cayenne2008

For last 10k miles when ever the blower fan was running (hot and cold) there was be an audible higher pitched drone. It persisted at all fan speeds.
I finally got around to pulling the blower motor off. Which is a very simple job.
I then used Heater Blower Oil and squeezed a few drops into/onto the pole that spins the fan . For safe measure i also placed a drop on the end of the 'pole' just incase it could seep into the mechanism,

End result SQUEAL is gone!!! I hate when i wait so long to resolve what ends up being an easy issue

Here's the instructions for the entire Blower assembly. Don't remove glove box unless your regulator is going out
https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...eplacement.htm

deilenberger

Interesting post - my '11 CTT with 100k miles on it just makes a tiny squeal as the blower starts up.. and I get over-current faults stored in the heater control module - probably due to the blower not spinning up as quickly as expected.

I tried some time ago to R&R it from my car - but it wasn't coming out without more of a fight than I wanted to have.. there is a wiring bundle that runs across mine that I couldn't nudge out of the way. My intent now IS to remove the glovebox (a bit of a project on the 958 series - moreso than on the 955/957) so I have good access to the area.

I'll be lubing it with some "magic" oil. Anything with the name Slick-50 on it is immediately suspect.. but they make a spray lubricant - Slick 50 43712012 Supercharged One Lube Lubricant and Protectant, 12-Ounce
by Amazon.com
Learn more:
I found out about this from a repair tech where I used to work, who swore he'd never seen anything work so well. I gave it the acid test.. you know those cheap plastic Chinese fans - the ones that are so nice when new - but after a year start slowing down as the oil in the oil-lite bearings evaporates? To the point where they won't run? I now watch for them - because this stuff fixes them about instantly - and it's a long term fix. I have one of these fans that seized up about 12 years ago when I was still working - it sat under my desk and ran continuously.. it was running on the day I unplugged it and retired. It still runs fine - it's in my garage. A bit of spray with this lube and it just has kept on spinning. I have never had to reapply the lube.

Anyway - that's what I want to use on the HVAC blower bearings. Just gotta get the damn thing out of there so I can do it.

Petza914

This is great. My 957 TTS with only 35k miles does this and it's quite annoying. I figured getting to that motor would be a PITA so happy to learn that it's not and I'll be doing this shortly.

Thanks.

DWPC

The blower in my 06 intermittently makes an irritating whizzing/ticking noise, especially on AC. Wondering if lube this might correct it.

dr914

really a sign that the bearing is going bad so just a matter of time before the blower stops working, URO makes an inexpensive motor to replace though.

cayenne2008

The idea is that I know the issue. It would have been inconvenient to buy a blower fan and still have the squel present. If the fan stops spinning, I'll purchase another. If it squeals again, I'll toss some lube in

Avec

I replaced mine a couple months ago. The Pelican Parts article is very helpful, but I found that the blower is held on by 6 screws, not the 5 mentioned in the article. They are all pretty accessible, so no big deal

cayenne2008

'High bolt' closest to outside of car. I needed to install that one first on replacement. When I left it for last I couldn't align it in the whole. Added 15 min. It's a lovely angle to maneuver the body into

slavie

Had the squeal as well at ~95k, took it out and added lube. Squeal is gone so far, been almost a year. From what I've read 6mo to 2 years is about how much time re-lubing buys you.

However, when I took the fan out for lubing, I checked the brushes and commutator shaft (the shaft on which the brushes ride), and they were both near dead - brushes have hardly any life left, and there's a sizable groove in the commutator. Seems that all components within the fan - the bearing that chirps, brushes, commutator - were designed for about the same lifespan. I've seen some people replace just the brushes, but you have to replace brushes and bearings, polish commutator, which I'm sure combined far outweighs the cost of the new fan.

When my re-lubing eventually wears off and the thing starts squealing again, or the brushes give out, I'll be replacing the whole assembly - already have the Genuine VW one on hand.

cayenne2008

Did you take the apparatus apart? I just peered in between the blades. Rotated the unit in my hand in various directions. Then decided I'd squirt some lube in an area that didnt look electrical, just mechanical.

slavie

No, I did not take it apart. The plastic fan is pressed onto the shaft and can be removed with a puller, but since it's plastic there's a chance to break it, too, if you don't have a perfect puller for the job. The offending bearing sits under the fan blade and is covered by it pretty well, so you cannot really get oil directly into the bearing very well. I sprayed the lube in there as best I could and that was enough in my case. But, it's a temporary solution like I said, as you cannot really ensure the bearing is properly lubed without pulling the plastic fan off.

deilenberger

No, it's a sign of the bearing going dry and the lube that's left gumming up the motor shaft. These motors are built CHEAP. They use oillite (google it) bearings. These are a sintered bronze bearing - simple tubular thing - that is soaked in oil before installation. The oil is absorbed into the spaces between the sintered bronze particles - and slowly oozes out to lubricate the shaft. When the oil is gone - you get a squeal from the goop from the oil on the shaft turning in the now dry bearing.

The fix is to lubricate the bearings. The point I was making - the usual cheap Chinese house/desk fans use exactly that sort of motor construction. They fail in exactly the same way - they start getting slow to start up as the oil dries up, and eventually you have to spin it by hand to get it going. The STP lube fixed that. It fixed it on one that was then used every day, sometimes 24 hours a day, for the next 5 years - and it never failed. It came home with me when I retired and it still works perfectly in my garage.

Sure - you can replace the motor - but that seems an awfully expensive way to lube 2 bearings that will eventually do exactly what the original one did. YMMV and I take no responsibility for what you do with your car.