Cutting the blower motor cover

[hufhouse]

I'm convinced that I'm going to need to replace the blower motor in my 1996 Grand Am SE 2.4L Automatic.

According to the Haynes Manual, this involves cutting the cover "as indicated by a groove molded in the cover. Don't cut the bottom 2" of the groove and don't cut more that 1/8" deep. Fold the cut portion of the cover down."

My first reaction to this was, "you're kidding me".

Can anyone expand on this a little bit? The car is getting a new/used transmission installed today, so it isn't here at home.

What is this cover made of?

What do I cut it with?

Can't I just take the cover off and get another?

Do I need to get the three clips from the GM dealership that Haynes continues on to talk about during reassembly?

I checked the section of the discussion board with all the repair info, and this particular repair wasn't listed.

If you've done this, can you fill me in on the details?

[xeroinfinity]

Yeah Not the brightest GM idea!

If you need to replace the blower though, you'll need to do some cutting. Not as bad as it sounds, though thier's little room to work. If you remove the alternator you do have more room.

It is made of heavy plastic or thin metal, Ive seen both on N bodies.
The easiest way is with an air tool and a cutting disc.
But you can use tin snips/metal shears, these type work very well.



Since they have a left and right hand cut you can work from both sides.

And as for sealing it up, a bunch of silcone. On some models you can use pan head sheet metal screws, 1-2 at the top if I remmeber right. Just look where you can attach a screw to the inside, where doesnt poke anything, like tubing/coils etc.

And you can leave about 4" acrossed the bottom, you'll see when you've cut it far enough to fold over and remove the blower.

Hope that helps!

[doctorhrdware]

Would you be able to use a dremmel tool to cut the housing. Or is there enough room for that.

[xeroinfinity]

Would you be able to use a dremmel tool to cut the housing. Or is there enough room for that.

Oh! Yeah I guess you can use that if you can get it back there.
They do have several cutting shafts(like router bits) that would work better then a cut off wheel.

[hufhouse]

I got the car back from the transmission shop, and it does appear to be a softer plastic.

However, the plastic has "rotted" right near the end of the blower motor. There's a hole about 1/2" across.

Can this whole plastic piece be removed and replaced?

[xeroinfinity]

I beleive the plastic runs the entire firewall.

That shouldnt have rotted, made someone poked the hole to drain water..

Can you get a pic of this area ?

[hufhouse]

Here are links to the photos:

Here's a view from far away:

http://www.juliehufstetler.com/blowe...ver%20away.jpg

Here's a closeup:

http://www.juliehufstetler.com/blowe...%20closeup.jpg

[xeroinfinity]

Sorry hufhouse, I edited your post. Those pics were kinda to big! 800x600 is typicly big enough in the tech forums.

That cut on the left of hte blower(top pic) looks like someone was attemping to cut it open previously.
Thier migth be small clips already inside the housing to shut it back closed, just dont forget the silicone. I usualy have used the larger tubes that go into a caulking gun.

If you could find a new housing you could replace the entire housing/duct, but its a real pain to get it out and reinstall.
Just getting in there to cut the housing is tough enough with all those wire harnesses in the way.

[hufhouse]

Sorry. Took those with my Blackberry and I didn't think they were such high-res.

[xeroinfinity]

Wow huf , those were phone pics??
That must be a great phone, Id hope.

[hufhouse]

Originally Posted by xeroinfinity

Wow huf , those were phone pics??
That must be a great phone, Id hope.

Just a Blackberry Curve.

Funny thing was that I was in a big hurry when I read your request for a photo, and I ran out and shot one with the Blackberry and came back inside. After fiddling around for a while trying to figure out how to attach a photo, I resigned myself to uploading them to my wife's website server. I looked at them (on her server) in Google Chrome, and Chrome must have reduced them in size. They looked about 4x6.

So, I then hurriedly referenced them as images in my post. When I went back later to look, I thought to myself, "Why are those pictures so big?"

Most other discussion boards I frequent (as well as one I administer) allow you to attach a photo which then shows as a thumbnail that you can click to see the full photo. Did they disable that to save space on the Automotive Forums site?

Anyway, thanks everyone for your help. I think I'm going to have to do surgery to replace this fan blower. Then, I'm going to have to do some creative repairs to patch everything back up. I'm leaning toward using some rubber roofing patch on the broken areas to seal it up, along with a lot of silicone caulk. Ugly, but effective.

[xeroinfinity]

Yeah the Curve is a nice piece!
I tend to loose/break phones all the time, so I dont invest in many highend ones.
I realy like the Iphone but wouldnt pay $500-600 for one.

html is disabled, but VB code works, usualy

You can use the "[img]" tags for pics, like it was with your pics.
To do the like with thumbnail is a little more difficult.
You need a thumbnail image(url) for the img tag then the url(link) for the larger pic... did that make sense ? lol
I guess like my signature pic, it links to cardomain.

Good Luck with surgery, just take your time and it should go fine!


ps- on the roofing sealer, might put off stinky fumes into the vents/ducts.

[doctorhrdware]

Use a good high quality silicone like a GE brand.