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SAAB 9-5 How To: Heater blower motor replacement.

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:31 pm
by johno
Ah well, its that time of year when the 9-5's heater blower motor gets well used & abused............& usually fails! :lol:
Worn brushes being the norm & as Saab wont sell the brushes as a seperate item (you have to replace the whole motor) heres a "How To" DIY guide to motor replacement with pics to save a few quid!
My 9-5 is on its third blower motor & as a few members are reporting problems with theirs in the workshop forum, & we have had loads of newbies join of late I thought this might be a good idea.

Step 1, Buying a blower motor, well its your choice, Saab main dealer, Ebay, UKSaabs, local scrap yard take your pick. But remember the UKS traiders, "'Removed as per users' GDPR request" was doing these at a great price, brand new to, so if your looking at keeping your 9-5 for a while than this would be a good plan.
Step 2, the first job is to remove the wiper arms, these can be a bu99er to shift & this is the worst part of the job. A good soaking with WD40 the day before a a set of pullers is all thats needed, you can try to lever them off but watch out for slips & screen damage!
Step 3, once the bloomin wiper arms are off remove the rubber seal & the plastic pannel below the screen, this is clipped on to the windscreen at the bottom so be careful, the clips do break!
Step 4, now its time to remove all of the wiper motor arms & brackets, not as bigger job as you might think, undo the wiring block to the motor, remove the bolts & the whole lot lifts off in one lump Then you need to remove the centre wiper arm bracket, three torx screws & it should drop off.
Step 5, now you can see the heater box top & you need to remove the top cover & the square retaining thingy which is held inplace by more torx screws, unplug & move the wiring to the heater motor fan & it should all lift off.
Step 6, now you can see the heater blower motor, dont try to just lift it out, there isnt enough room, you need to pull the false bulkhead pannel towards the front of the car. I used a ratchet strap for this but a piece of wood or a helpful assistant with big arms will do..............Wont it Macca! Tee hee! :lol:
Step 7, now its just a case of lifting out the old motor & replace with the new, just sit it in the guides & connect the electric plug & give it a test before putting it all back together again.........Just incase!
Step 8, so long as the new motor works, which it should, then you can put it all back together & look forward to nice warm toes!

So here's the pics in order of removal if Ive done it right, & remember..............A warm Saab'er is a happy Saab'er! Hope this helps guys. :D

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Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:06 pm
by ianrobbo
Johno,

Excellent write up buddy, the wife's 9-5 blower motor is distinctly intermittent at the moment, I had visions of me grubbing around in the footwells in the dark, it's heartening to know that the blower's accessible from under the bonnet.

Top class!

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:34 pm
by johno
Intermittent blower is a good sign the motor brushes are on the way out. Its a shame you cant just buy the brushes :evil:
Its not to bad a DIY job this, a couple of hours should do it. :D

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 12:08 pm
by SPG66
Thats a very useful write up worthy of a sticky. Being as tight as a Gnats chuff I replaced the brushes in mine. Took a bit of hunting around to find suitable brushes, finally got some from a place that repairs power tools, even then I had to file them down to size. They are soldered in but were simple to remove and replace.

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 6:11 pm
by ianrobbo
SPG66 wrote: finally got some from a place that repairs power tools, even then I had to file them down to size. They are soldered in but were simple to remove and replace.


Any clues? Part number or anything like that?

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 8:59 pm
by GRENDAL
johno wrote:Step 6, now you can see the heater blower motor, dont try to just lift it out, there isnt enough room, you need to pull the false bulkhead pannel towards the front of the car. I used a ratchet strap for this but a piece of wood or a helpful assistant with big arms will do..............Wont it Macca! Tee hee! :lol:


Ah, yes, deffo need an assistant. Sadly when i did mine last month, at 8am on a rainy sunday morning with a hangover, I managed to get the motor out very easily (aint it always the way) and fitted the replacement (salvaged) after a bit of a squeeze.

However on testing, the fan was catching on something when turned on to the highest setting.

After another hour of squeezing the bloody thing out and back in again - three times, I finally noticed I'd cracked the fan during my first attempt.

Bearing in mind the mood i was now in (dehydrated and pee'd off), I put everything back together again.

My only consilation is that providing i turn down the fan by 1 setting, it does not catch on the fan cover.

I can live wih that - well I aint going through all that again :wall:

So yeah! Get some bugger to lend a hand.

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 9:11 pm
by johno
GRENDAL wrote:After another hour of squeezing the chubby thing out and back in again - three times, I finally noticed I'd cracked the fan during my first attempt.


:wink: Trial & error Wayne! I did the same the first time I chaged the motor :D

It is a very tight Squeeze in there & the ratchet strap came in very handy this time.

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Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 9:15 pm
by GRENDAL
I picked up another motor last tuesday for £20, so should the next one go (and lets face it - it will) I'll be better prepaired for next time.

