HVAC Blower Motor Rebuild slow? (2 Viewers)

[dbbowen]

That wear on the commutator is normal after many years of use. While the carbon brushes are softer than the copper, the copper will still wear over time. Your old brushes were basically "mated" to the profile of your commutator since they wore together, which is why many people report their fans running slower/weaker after replacing the brushes. If the commutator isn't excessively worn, it's just a matter of time to bed the brushes in to match the commutator's profile. To be honest I've never chucked one up in a lathe to turn the commutator all the way down to the phenolic and see just how thick that copper is. Looking at yours again though, it MAY be worth giving a chance to see if you can get the brushes to wear in. It's definitely very worn, but comparing to the couple scrap motors I have that I've gutted, it's not as extreme of a case as they are.

man. I actually chucked the whole commutator up in my "Lathe" and shaped the new brushes to it and still no dice :/ I caved and ordered a four seasons unit from Napa. Going to see how that works out tomorrow... kind of bummed on it. The four seasons unit i put in my firstgen 4 runner was noticably s***tier.



The lathe in question:

 

[toy_tek]

Dang, that’s too worn? It was JUST blowing normally. It would cut out and I had to smack it sometimes to work. All I did was clean it. I thought that groove was supposed to be there haha

I was looking for some denso units as Matt’s site is down and idk if anyone’s heard from him in a while. I couldn’t find any online anywhere

I know you already ordered a 4S but is your connector in good shape? Mine actually melted one day while I was driving - I just smelled burnt plastic for awhile (coincidently I was only a mile or two from a huge landfill which is what I thought I was smelling) then realized my blower wasn't working. Like you I couldn't find a Denso, so I trimmed the plastic connector guides away from the contacts on the motor and crimped new spade terminals to the wires, as well as cleaned up the commutator and made new brushes. But wondering if you might have a wiring issue.... maybe check the wire resistance to ground?

 

[dbbowen]

I know you already ordered a 4S but is your connector in good shape? Mine actually melted one day while I was driving - I just smelled burnt plastic for awhile (coincidently I was only a mile or two from a huge landfill which is what I thought I was smelling) then realized my blower wasn't working. Like you I couldn't find a Denso, so I trimmed the plastic connector guides away from the contacts on the motor and crimped new spade terminals to the wires, as well as cleaned up the commutator and made new brushes. But wondering if you might have a wiring issue.... maybe check the wire resistance to ground?

Man it’s funny you say that because my connector is definitely discolored due to heat. I ended up getting a VDO replacement from Napa and it works just as well as the original did.

 

[Spook50]

Man it’s funny you say that because my connector is definitely discolored due to heat. I ended up getting a VDO replacement from Napa and it works just as well as the original did.

Were you able to see if there were any markings on it referencing Siemens? I'm curious to see if the 4S/VDO blowers (yeah the two are actually the same) are now overseen by Siemens, because if they are, that would make for a big increase in quality if you ended up with a Siemens unit.

My experience with all the 4S/VDO motors I've used has been working decently for a while (on par with a worn OE/Denso unit), then more often than not the bearings (bushings technically, in this application) would begin to fail, making for the motor struggling to turn, moving less and less air, and shortly in, loud screeching noise when the motor is running. So needless to say I was grateful to see that there's now a Denso option available again.

I still have to find those pictures I took of the two rotor assemblies side by side and post them, because the difference in design and build quality is easily discernable.

 

[dbbowen]

Were you able to see if there were any markings on it referencing Siemens? I'm curious to see if the 4S/VDO blowers (yeah the two are actually the same) are now overseen by Siemens, because if they are, that would make for a big increase in quality if you ended up with a Siemens unit.

My experience with all the 4S/VDO motors I've used has been working decently for a while (on par with a worn OE/Denso unit), then more often than not the bearings (bushings technically, in this application) would begin to fail, making for the motor struggling to turn, moving less and less air, and shortly in, loud screeching noise when the motor is running. So needless to say I was grateful to see that there's now a Denso option available again.

I still have to find those pictures I took of the two rotor assemblies side by side and post them, because the difference in design and build quality is easily discernable.

I couldnt see anything saying Siemens, but it looks like there are bearings in this unit coming out of the shaft. or at least that might be the bushing?

The bushings on my toyota unit i think were what was hanging it up, they were literally spinning inside of the felts.

I keep seeing talk of a new denso option but havent found any denso units online anywhere?