Heater Motor Upgrade

[Pa PITT]

73 AZ .. I too had about the same issue. Mine was to brittle & too much of the box broke out . A new box would have fixed me.
But I had a nasty rub. I finally got it bushinged out enough to not rub. But it's noisy. But if the Diesel ever gets warm in the winter it works .
.. I need to redo mine with a new box.

 

[.94 OR]

If I'm reading this correctly, you are opting to remove the heater box, install a larger blower from the inside so you don't have to clearance the front opening of the box to allow for the larger blower?

I'm going to upgrade mine this spring so I'm just curious if there is anticipated problems down the road if you have to remove the whole heater box to do any blower maintenance.

 

[Pa PITT]

.94OR
I didn't totally understand your question. BUT
Yes I TOOK my box completely out. & Did my rebuild on a bench ... NOW..
I think I did mine before using the F250 was popular became popular. Mine is the chevy motor & It's my understanding that the Chevy motor is larger around than the F250 MOTOR . SO as I've read the F250 MOTOR IS a better replacement .
..... SOMEONE Correct me if I'm wrong But I THOUGHT I'D READ YOU CAN USE THE OLD SAME SAME 3 MOUNTING HOLES .& Not have to drill your old box.
.................. i'm thinking of getting myself a new box & redoing mine with the F250 MOTOR.

 

[chuckyb]

If I'm reading this correctly, you are opting to remove the heater box, install a larger blower from the inside so you don't have to clearance the front opening of the box to allow for the larger blower?

I'm going to upgrade mine this spring so I'm just curious if there is anticipated problems down the road if you have to remove the whole heater box to do any blower maintenance.

This is correct, if you are referring to the front of the heater box as the side of the heater box facing the firewall. There is definitely a risk that if the new motor needed to be removed, it would require the removal of the heater box itself instead of just the four screws holding the heater and fan into the box. My hopeful thinking on that was that the original assembly lasted 50 years, and the new assembly might also last 50 years

 

[DirtDonk]

The mod is not for a longer life though. It's for more air, pure and simple.
But yes, your new stock fan motor should last as long as the old one. Unfortunately they rarely worked well 10 years if they sat, 20 years if they were used regularly, much less 50.

By "lasted" though, I mean efficient output. My original is still "working" but at about it's a pale shadow of it's former self. I could tell the difference at about 15 years, but it still worked and heat was not always a priority around here.

But yeah, either way you're going to get adequate flow from a new motor and fan. At least as good as it was when new anyway.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Sorry, meant to ask which motor you went with Chucky. I saw you gave a part number before, but wasn't sure if that was a stock replacement, or some other one that fits better than the Chevy motor?

Paul

 

[sprdv1]

.94OR
I didn't totally understand your question. BUT
Yes I TOOK my box completely out. & Did my rebuild on a bench ... NOW..
I think I did mine before using the F250 was popular became popular. Mine is the chevy motor & It's my understanding that the Chevy motor is larger around than the F250 MOTOR . SO as I've read the F250 MOTOR IS a better replacement .
..... SOMEONE Correct me if I'm wrong But I THOUGHT I'D READ YOU CAN USE THE OLD SAME SAME 3 MOUNTING HOLES .& Not have to drill your old box.
.................. i'm thinking of getting myself a new box & redoing mine with the F250 MOTOR.

Still need to dig into mine, that LAST bolt at the top's a killer LOL

 

[sprdv1]

The mod is not for a longer life though. It's for more air, pure and simple.
But yes, your new stock fan motor should last as long as the old one. Unfortunately they rarely worked well 10 years if they sat, 20 years if they were used regularly, much less 50.

Totally agree.. all about the maintenance too

 

[OX1]

The mod is not for a longer life though. It's for more air, pure and simple.
But yes, your new stock fan motor should last as long as the old one. Unfortunately they rarely worked well 10 years if they sat, 20 years if they were used regularly, much less 50.

By "lasted" though, I mean efficient output. My original is still "working" but at about it's a pale shadow of it's former self. I could tell the difference at about 15 years, but it still worked and heat was not always a priority around here.

But yeah, either way you're going to get adequate flow from a new motor and fan. At least as good as it was when new anyway.

Paul

I'm not sure why anyone would think anything the Chinese make will last
as long as stuff made in the 60's/70's .

I went with the largest that would fit (including the squirrel cage),
as I was hoping to get some kind of defrost without an AC compressor.

Still may not work well, but it won't be from lack of airflow.
Thing blows as hard as an output from a small shopvac.

 

[chuckyb]

Sorry, meant to ask which motor you went with Chucky. I saw you gave a part number before, but wasn't sure if that was a stock replacement, or some other one that fits better than the Chevy motor?

Paul

Hi Paul,


I went with NAPA motor 655-1039 and fan 655-1406, both of which are boxed as Echelin parts. These are the Chevy upgrade parts; I believe replacements for 76 Blazer. Long may they run as I don't want to take the box out and disassemble again!

 

[Pa PITT]

ox1 How much noise does yours make. I've very disappointed at how much sound comes out of mine.

 

[Pa PITT]

.... OK Here's another thought some of you might be willing to try.
Back when I had my parts store .. My blower motor didn't put out enough .. Kind of like some other things in life.
BUT Some mechanic. Told me to just put an Overdrive on it. WHUT YOU MEAN LaROY.....
.. He said run a hot wire to a toggle . From your Battery . & Straight to the Blower Motor. Bypass the Resister. just go to the blower motor hot side . It'll put straight 12v to the motor . Heck it was like adding OVERDRIVE TO THE MOTOR .

 

[DirtDonk]

ox1 How much noise does yours make. I've very disappointed at how much sound comes out of mine.

