Our squirrel-cage heater blower under hood has worn out. The question is how to install (expensive) replacement. Can the unit be removed/replaced from the top side under the hood, or do you have to drop heater assembly under the dash? This car does NOT have A/C. Thanks Rich CT
Your best bet for answers is to buy a Bentley service manual. Also, the VWvortex forum is a great resource for such questions.
Papa wrote:
Everyone always says, get a Bentley manual, I have one here. But in the case of the heater and blower, it doesn't say much at all. But if you want to count the screws in auto transmission, great!
We found another manual series that said the early Rabbit series with the propeller type fan could come off from the top, and the later Golf series had a flange between the external motor and the squirrel cage rotor, and came off easily, but the middle Rabbit series up to 84 had to take the heater down inside the car.
So we are looking for somebody who has actually done it!
VWVortex website forum looks interesting. Will have to try it. Tnx. rich
Rich, I have a 1988 VW Cabbie. My Bentley manual provides very specific "how to" instructions, plus an exploded view, of the heater system for a Cabbie without AC. There are also instructions and exploded views for Cabbies with AC.
To quote from the instructions in my manual, page 12-11, for removing the heater blower motor from a Cabbie without AC:
"The fresh air blower is located atop the heater box. The motor is reached from the engine compartment by removing the plastic drip tray at the base of the windshield, and then removing the plastic screen covering the fresh air inlet. To remove the motor, unclip the series resistor from its bracket and remove the screw under the resister. Tilt the motor up and out and unclip the resistor wiring."
I hope this is a applicable to your car as well. Good luck.
I have pulled most of them out of the top, so you should be able to do this too. A little tricky, but doable. ;-) I think the heater blowers without a/c is easier to R&I. Let us know what happens!
I also thought your heater blower is cheaper than the one with a/c? And yours is easier to find too!
later, dave (One out of many daves)
I hope you didn't buy a new one... stuff like this is what junk/wrecking yards are for. :)
Well there weren't any used ones available locally, they seem to have crunched all the Rabbits around here.
We got the last one from the warehouse, good price. My friend helped install it, the Hayes book says you have to lower the heater, but we knocked it loose and took out the windshield wiper assembly.
It almost fit (dealer >
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