Difficulty of this Job

[BrettX]

I have a 2000 Olds Alero and I need to replace the bearing plate on the strut, and either the blower motor or the blower motor resistor. As far as the plate goes, I was thinking about just buying one of the Monroe quick struts and replacing the entire assembly instead of just the bearing plate because it seems like that would be easier and better in the long run. I know it would be safer given that the new assembly comes with the spring compressed, but would it also be easier than just doing the plate? And how hard is replacing the blower motor or its resistor? I'm not sure which one it is yet, but I guess the resistors going bad are a common problem in this car. Any thoughts on these jobs, special tools I'll need, diagrams, or anything, is very much appreciated, and thank you!

[tblake]

Can't give you much of a heads up on where to find the difficulty of the blower motor and resistor since I've never changed one. Remove the hush panel above the passenger's feet. You may also have to remove the glove compartment.

On the strut, defenatly do not buy those cheapo crappy monroe quick struts. They are junk, and if you think you need a bearing plate right now, run with a monroe for 3 days and tell me how long you can stand the noise. Not to mention the ride quality. Do youself a favor and steer clear of monroe.

BTW, welcome to AF!

[skeeter123]

Can't help you with the struts, but the blower motor resistor pack is under the passenger-side dash, right up against the firewall; it's the flat green connector with 5 or 6 wires coming out of it. Held on by two screws; I had to hold the screwdriver up against the flooring and "roll" it a bit to turn the screws. Maybe a shorter screw driver would have been better. So, it's right between the passenger's feet, up under the dash, against the firewall. When you get the screws out, you can pull it out; the pack is probably 3" long, so the resistors stick out into the air flow.

[tblake]

Great Teamwork!!!!