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 9:20 pm
by johno
GRENDAL wrote:I picked up another motor last tuesday for £20, so should the next one go (and lets face it - it will) I'll be better prepaired for next time.

Always good to keep a spare matey, Ive kept my last two motors to see if I can get, or use some other brushes. :D

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 10:06 am
by SPG66
ianrobbo wrote:
SPG66 wrote: finally got some from a place that repairs power tools, even then I had to file them down to size. They are soldered in but were simple to remove and replace.


Any clues? Part number or anything like that?


Sorry ,no. Just handed him the one I removed and he handed me the closest he had. :roll:

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 10:45 am
by Zaphod
I think this write up should be a sticky, go into the knowledge base, or, a web-page of its own.

Very, very well played.

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 11:26 am
by mooky
Just done a bit of googling - http://www.carbonbrush.co.uk/ seem as though they might be of some use.

I'll be changing my fan at the weekend as it has been playing up. Your excellent guide will be of great assistance Johno :D

I think I might try and source some brushes for the 'spare' motor. If I have any success I'll post it up here.

Cheers

Mark

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 11:31 am
by johno
Zaphod wrote:I think this write up should be a sticky, go into the knowledge base, or, a web-page of its own.

Very, very well played.


Hmm, good idea Chris, Ive no idea how that's done :lol:
Perhaps one of our very handsome Mod's could kick in at this point :D

I was thinking of designing a Web page to list all my mod's & "how to" guides on the 9-5, but A, its been done, mainly by our American cousins! & B,................Ive no idea how! :lol:

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 11:41 am
by johno
mooky wrote:I'll be changing my fan at the weekend as it has been playing up. Your excellent guide will be of great assistance Johno :D
I think I might try and source some brushes for the 'spare' motor. If I have any success I'll post it up here.
Cheers
Mark


I have got a few sets of new Washing machine motor brushes here I bought ages ago but never used, I was intending to have a go at replacing the brushes in my old faild blower motors with these, with a bit of a trim & file it might just work.
If so getting hold of these will be no problem for me (one of my main clients deals with scrap washing machines & I could get hold of bags of brushes) so I'll see how it goes & post up the results up here.................When I get time! :lol:
Good luck Mark, Hope it goes to plan mate.

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 12:20 pm
by mooky
johno wrote:Good luck Mark, Hope it goes to plan mate.


Thank you - I'll be letting you all know! :D

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 12:49 pm
by Zaphod
johno wrote:
Zaphod wrote:I think this write up should be a sticky, go into the knowledge base, or, a web-page of its own.

Very, very well played.


Hmm, good idea Chris, Ive no idea how that's done :lol:
Perhaps one of our very handsome Mod's could kick in at this point :D

I was thinking of designing a Web page to list all my mod's & "how to" guides on the 9-5, but A, its been done, mainly by our American cousins! & B,................Ive no idea how! :lol:


I'd be only too glad to help, if you want to go down this route.

Re: "How to" 9-5 heater blower motor replacement.....With pics.

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:11 pm
by johno
Cheers Chris, need to sort out all my images into one account & draft a couple more write ups & I'll be in touch.
Thanks matey. :D

Re: SAAB 9-5 How To: Heater blower motor replacement.

Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 4:55 pm
by mooky
Thanks to Johno for the pictures and write up on the fan change. I can't think how I would have managed without the ratchet strap tip.

As it was I had i all back together about an hour and a half after I started.

The wipers were nearly a problem as my puller is too big to fit in, however a kettle of boiling water later and they were off easily enough.

Looking at the old motor, the commutator is well worn and it probably isn't worth rebrushing.

Cheers

Mark

Re: SAAB 9-5 How To: Heater blower motor replacement.

Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 7:41 pm
by johno
mooky wrote:Thanks to Johno for the pictures and write up on the fan change. I can't think how I would have managed without the ratchet strap tip.


Glad to hear it all went well Mark, the ratchet strap does come in handy doesnt it. :wink:

Re: SAAB 9-5 How To: Heater blower motor replacement.

Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 5:00 pm
by CHRISE900T
Noticed this thread recently and wondered if the 95 in question has ACC (i seemed to think they all are but could be wrong), anyway seems as though this is what could be wrong with mine although I have a 97 ng900 with ACC. So what I was wondering was, is the motor removal on the 900 going to be similar to your guide for the 95. Seems I've been looking in the wrong area and concentrating on the cabin temp sensor but watching how my fans have been acting lately, very intermittently more often nothing but sometimes very slowly even though the fan speed should have been half way up the scale, maybe bushes seem more likely.My heated seats toasty as they are (does feel like you've wet yourself sometimes tho :oops:) just aren't enough in this cold snap, thanks in anticipation brrrrr.........