mounting tab on the lower left side that connects the blower box to the evap/heater core side. The plastic tab had broken off last time I had the blower out last year. I glued it with JB weld and I laid multiple layers of it to make it thick and strong. Despite my best efforts, the tab broke again wiggling the blower box into place.

So does anybody have any suggestions for repairing the broken tab and as for the function of the aftermarket blower, is this the best it gets with an aftermarket blower? I also noticed for the first time ever that when I set it to AC Max, which is where I always run it, the vacuum pulls the door open on the blower box and then I can see the blower wheel and its louder then the old one was. When I put it to AC Normal or any heater control the vacuum shuts of and the door closes. Is it supposed to do that? If the opening door is supposed to draw more air, I'm not feeling any difference in flow.

I'm gonna pull the blower again to try once more to fix the broken tab. I'll take pics and post.

[Bentley]

I watched a you tube video of using superglue and baking soda mix for a strong glue solution.
Another used baking soda/superglue/ and graphite scraped from pencil lead...
If I recall some used some webbing to strengthen the broken piece too....
Look em up on you tube...

[fgross2006]

I watched a you tube video of using superglue and baking soda mix for a strong glue solution.
Another used baking soda/superglue/ and graphite scraped from pencil lead...
If I recall some used some webbing to strengthen the broken piece too....
Look em up on you tube...

The JB Weld was pretty strong but I wiggled the blower case too much when I couldn't make the 8mm bolt that holds the blower case to the evaporator core part of the HVAC box. I took the box out and am re-gluing with JB weld.

There's is something not right about the functionality. I watched a few YouTube vids and verified the vacuum is supposed to open the air door when the AC is set to Max. Its old school recirculator. My issue is the air flow at max feels like low setting of the old motor. I don't think the new motor is the cause. I tested it with the box out and ran through all four settings of the fan speed and it responds to each setting change and on high it feels like plenty of air comes out of the blower box where it should be blowing into the Evap/Heater core section of the HVAC.

I think it wasn't seated correctly because the tab that broke wasn't even lining up with the stud. I did have the 8mm bolt seated and bolt that connected the bracket on upper right side to the blower motor box, but the broken bracket stub wasn't even close to the stud so I'm going to replace all the foam and very carefully re-seat this and hopefully I can get it to work.

[fgross2006]

Just updating this thread.

I pulled the blower box again, I re glued with JB Weld and I replaced the weather-stripping on both openings. Because the box was getting scratched up I painted with bumpercoat. I think it had an effect on the jb weld because the tab came off shortly after I installed and the weld felt soft.

Again, I have poor air flow. On high it feels like my old unit on low. I did install it in the correct position although the tab came apart after I installed it the thing is bullseye perfect. I started feeling around for air leaks and felt the flange has a bend and air was leaking out. Just to try a quick fix I put butyl around the edge and sealed up almost all of the leak. The air flow still is really bad. Totally unacceptable.

So a few thoughts. First, I noticed the original blower came with a seal glued to the flange.



Then I saw a picture on Walmart's website showing the blower they sell comes with a gasket. The LMR Four Seasons blower didn't come with a gasket.



Regardless of the poor seal, the amount of air I'm getting is not acceptable. I saw a thread on another forum where a guy had his wires crossed and it was blowing in reverse, but the thing come color coded with black and orange wires, it just cannot be that.

At any rate, I'm putting the old motor back in tomorrow. If it blows correct then I know this is a bad motor. The only reason I swapped it is because the bearing in it sometimes rattles. Other than that the air cranks. As for the still broken tab, I got an idea watching a youtube video of a guy removing a blower from a 79. Apparently the 79 had a steel tab riveted to the blower case. I'm going to JB weld again but just as an outline to follow. Then I'm going to fashion sheet metal around the tab and hold it into the blower box with pop rivets. Couldn't be any worse than it is.

[fgross2006]

Such a big project but I'm glad its almost done. I ended up removing the Four Seasons motor and putting the original back in. After complaining to LMR they refunded me for the blower motor and resistor and told me to keep the parts. I learned that aftermarket blower motors are crap. I also learned that they are wired backwards. I bench tested both motors side by side and the original rotates counter clockwise, the aftermarket motor runs clockwise. Thats matching orange wire to orange and black to black. When I flipped the wires the motor began running counterclockwise, but the original is so much quieter and smoother I saw no reason to keep the thing considering it has a bent flange and no seal.