This is one of the issues with Broncos in general I feel. The main reason I recommend insulating things like the heater plenum/box and wiper motor cover. Just so you don't have to listen to all the racket.
Not sure how to make it sound like a modern car, but at least it should be better.

He said run a hot wire to a toggle. From your Battery & Straight to the Blower Motor. Bypass the Resister. It'll put straight 12v to the motor.
Heck it was like adding OVERDRIVE TO THE MOTOR.

Well, that "can" work. As it obviously did in your rig. What kind of vehicle was that by the way? Bronco, or something else?
With ours, HIGH does bypass the resistor. Only LOW uses it, and the wire for HIGH goes right around and connects directly to the wiring running to the motor.

That's not to say you can't benefit of course. I have suggested making relay kits for horns and heaters, just like you do the headlights. The three-H's of Bronco relay wiring.
With new wiring and switches and fuses, you really should not have any voltage loss anyway. But in the real world that probably is not quite true and even half a volt can make a difference.
And the older the wires and components get, the worse it gets.

If dealing with older stuff then, it would not hurt to first check voltages, then run new, and hopefully larger gauge and/or shorter wiring if needed.

Paul

 

[Pa PITT]

... Oh HECK .. I left that out it was my 1980 BRONCO .. BB.. BRONCO BILLY ... 300CID .. NP435... 3:55 p/trac's front & rears.

My Hunting Buddy gave it that name .. WE TOOK IT TO new Mexico several years before we got the ranch we now hunt on. But We went hunting in Captain area . The Government was shut down. What a shame. So we'd crawled all over every thing we could find . Then there was no way to get around this one mountain . We'd been there for 3 days hunting . .. SO Buddy said . I don't think this thing will crawl over that hill..
... Hill .... Hill.... ok . 1ST & LOW RANGE & uP UP & AWAY WE GO... iT LOOKED SO SIMPLE.. WELL It was about 3 or maybe 4 THOUSAND FEET CLIMB . We went almost to 10,000 ft. It was the only place I could have made that happen ... When we did get to the top. I was more than thrilled WE FOUND A ROAD .. DOWN THE WRONG SIDE. ... But it had a Beer Joint . & A ROAD BACK TO THE SIDE WE NEED ED TO be on .
.. SO It got named BB.

 

[DirtDonk]

Wait... Did someone mention Beer?
What about stories of epic beer runs?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4WAUmyKDq0

I know this goes in the off-topic section, but I'm here, you're here, the story's are good, the weather's cold and the beer is warm...

Paul

 

[sprdv1]

ox1 How much noise does yours make. I've very disappointed at how much sound comes out of mine.

Yeah, it can be loud can't it

 

[sprdv1]

Nice story Pa...

... Oh HECK .. I left that out it was my 1980 BRONCO .. BB.. BRONCO BILLY ... 300CID .. NP435... 3:55 p/trac's front & rears.

My Hunting Buddy gave it that name .. WE TOOK IT TO new Mexico several years before we got the ranch we now hunt on. But We went hunting in Captain area . The Government was shut down. What a shame. So we'd crawled all over every thing we could find . Then there was no way to get around this one mountain . We'd been there for 3 days hunting . .. SO Buddy said . I don't think this thing will crawl over that hill..
... Hill .... Hill.... ok . 1ST & LOW RANGE & uP UP & AWAY WE GO... iT LOOKED SO SIMPLE.. WELL It was about 3 or maybe 4 THOUSAND FEET CLIMB . We went almost to 10,000 ft. It was the only place I could have made that happen ... When we did get to the top. I was more than thrilled WE FOUND A ROAD .. DOWN THE WRONG SIDE. ... But it had a Beer Joint . & A ROAD BACK TO THE SIDE WE NEED ED TO be on .
.. SO It got named BB.

 

[OX1]

ox1 How much noise does yours make. I've very disappointed at how much sound comes out of mine.

It makes air noises, from ramming a huge amount of air, but nothing
rubs and I can not hear fan over air rush noise. I did think to myself that I
may wish it had a medium setting at some point, as high might be too
"high" and be annoying over the long periods. But I'd rather have that
than something that doesn't work well enough. I'm not ever expecting
this bronc to be NVH friendly, in any way, really.

I also have no top or doors on it (not even a windshield at this point,
since I am painting in spring, so it may change some with even soft
doors, bikini, and windshield.

 

[bronco117]

I just rebuilt my heater again because the upgraded motor and fan noise has been driving me nuts for years. High speed or low it howled. I removed it from the Bronco and tried many things. The solution that worked for me was repositioning the motor and thus the fan inside the housing. When I did the mod, I used the screw holes for the OEM motor so keep that in mind. What I did was remove the screws at the 4, 8, 10 o'clock positions and only loosen the one at the 2 o'clock position and with the fan running rotate the motor counter clockwise till it quit screaming. Then re-drill new holes. I also positioned the fan on the motor shaft so that the allen set screw is just below the threaded part that we do not use. There was no perceptible drop in air flow. And I can carry on a conversation in the winter again. Hope this trick helps someone else. I did not take any pictures because I am not paid up right now.

 

[sprdv1]

Nice.. no pics huh

I just rebuilt my heater again because the upgraded motor and fan noise has been driving me nuts for years. High speed or low it howled. I removed it from the Bronco and tried many things. The solution that worked for me was repositioning the motor and thus the fan inside the housing. When I did the mod, I used the screw holes for the OEM motor so keep that in mind. What I did was remove the screws at the 4, 8, 10 o'clock positions and only loosen the one at the 2 o'clock position and with the fan running rotate the motor counter clockwise till it quit screaming. Then re-drill new holes. I also positioned the fan on the motor shaft so that the allen set screw is just below the threaded part that we do not use. There was no perceptible drop in air flow. And I can carry on a conversation in the winter again. Hope this trick helps someone else.