Aftermarket blower fan – a bit too big.

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04-24-2010, 11:35 PM

vjaneczko

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Aftermarket blower fan – a bit too big.

I replaced the A/C blower fan in my ’97 850 GLT with a brand-new unit I found on eBay for just under 70 bucks (includes the motor, fan and housing assembly – nice!). I was impressed with the price and it all went in easily, but there was a little problem in getting everything back together, so I thought I’d share my story. I’m not sure if this only relates to the ’97 model, but it turns out that the housing for the fan is a bit ‘thicker’ than the factory unit. When I went to reinstall the glovebox, nothing lined up right and I couldn’t close the glove door. After jamming my head in the footwell and looking around, I found the corner of the glovebox hits the fan housing. I didn’t want to alter the housing so I worked on the glovebox. Here’s some pics of the mod I performed.

(Links open a new browser window)
First Cut:
http://cid-76421a252c7d8a43.skydrive...d/IMAG0012.jpg

Second Cut:
http://cid-76421a252c7d8a43.skydrive...d/IMAG0014.jpg

Mod Complete:
http://cid-76421a252c7d8a43.skydrive...d/IMAG0018.jpg

As you can see, I just had to nibble off a little bit of the box. The depth of the cut was the same as the height of the hacksaw blade - more than enough. I cut on an angle to make sure I cleared the rounded housing. Once the hole was made, I cut a piece of thick cardstock (OK, it’s a side of a 12-pack of Coke cans!) to fit the hole, then used electrical tape to seal it up. Because of the 90-degree notch in the cut, the inside part sticking into the glovebox is pretty sturdy and I’m not worried about stuff poking through it. If I had thought a little more before I finished the job, I guess I would have applied some electrical tape to both sides of the cardstock so it would be black on the interior side, but I rarely stick my head in there and poke around. As it was, I was cranky that it didn’t go back together easily so I wanted the job done quickly.

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