As for the broken tab, I fixed it permanent. I wanted to upload pics maybe it will help others with the same situation. But the website keeps telling me upload failed. I cleared out half of my old stored photos so I have no idea why I cant upload pics.

First I re glued the broken tab back on with JB weld, understanding that this is to create a profile only. Then I cut two pieces of sheet metal and sandwiched the bracket, gluing them to the bracket and holding with vice grips until the glue hardened. Then I drilled small holes and placed pop rivets to pull the sheet metal tight and also bracketed it to the case. It's never coming off again.

If the admins can correct my inability to upload, I'll post pics.

[85GTGuy]

I wanted to upload pics maybe it will help others with the same situation. But the website keeps telling me upload failed. I cleared out half of my old stored photos so I have no idea why I cant upload pics.

See if post #7 in the thread below is any help...

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...43#post1952043

[Bentley]

See if post #7 in the thread below is any help...

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...43#post1952043

Dayum, I am famous...

[fgross2006]

So I got around to resizing my photos and I wanted to post so others might benefit from fixing this broken mounting tab on the blower motor housing.

This is the tab broken off again after trying to use JB Weld to fix it.



This is the crap four seasons blower that LMR sent me. Bent flange and no gasket to seal it to the housing.



This is my first patch. First I re-glued with JB Weld to create the profile, then I cut and bent sheet metal to fit right over the outside part. I used JB weld to glue the patch to the tab.



Next I held it together with vice grips to let it dry in place, then I drilled small holes and placed pop rivets to make the fix permanent. I also traced the location of the mounting oval with a sharpie, then I drilled 3 small holes and a Dremel to trim it to the edges of the plastic tab's mounting hole.



Then I cut, bent and placed another patch to the back side using the same procedure as the first one. My original plan was to make it all one piece but it was impossible to get perfect bends without an edge break that contractors use. It may be possible to do it tat way and would probably work even better than my fix.

[fgross2006]

I smeared JB Weld around the edges and under the lip all around to make it a permanent fix.



I painted the whole box flat black. Looks glossy in the pic because the paint is wet.



The pop rivets are small and do not interfere with the function of the blower wheel.



Once installed, it fix nicely. I still had to wiggle and play to get it to go in the right spot, but now there's no way that tab is ever gonna break again unless it pulls a chuck out of the housing.



Just to recap, I bench tested the original blower motor side by side with the four seasons aftermarket blower. The original blower rotates counter clockwise and the aftermarket motor clockwise. Nothing in the documentation on LMR's website or on any vendors websites offering this motor mentions rotation direction. If I didn't take the time to test them side by side, or if my original motor were completely dead I would not have been able to test that out.

Reversing the wires does make the motor spin the opposite way so if this happens to you, try reversing the wires from black/black and orange/orange to black to orange. Also, I saw an ad for this on Walmart's website that pictured a gasket with the blower. It does need a gasket. These blowers create a lot of air and if there's an air leak you will lose a lot internally. The original has a foam gasket glued to it. If you buy a blower and there's no gasket I highly advise getting some thin foam weather-stripping and cut around with a razor to make a seal.

Notice the pic of the LMR purchased motor that had a big bend in the flange. That's unacceptable, check yours for flatness. Also, comparatively, the original runs much quieter to the four seasons motor. My only reason for wanting to change it out was that I thought I was hearing the bearings rattle every once ina while. I doubt it helped, but while I bench tested it, I sprayed the spindle with WD-40 and PB Blaster and let it run. My motor is very smooth and quiet so I'm keeping it until it totally fails. When it does I'll look for NOS or try alternate brands because the four seasons is complete junk.

[Bentley]

I did not like the replacement motors either, so I took mine to an electric motor shop and they looked at it and said it was fine and it would go another 30 years.... LOL .... I cleaned it up, painted it and it looked pretty good... I will look for some pics if I still have them...

[85GTGuy]

May be a little late now, since it looks like it's all put back together, but that blend door seal look a little ragged. Fyi, it is available as part of an HVAC Box Seal Kit.

https://lmr.com/item/LRS-19555BK/mus...seal-kit-83-93

[fgross2006]

May be a little late now, since it looks like it's all put back together, but that blend door seal look a little ragged. Fyi, it is available as part of an HVAC Box Seal Kit.

https://lmr.com/item/LRS-19555BK/mus...seal-kit-83-93

I contemplated replacing the foam with a sheet I would have cut to size, but the door closes and seals well and the disassembly didn't look like something I'd want to do unless absolutely needed.

But thanks for the link. That D shaped foam would have come in handy, but again, I cut up weather striping and made my own.