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Heater Fan

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 6:21 pm
by freelandingman
i hear the heater fan not working is a common problem,how is this fixed,do i need a new fan or.............
cheers

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 7:11 pm
by mfw898y
Read somewhere that its the bushes on the motor that sieze and can be freed up but its needs removing from the vehicle :?

Check out this link for removal etc
http://www.fordcaprilaser.co.uk/heater_ ... cement.htm

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 8:36 pm
by spookie
Yeh if you are lucky and the brush housings have not melted you can normally get the motor going again. Most I have seen the brush housings have melted.

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:36 pm
by capri_turbo
Heres a little something I created earlier.

Seized Heater Fan Motor?


A guide to freeing up that seized heater fan motor

This guide will take you through the simple steps to freing up that seized heater motor fan. I will assume that you already have the heater matrix out of the car and have stripped it to remove the fan and motor.

To the novice, the motor may look a bit complicated, but once you know what all the bits are and what they do, it is really quite simple. Turning the fan by hand will show that the motor seems very stiff. In fact it is unlikely that any of the motor parts are at fault, BUT there are some things you can do to the motor to help it, which will improve matters. All the motors that I have looked at, have the same problem. The front bearing (well... it's not actually a bearing, but we'll come to that soon) seems to be the main problem.

The front bearing is actually a phosphor bronze bush, so we'll refer to this as the "front bush" from now on. This supports the main shaft and is located into the motor frame by a spring clip (not easy to see on the photos). This clip is designed to keep the front bush in place. The problem comes when the shaft begins to seize in the front bush. When they get bad, the shaft no longer turns inside the bush. Instead the shaft and bush turn as one in the spring clip hence being able to still turn the fan by hand. The motor is no longer able to turn the assembly.

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What you need to do now is try and free the bush and shaft. I have found that brake cleaner is best for this job... things like WD40 just aren't thin enough and don't break down the dirt that is jamming the shaft in the bush effectively. With the fan blade lowermost, spray the area arrowed with brake cleaner and leave for 5 miutes or so. Then try turning the fan blades and applying more brake cleaner to the area. I have found that most motors start to free up within 10 minutes.

Hopefully now the motor is feeling a lot easier. What you are looking for here is the shaft to turn, but the bush to remain still, held by the spring clip. Keep going with the brake cleaner and turning the fan blades by hand until this happens. You may need to use a screwdriver to lever the bush down the shaft, away from the motor slightly to break any seal caused by dirt. This should really help free off the bush and shaft assembly. Again use the brake cleaner and keep turning the fan blades by hand.

The photo below shows a screw driver being used to gently push the bush down the shaft, probably by less than 0.5mm, but this should be enough to help get it free.

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Once the motor is turning freely, you need to lubricate the front bush with some light oil, such as 3in1 etc. With the motor positioned with fan downwards, drip some oil onto the shaft and bush and leave to soak in and then turn the fan by hand and add some more oil.

Now, we need to look at the commutator and brushes. Now, as it is the motor will probably work well, but the commutator will be black with carbon deposits which reduces efficiency.

The first thing to do is to release the brushes. To do this, unclip the locating spring from the body of the motor and gently lift the brush from the motor. It is fitted to the motor body at it's pivot and will just unclip. Carefully bend the bruses out of the way. On the right hand photo, you can see the brush with it's retaining spring removed from the motor. You can also see the commutator which needs cleaning up.

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To clean up the commutator, get a small amount of P1000 wet and dry and fold it so that you can hold it on the commutator with a finger. Then simply rotate the motor by hand and watch as the commutator comes up all clean and shiny copper. Once the commutator is cleaned up, get a scalpel etc. and very carefully scrape out the straight cut grooves that separate the sections of the commutator. Also gently clean up the brushes where they contact the commutator with some P1000 wet and dry too. The using the brake cleaner again, carefully spray it on the commutator and the brushes to thoroughlt degrease the parts and refit.

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Once the motor is built back up, you can now test it. If possible, it is best to run the motor in slowly, starting at about 6 Volts and gradually building up to 12 Volts. This will help the brushes bed in to the commutator, but if you can't do this, running straight away at 12 Volts won't do any damage.

Hopefully now, the motor is running nearly as good as new.

Removing the Heater Unit

Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 3:46 pm
by Zackspeed280
Good luck! It is possible to remove it with the majority of the rest of the car intact! Best advice is to start under the bonnet with a 4in piece of garden hose. If you are quick you can (do this outside!) remove the heater hoses from the bulkhead and connect the heater pipes together. That way, if you need to use the car while the heater is out then you can still do so. Make sure you unscrew the two crossheaded screws holding the coverplate over the buckhead pipes as that little adjustment in height and angles is needed to get the heater out.

Having removed the lower dash trim and glovebox, you'll probably be wondering if Ford hung the heater and built the Capri around it - well almost, they actually started with the wiper assembly!!! Most cars will have a black bracket hanging down from the dash crossmember - a 10mm socket on an extension will unbolt this and give a bit more room to manuvure the heater our. There are four coarse thread 10mm bolts (poss 11mm can't remember) that have relatively loose fixings that hold the heater in place. Undo these and try not to loose them under the carpet. You've probably removed the actual dash by now, a couple of large cross thread screw/bolts hold the heater controls to the dash - undo these and lower the controls below the dash so they aren't interfering with anything.

Now, go have a cup of tea as removing the heater needs to be done slowly and carefully so that you don't break the matrix pipes as you draw them in through the bulkhead and twist the heater down into the passenger footwell to remove it. Sometimes I've found I need to get a little extra clearance by removing the centre consol but sometimes not!

The metal earlier heater assembly found in the Mk2 is a lot easier to work on than the later plastic ones, be careful taking the plastic one apart - lots of little screwdrivers prising clamps apart and a need for more than one pair of hands!!

Hope this helps future cold drivers!!!

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:56 pm
by tillerthou
righty, bought a near mint 2.8i last week..........

now the fans gone and horn works when it wants to!!

i'll recon my own fan thanks to this bloody helpful guide! i just binned my last one when it broke a few years ago!! should have kept it for future ressurection.........

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:29 am
by Mikecapri2.8i
Before you rip the fan out, check the switch on the dash to make sure it's working..easier to do that first and if it solves the problem you won't end up taking the fan assembly out for nothing..don't ask how I know this :cry:

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:17 pm
by tillerthou
i'm pretty sure its the fan as it slowed and slowed and slowed until.......nothing!!

i will check the switch first though!

Heater fan

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:17 pm
by capriagain
I have just changed my heater fan this weekend, be careful when taking the heater unit out of the car. I broke one of the water pipes from the matrix that go through the bulk head. It really pee'd me off. I had it in and out 3 times before i managed to fix it poperly. Also be careful with the resistor that controls fan speed, mine dropped out on the floor and crumbled, it was rotten. I tried to repair that aswell but to no avail. the only consolation the fan works at one speed fast! Over all it's not a bad job just a bit fiddly, take you time and it should be no problem.

Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 1:03 pm
by Lennard
hey guy's

i've got the same problem with my heater motor
I've currently got it out of the car now and it's melted near the brushes

Do any on you guys know a replacement motor that would fit since my parts vendor couldn't find an other motor in Holland

or should i go and look for second hand motors ?

Greetz Lennard

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 12:33 am
by scherrit
OK, got the heater box apart without breaking anything, just struggling to lever the fan blade off the old motor- got a new Bosch motor no problem from the club. How do I press the plastic fan blade off the motor shaft????

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 2:10 pm
by last18
Thank you very much helped, for a long time I was looking for the answer to this question.