Blower Motor Lubrication?

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threewood

threewood

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Sorry, it isn't in an A body. 62 Belvedere. The blower motor works good but randomly squeeks and squalls and is getting pretty annoying. Pretty sure it needs to be lubed but I haven't yanked it out to see yet. Are these motors rebuildable? What lube on the bearings? Is there a standard replacement motor that will work?

Thanks!
 
At 53 years old, the oil/grease has all dried out. Our '62 Dart does the same, and I am due to pull it to lube it. The sooner it is done, the better. Use a light grease, not a lithium grease, and not WD40 or Marvel Mystery; they are hard on the winding insulation. Clean out the old grease/oil with straight alcohol. Getting any grease into the bearings is the trick; it might require disssembly, but doing that is something I don't yet know about. If light grease cannot be put in, then a 20W or 30W, non-detergent motor oil is my next choice.
 
I got chastised for mentioning it, but you can lube them two ways.

1. you can take it all apart and lube the front and rear bushings (which is how I did mine)
2. you can shoot a little light oil on the bushing where the shaft comes out of it and drill a real small hole in that hump in the back center of the motor and get a drop or two in the rear bushing. (if you are not comfortable taking it all apart.)

I got chastised for suggesting the hole behind the rear bushing and "ruining" a factory blower motor. :D
It gives lube access to the rear bushing without even taking the motor out of the car and can be plugged afterwards with a small drop of RTV to keep dust out.
Some one was being a little more anal about it than I would.

It's usually the front bushing that makes all the noise though and a small shot of light oil did it going on almost three years now.

Never seen any info on rebuilding them, but there are new replacements somewhere since I recently saw a brand new one for sale on here.
 
TrailBeast said:
you can shoot a little light oil on the bushing where the shaft comes out of it and drill a real small hole in that hump in the back center of the motor and get a drop or two in the rear bushing. (if you are not comfortable taking it all apart.)
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I would do. Before you remove the motor, observe orientation. You can drill a hole on the "fender side" about 9 o'clock and no one will ever be the wiser. Try not to drill clear through, just "dimple". Then punch the rest of way with a sharp awl.

I used to lube HVAC blowers many of which are not supposed to be "lubable" this way, for years.
 
TrailBeast said:
I got chastised for mentioning it, but you can lube them two ways.


2. you can shoot a little light oil on the bushing where the shaft comes out of it and drill a real small hole in that hump in the back center of the motor and get a drop or two in the rear bushing. (if you are not comfortable taking it all apart.)



That's a old used car trick we used to use at the dealership. A small squirt of oil through a small hole in the end can give you a quiet motor for years. tmm
Click to expand...
 
TrailBeast said:
I got chastised for mentioning it, but you can lube them two ways.

1. you can take it all apart and lube the front and rear bushings (which is how I did mine)
2. you can shoot a little light oil on the bushing where the shaft comes out of it and drill a real small hole in that hump in the back center of the motor and get a drop or two in the rear bushing. (if you are not comfortable taking it all apart.)

I got chastised for suggesting the hole behind the rear bushing and "ruining" a factory blower motor. :D
It gives lube access to the rear bushing without even taking the motor out of the car and can be plugged afterwards with a small drop of RTV to keep dust out.
Some one was being a little more anal about it than I would.

It's usually the front bushing that makes all the noise though and a small shot of light oil did it going on almost three years now.

Never seen any info on rebuilding them, but there are new replacements somewhere since I recently saw a brand new one for sale on here.
Click to expand...

Exactly
WD doesn't seem to last very long tho. Seems that stuff is more solvent than oil. I've taken several apart for proper lubing and the aerosol oil that I had previously flooded it with, trying to reach the front bearing, doesn't seem to harm them. I reset the endplay while they're out cuz it's a theory of mine that the excessive endplay that they develop somehow contributes to the squealing.
 
WD is the absolute worst for drill bits too! It will dull the bit. Water makes the cut fast and smooth....
 
FWIW, the early B Body motors are all inside the passenger compartment. Avoiding WD40 and MM Oil and the like avoids solvents, which can attack the winding insulation.

That is a good trick with the drill in the end 'dimple'; thanks!
 
AJ/FormS said:
Exactly
WD doesn't seem to last very long tho. Seems that stuff is more solvent than oil. I've taken several apart for proper lubing and the aerosol oils doesn't seem to harm them. I reset the endplay while they're out cuz it's a theory of mine that the excessive endplay that they develop somehow contributes to the squealing.
Click to expand...

I would use something like about 2-3 drops of 3 in1 or even regular engine oil before I'd trust WD to last very long.
You are right about it evaporating, and I have combined them before to thin oil so it soaks in nice and deep.
Then when the WD evaporates it leaves the oil where it got carried in.

(wouldn't do that with an electric motor though) :D since it wouldn't be necessary and the stuff would go everywhere inside it.
 
Funny thing about this thread, i just took apart the blower motor for my 67 barracuda for restoration. Leece Neville type. These use oilite bronse bushings. A couple drops of 30 weight motor oil works just fine for this.

If dissassembling to clean up i recommend turning the armature brush contact surface to remove grooving, and carefully file the carbon brushes with 600 grit to smooth them.

I cleaned my armature by putting thin tape on the shaft to protect it, and installing it in a drill chuck, and putting the drill in my vise. While spinning the armature use a flat popsicle stick with 600 grit sandpaper to smooth out the brush contacts.

The small drill hole on the endcap is a great idea for non restored drivers.

Matt
 
moparmat2000 said:
Funny thing about this thread, i just took apart the blower motor for my 67 barracuda for restoration. Leece Neville type. These use oilite bronse bushings. A couple drops of 30 weight motor oil works just fine for this.

If dissassembling to clean up i recommend turning the armature brush contact surface to remove grooving, and carefully file the carbon brushes with 600 grit to smooth them.

I cleaned my armature by putting thin tape on the shaft to protect it, and installing it in a drill chuck, and putting the drill in my vise. While spinning the armature use a flat popsicle stick with 600 grit sandpaper to smooth out the brush contacts.

The small drill hole on the endcap is a great idea for non restored drivers.

Matt
Click to expand...

Ingenuity at it's finest! Good job!
 
Forgot about this thread:) Thanks for the suggestions, I am going to pull the motor in a bit and take a look. As for Wd40, it is a terrible lubricant. WD = water displacement and nothing more. When it dries it will gum up. Seen plenty of firearms actions slow and sticky from using it. I'll update in a bit.
 
Ok, pulled it apart cleaned and oiled. Drilled the hole in the nub just because service will be easier next time. Added a .010" shim to the stack to bring endplay down to .005". I looked through my shelf of petroleum products and decided to use 75w synthetic rear end oil. Lots of cussing getting it apart and a 15 minute search for a clip that I heard hit the floor. Just swept it too and the thing ran off under the bench.

Got it put back in and no more squeeking or squalling. But it does have a light baseball card in the spokes sound. This was before I installed it so it isn't hitting anything in the heater box. Fan spins smooth and free. Could it be the brushes bedding back in, as I did clean them up with some sandpaper?
 
And both top and bottom utilize spherical bronze bushings captured in the housing.
 

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Damn, thats a serious blower motor. They sure werent concerned about weight back then were they.
 
moparmat2000 said:
Damn, thats a serious blower motor. They sure werent concerned about weight back then were they.
Click to expand...

Lol. It looks like the front end of a jet engine. Easy enough to work on. Just changed the oil, fired it up and ran through the blower motor settings and it sounds pretty good now. Hope it stays that way and thanks for the help:)
 
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