Blower Motor Only Runs When Tilted

[angus_amangus]

Hey folks! So here's a weird one for you: my blower motor has been working intermittently for a while and although it has been getting progressively worse, it still runs strong when it runs at all. I pulled it out of the housing this morning and tested it out by hooking it straight up to the battery. It worked great, so I tested the connections, and I am indeed getting 12V under the dash. After bolting it back up and seeing that the blower wouldn't run right off the battery anymore, I pulled it again and hooked it up with the proper connections.

 

Here is where it gets strange: the motor works great at all speeds while facing up (leads toward the floorboards, fan piece toward the roof), but will quickly shut down as soon as I tilt it toward the side... What on Earth can I do about this? Should I pull apart the motor and look for shorts? Is it serviceable? New motor?

 

Thanks y'all.

[jagman]

Check the brushes. It may be that the brushes are worn to the point of non-contact when rotated.

[datzenmike]

A 'short' is an unwanted path to ground around an electrical component. A 'short' will almost always draw a huge unregulated amount of current which blows the fuse. In almost every case a 'short' is usually an 'open' or a break in the electrical connection.

 

 

The motor may be riveted together so you may be screwed. Most things these days are not serviceable, only replaceable. Hopefully you have good luck with it.

[angus_amangus]

Hey, thanks jagman and datzenmike for the suggestions! I thought it might not come apart, but the whole thing is indeed just bolted together and serviceable. The brushes are a little worn, but making full contact. It was jam packed with dust and other gunk, so I gave it a good scrubbing. I also realized that the bearing (?) where the shaft sits at the back of the housing had gotten a little out of alignment, so I tweaked that back into place.

 

We will see how long it holds up, but so far it runs like a champ again!