Just did CJ heater blower

I'm actually about to do this upgrade today. I got the blower for $35CDN after tax at PartsSource. Is it worth doing? Any tips/hints? I'm putting it in an '85 CJ7. Thanks!

Yes indeed, it's worth doing, but I would make this one suggestion. If the heater core is old, have it boiled out or replaced while you have it apart, saving the aggravation of having to take it apart later.

Hmm, ok. I actually just have it all apart now and am making a template for the new blower motor to cut out. I did notice though that my new motor does not have a spongy seal around it like the stock one did ...is this going to have any adverse effects? I was going to try and use the old one and simply enlarge the hole but there isn't enough material there to make it work. Is it worth finding/buying one that will fit the new motor?

Thanks!

So you actually mean to boil it in water? I'm guessing this helps get rid of the dirt/stuff? How long for? Completely submerge it?

I looked at my heater core, wondered if it would die next week after doing blower upgrade, but it wasn't all that hard to get heater assembly out, and now that it has new bolts holding it in, I figure I could have it out in about 15 minutes if I had to do it to change core. I read the upgrade page and that guy took his dash off on the one side, I didn't have any reason to do this, didn't find the dash was in the way at all, would of been nice to take battery tray off, but one bolt on that was rusted on. I took battery out, jack out, drained radiator, unhooked hoses, unpluged motor, 4 nuts off, unhooked the cables and out it comes, new motor bolts in to same 6 screw holes, I used a die grinder bit in my drill to enlarge hole, but I have a fiberglass tub and firewall so that may not work with steel dash. 81 CJ7.

"griffin" wrote in message news:DY2%c.315327$M95.24530@pd7tw1no...

Ya, all the necessary parts are out (and a couple of extras that I wasn't sure were holding in the heater unit or not ;p) but I also didn't have to remove my dash and had no problems doing anything from the inside of the Jeep. My only problems were some of the bolts in the engine compartment. All-in-all ...not too complicated. Once the rain stops I'm gonna go drill out a bigger hole and all should be well. Looking back it was a pretty easy job (except for any rusted bolts and the fact that my rad had to be drained through the hose because my damn butterfly nut is broken). Still debating whether to do the heater core tho ...is there a gasket that has to be replaced if I take it apart?

The stock one stretched fine over mine. I had to use a drop of silicone on one spot because I was a little off with the new hole.

Mike

griff>

@#$@#!$ I'm glad you guys seemed to all have an easy time with this ...mine is being a bitchpig. Nothing as of yet has fit at all smoothly. I now have 5 (yes, 5!) different modified gaskets I've created to try and fit this all together and still no luck. Like an idiot I threw out the old motor and I need that little seal off it because the fan gets stuck on the plastic housing and won't spin. I tried making a rubbery gasket piece in it's place and it compresses too much when I bolt the assembly back on and it gets stuck again. So ya, now I'm going back out to modify my 5th gasket and create a 6th (sorta) silicon seal around the back of the blower motor on the engine side to try and make a half-assed repair-job of the massive slices and chunks I tore out with a reciprocating saw. For anyone about to do this mod ...stick with a jigsaw or build a template and use a holesaw. Recipro saw is NOT the way to go ;p

This 2 hour job is now a 2day job. It's a Jeep thing.

On the plus side tho, that motor sure does blow air alot better and I tested mine outside the assembly and it was actually starting to fail a bit (slow down, speed up, slow down, etc) so it'll be worth it when it hits -30.

I didn't use any gasket on the back of mine, I remember looking at the one on the old one and thinking I should try and get that off and reuse it, but I forgot, and everything turns fine, the most it might do is suck a little air from engine bay, may run a bead around it, coarse my hole is withine a

You got the wrong blower. The expensive one won't fit, the shaft is too long and the fan hits.

There is a second one, the cheaper one with a shorter shaft. It is about a 1/4" different.

'72 blazer 4x4 350 with AC and the normal motor, not the 'premium' one.

Mike

griff>

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Heh, that would explain it then. Oh well, too late now. I ended up cutting the concave part of the assembly that surrounds the fan on the inside of the Jeep with a hacksaw. Now it fits fine and I ended up being able to remove one of my dumb gaskets. Oh well, live and learn and when in doubt, cut stuff. Hopefully it'll still work good.

Will this mod work on a 1980 CJ5 ?? Would that model require taking out part of the dash ??

Thanks !!

--James--

It should work fine I think.

Here is a link on it:

Mike

James Nipper wrote:

Welp it's in and whoaaa!! Does that thing blow crazy amounts of air. Now I just have to figure out how to get half my vents to work properly so it doesn't just come out of the one floor vent and the windshield (or is that all it's supposed to do?)

Except don't ask for the same motor as the one the guy lists on the page. Refer to Mike's post earlier about which exact one to get. The one they gave me wasn't an exact fit. Also, I'd recommend a jigsaw or scroll saw over the recipro ...unless you can see where you are cutting with the recipro. I tried it and couldn't see my template line and ended up with some extra hole :) Then again, I'm about as good with a recipro saw as I am with saying "Toyboat" 20 times really fast. I.E. ...not good.

I asked for the one on the web page, 73 blazer with 350 motor and air, fit perfect in my 81 CJ7, narrow track.

Then the guys at PartsSource here are dumb. I have no idea what I got but I read it right off the sheet that I printed from that page. Guess I'm just the unlucky one ...oh well ...it's all in and sealed and works well.

You are not the first.

For some strange reason, there are 2 different blower motors listed for that very same application.

One is a 'premium' motor that costs more and has a shaft 1/4" or so too long and the other is a cheap one.

Mike

griff>