How-To: fix a noisy heater blower / fan

If your heater blower does noises like Sopwith Camel in flight or just doesn't blow strongly enough then this how-to might be for you. It's an easy 30 minute job which requires only basic tools, the hardest part is to yoga yourself under the glove compartment to get access to the motor itself.

you only need:
phillips-head screwdriver
flat-head screwdriver
light source

Here's how you do it:
They say always disconnect the negative battery cable when dealing with electric stuff so that's what I did first.

Alright, the blower assembly is located behind the glove compartment.



To get some more room move the passeger seat back as much as possible.

Now you need to get yourself down there somehow, undo these three screws and remove this plastic cover.



Next you'll need to undo these two screws, that's essential to get some wiggle-room later when removing the blower motor itself.



Then take off this black plastic cover. There aren't any screws, it just slides down.



Next you'll need to disconnect this connector and the tube. The tube needed some light prying, that's where I used the flat-head srewdriver.



Now you can unscrew these three screws holding it in place. (The third one is not visible in the picture but it's not that hard to get to)



Finally, you can get the blower motor out of there, you have to slightly turn it and then wiggle it out while pulling the metal bracket out of the way, that's why the two screws had to be undone in the second step .

Now you can take all the junk (and money??) out of the blower fan and clean it.



or you can just replace it if it's beyond saving. For me, just getting the junk out of the blower fan made all the difference, the fan is so much more quiet now. There's nothing tricky about installing the motor back, it's the same process as removing it but in reverse. Overall it's an easy, quick and satisfying job and you can even make some money out of it.

This is a great walkthrough. Mine's been making some noise and hopefully later today it will not be.

Any advice on how much $$$ I can expect to find in mine?

If I were you, I wouldn't get my hopes too high, probably not more than a few bucks. I got only 1/2 of a 100czk bank note so that's about two freedom moneys.

Perfect, you got paid for working on your car.  :laugh:
Also did you check inside the box. Mine had a whole nest up there. I had to use the phone and take pictures to see what was inside. I guess you could also use a mirror. Make sure that you get that all clean also.

No rodents in my Silvia. I put my hand in there and tried to clean it but there wasn't anything to clean. All the stuff was concentrated inside the fan assembly.

Mine had a rats nest in there.
Must be a good rodent spot.
After a clean our mine is all good now too, i was lucky and my dad actually pulled it out and cleaned it while the car was up at his place :).

Just did mine today. I would also like to add, some models have a light in that panel with the 3 screws you have to remove. You'll have to remove that light to access one of the screws on the blower motor.

Didn't have money in mine though :(

That must have made some serious noise! Here's a picture of what a friend of mine has dug up from her s12