The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Squeaky Heater

My old heater fan blower motor froze up the other day after a week of making some rather annoying squeaky and general rough noises. I took the motor off of my parts truck and dropped some oil down the axle shaft and lined the top of the fan blade with some white synthetic grease before installing it back in. My problem is now that it makes a squeaking noise for the first minute or so when it is turned on and usually goes away after awhile of running. Even after the motor has been on for awhile and I flip it off then back on, it often squeeks again. It doesn't seem as though the noise is coming from the where the fan nearly touches the case but rather from inside the motor itself, I may be wrong of course. Does anyone have any tips on how to fix this problems suchs as how to oil the motor properly or is this just a sign that this motor is planning to die as well? Thanks for all your input.

it sounds like the bushings are a bit dry. You may need to take the motor apart to properly lube it.

I would say bearings, too. But most likely, they are sealed, and cannot be lubed. You may be looking at replacemnt of the bearings.

Ya,
those motors have ball bearings and when it stops its time to buy a new motor.Kragen has the for $30 bucks i think it is a four seasons motor.I have tried to lube them and never works.I wish it would work because i have about 8 of them that froze up.


Cliff

Alright. To get to the motor I need to drill out some rivets but that is okay I guess. It's not that big of a deal I guess, I'll just run it until it dies and drop $30 or more into a new one. Hopefully it will last for the rest of winter. Just curious, why does the Thrift air and Deluxe Heater use two different types of fuses? The Thrift uses 10 Amp while the Deluxe uses 15 Amp. The blower motors are the exact same, the only difference is that the controls are different and the core is larger for the Deluxe. The only thing that I can think of is that the switches are different in that the Deluxe allows the fan to spin faster than the Thrift air. My truck is Deluxe while the motor is from a truck with Thrift air.

don't underestimate taking it apart and cleaning it. the one i had on a 66 froze up. after i took it apart and cleaned and lubed it, no more problems. i think i hooked it up on a bench to a battery and lubed it as it ran. i have had both the thrift and deluxe heaters. i doubt the thrift spins slower since it's the same motor- right? it's kind of neat how the speeds work. a "thermal deal"- can't think of the name under the glove box cuts down power to motor. i have actually bypassed this before when it has went out and just had a one speed fan- high.

Don't get me wrong, I do plan to take it apart and clean/grease it.

Thanks, Derry

well you have it apart,check the brushes@clean up the commontater.it's just old dryied up grease a dirt.check the fan blade for cracks also.NAPA auto parts can get ya a new blower motor if need be

if you get it apart to clean it, heat the bearings slowly with a heat gun, then dip in gear oil. That will suck oil past the seal and re-hydrate the grease. I do this all the time with belt idlers, about once every 60,000 miles.

I've pulled the motor, drop a bit of gun oil on the shaft by the squirrl cage,drill a very small hole on the other end and oil that.put a small dab of silicone on the hole you drilled and it should be good to go. Tom

Thanks for all the great advice! I think I'll have at it this weekend and see what I can do.