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Benino · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2004 3:44 pm Post subject: heater fan

my heater fan is driving me crazy. It spins slowly the whole time I'm driving and it has developed a squeek which is annoying. It also makes strange sqeeking noises when it's on at normal spinning speeds. Is the heater fan hard to get out? from where do you get to it? what's the procedure? heeelp. It's driving me nuts.

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1980 Porsche 924 N/A USA
1980 Porsche 924 turbo USA
1987 Porsche 944S USA

Smoothie · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2004 11:21 pm Post subject:

Hey! You're in San Diego! If you need heat, open the window!
Oh...Sorry - that probably didn't help. Here's another post that shows I have a history of being unable to help with this particular problem: http://www.924board.org/viewtopic.php?t=9440

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"..it's made in Germany. You know the Germans always make good stuff."

'82 924T, US version, dark green metallic, 5 speed Audi 016G gearbox

Lizard · Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2004 12:08 am Post subject:

the heater fan gets junk in its bearings that cause the squeel, to remove the fan however you have to pull the dash and the heater box, before doing this I would recommend, taking something like WD40 and spraying the bearings off then shooting in a poly grease, while the fan is running this will cure the problem.(make sure the poly grease is no conductive)
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3 928s,

welder · Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 158 Location: cumberland,maine

Lizard is right, grease or oil that bad boy and that squeel will probably stop. Although if your fan turns constantly the fan switch is also probably bad . I too installed a 3 position fan switch and got rid of that old slider. If you want to remove the fan motor completely. remove the fan motor cover and unhook the electric wires. remove the fan housing screws. You can't actuallyremove the fan just yet as it's actually to tight. Inside the car unhook the 2 plastic tubes to the center heater vent (the double one) push it up and out (towards you) once it's out look into the dash and there will be a bar that actually holds up the entire heater box to the top of the dash , snap it down and the heater box will drop and now the fan motor can be pulled out from under the hood. Now I've just hit the highlights on these instructions, depending what modle you have it might be necessary to remove a few other things also; such as unhook the heater core hoses so the fan air box can drop down, or possibly removeyour center console just to give you more space to work. Try Lizards method first. my instructions are if all else fails and you decide that fan must definately come out go to my plan B. The addition of the 3 position fan switch has helped me greatly those old sliders fatigue over time. Good luck oh yeah if you have the chance vacume out that heater box cause you won't believe whats in there.
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I have a 78 n\a currently under restoration.

Richard · Joined: 04 Nov 2002 Posts: 617 Location: Pacific N.W.

When my fan did this I had a great plan but I ended up converting to a squirel cage blower in a highly modified 944 heater box. Here is the plan:
The fan motor is actually held in between a housing that comes apart when you split the heater box in two. Do this instead. Buy a new fan motor. Remove the protective rain cover and you will see the fan held in by four struts. With a fine toothed hacksaw blade, cut each strut in the middle and remove the fan. Replace the motor and then either epoxy/fiberglass the struts back togther, or better yet, make a removable fan by inventing a splice, say with a piece of aluminum tube and very small through bolts. I have removed the dash and heater box and let me tell you, it is no fun at all. If my idea fails, then you will have to buy a new heater box (cheap at junk yard) and remove your old one which doesn't put you too far behind. If it works, and I don't see how it can't (especially if you just epoxy it back togther) you buy me a beer.

Benino · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 6:52 am Post subject:

I haven't decided which to try. I've been super busy with work and stuff. if the WD40 and or grease idea doesn't work I might try the cut it up and paste it back together idea because I would rather not even have a fan than try to remove my dash. I'd be sure to break 10 other things trying to remove my dash. BTW, can the grease or wd40 be put in from near the window under the hood? I did try opening my window but only cold air and rain came in.

So much for sunny southern California. also. . . where can you get the replacement switch for the heater fan? is it sold online somewhere? thanks for the reply's already. I'll probably have time to take a look at it this weekend. I also just discovered that the bushings on my ctrl arms are cracking in half pretty bad. gotta do that too. IT's hard to keep up.
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1980 Porsche 924 N/A USA
1980 Porsche 924 turbo USA
1987 Porsche 944S USA

Lizard · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 7:08 am Post subject:

yes the WD40 and grease can be applied under the hood, just remove the little cover that covers the heater box, then set the fan controls to on and look under the hood to see the motor
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3 928s,

kye · Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2004 2:03 am Post subject:

my heater fan doesn't blow at all, but I see a voltage drop when turning it on with the slider control, so I presume the control is working fine.
I get fresh air coming through the correct vents when i'm cruising, so I also know the ducting is working ok too.
the first step i'm thinking of is to look at the fan and oil it's bearings. i've heard it squeek since I got the car, so I know it's been working recently, and could at least use some oil. i'd also like to verify that it is or isn't turning.

people have mentioned oiling it without taking the dash off (which i'd like to avoid at all costs!) but how do you get at it????
is it through the vent intake just below the windscreen under the hood?
that part of mine is siliconed to the chassis and doesn't look easily removable, so if there's another way, i'd like to know how.

all input greatly appreciated!

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it's funny, but when they said "Anything is Possible", that's exactly what they meant....

CMXXXI · Joined: 05 Nov 2002 Posts: 1939 Location: Vicksburg, MS

You can get at the top bearing/bushing of the fan blower motor just by removing the "R2D2" unit top, then moving the fan control slider bar to "full" (sliding the bar will raise the 'shield' covering the fan, beneath the screening). Problem is, that you can only lube that top bearing/bushing, but the bottom one is un-reachable. I've oiled and oiled and oiled. It'll stay un-squeaky for a couple of weeks, but then starts up again. Mine will actually freeze up if the car sits for more than a week and I don't turn the fan on (humid South).

If you see the volt gauge dip and the fan doesn't come on, you'll need to stick something down into the blades and spin the fan manually until it frees itself up. To get the screen guard off, there is a plastic "pin" or "button" directly at the front of the unit, and one toward the back on either side. Pry the pins out with a putty knife or screwdriver, and then wiggle the cage out. If the PO has cut/ruined the pins and used RTV/silicone to reattach the screening, you'll have to cut out the old sealant. It will "hang up" on a ridge at the rear, but will pop out when you jimmy it enough after removing the plastic pins.
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'79 Eurospec 931