I had an intermittent squeaky heater motor for about two years and it
completely stopped working a few months ago. I took it apart today and
applied 12 volts directly to the motor and it still didn't run. Since it's pretty
costly to replace (about $250 online, $300 part only at a dealer) I went a
little further and took the fans off the blower motor (used a small gear puller
and just pulled hard by hand) and took the motor apart (Philips screwdriver).
It was really dirty and one of the motor brushes was gone, completely worn
away. The squeaking was probably the spring scraping the copper
commutator. As soon as I can solder in a couple new brushes, I think it will
be fixed.
An overview on replacing brushes in an electric motor:
http://www.atving.com/atvconnection/...ech-Tip-28.cfm
Update: I soldered in two replacement brushes and put 12 volts to
the motor and it works! The motor costs $300+ at a dealer without labor.
The two replacement brushes cost me $3.50 for the set!
You'll have to find an auto electric repair shop or other electric motor
repair shop to find replacement brushes. Take this DIY job one level further
and save yourself a lot of cash!
Peter Chu
San Francisco
pcnotpc att earthlink dot net
1993 Dark Green Legend 5 speed, 165k miles
17" Koenig Imagine