Squeaky Blower Motor
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CLS550
Squeaky Blower Motor
One of my older CLKs, a 2005 CLK320, is showing its age and the blower is intermittently squeaky. Of course, the stealership will want me to replace the blower. In my old days, I would get to the blower and just grease the sucker. Is that possible with a CLK? Thanks.
I had thoughts of ditching the car, but I'm not ready to replace it for the sake of my high school teen. As it is, I don't know many 16 year olds jet setting in a MB convertible. He wants a new M3. I told him sure, why not a Ferrari. Good grief.
I had thoughts of ditching the car, but I'm not ready to replace it for the sake of my high school teen. As it is, I don't know many 16 year olds jet setting in a MB convertible. He wants a new M3. I told him sure, why not a Ferrari. Good grief.
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You can get to the squirrel cage blower fan from under the hood - behind the cabin dust filter above the battery. You might be able to get some oil into the bearing from there. If not, the blower motor is not terribly difficult to replace - you just have to remove the glove compartment to get to it.
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2004 CLK320
I remember when I turned the interior fan to high, I would hear some whining noise. It went away after I replaced the pollen filter.
Lesson learned. I now changed the pollen filter every 6 months.
Lesson learned. I now changed the pollen filter every 6 months.
Last edited by mis3; Jan 2, 2013 at 02:54 PM.
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2005 320CLK Cab
Mine is getting squeaky too.
Odd, if I slow down, the squeaking stops. stop or accelerate & it starts right up.
Has anybody actually lubricated the fan motor? is in from the hood enough clearance?
thanks.
Odd, if I slow down, the squeaking stops. stop or accelerate & it starts right up.
Has anybody actually lubricated the fan motor? is in from the hood enough clearance?
thanks.
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That's a symptom of a bad fan motor bearing. You might be able to get some lubrication into from under the hood, but otherwise, you may end up having to replace it. Luckily, it's an easy job - just drop the panel under the dash, and you have easy access to remove it. The part itself is about $350 retail.
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CLS550
Ironically, I did nothing and the issue has disappeared for over 4 months now, and the dealership checked it out and says the blower seems absolutely fine, and did nothing during my recent service.
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CLS550
Just as an update.
It's been ridiculously cold in the Northeast. A couple days ago, my son complained that the blower motor squeaking/chirping was back and in a bad way. Even the radio and low/moderate volume can't cover the irritating sound.
It's way too cold for me to tinker with anything even in a covered unheated garage. So, I decided to book an appointment with the dealership to replace the blower motor.
But before I made the appointment, I decided to do one last ditched lazy attempt to oil the thing. I removed the cabin air filter and saw that getting into the blower was challenging without some sort of WD40-like straw device. I know that WD-40 isn't a lubricant, but that's what is available in the garage. And I know that WD-40 stinks, so I wasn't going to spray a lot of it. But what the heck, I was going to replace the blower anyway, so why not just try. The worst would be I'll kill the blower.
I got a McDonald's straw and it fit into one of the holes of the blower motor. I sprayed two small shots of WD-40. Then I remembered the silicon-based non-greasy lubricant I use for my bicycle chains. So I dropped some down the straw into the blower motor.
Then I waited 10 minutes for the stuff to soak in, hopefully it'll seep into the bearings and not destroy the electronics. Then I started up the car and ran the heater on full blast/defrost.
The squeaking stopped immediately and has not returned in three days now. So this crazy lazy thing may work. Your mileage will vary.
It's been ridiculously cold in the Northeast. A couple days ago, my son complained that the blower motor squeaking/chirping was back and in a bad way. Even the radio and low/moderate volume can't cover the irritating sound.
It's way too cold for me to tinker with anything even in a covered unheated garage. So, I decided to book an appointment with the dealership to replace the blower motor.
But before I made the appointment, I decided to do one last ditched lazy attempt to oil the thing. I removed the cabin air filter and saw that getting into the blower was challenging without some sort of WD40-like straw device. I know that WD-40 isn't a lubricant, but that's what is available in the garage. And I know that WD-40 stinks, so I wasn't going to spray a lot of it. But what the heck, I was going to replace the blower anyway, so why not just try. The worst would be I'll kill the blower.
I got a McDonald's straw and it fit into one of the holes of the blower motor. I sprayed two small shots of WD-40. Then I remembered the silicon-based non-greasy lubricant I use for my bicycle chains. So I dropped some down the straw into the blower motor.
Then I waited 10 minutes for the stuff to soak in, hopefully it'll seep into the bearings and not destroy the electronics. Then I started up the car and ran the heater on full blast/defrost.
The squeaking stopped immediately and has not returned in three days now. So this crazy lazy thing may work. Your mileage will vary.
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2005 320CLK Cab
That's a symptom of a bad fan motor bearing. You might be able to get some lubrication into from under the hood, but otherwise, you may end up having to replace it. Luckily, it's an easy job - just drop the panel under the dash, and you have easy access to remove it. The part itself is about $350 retail.
The squeak was driving me nutz! The wife just turned up the radio louder. Typical
So its a warm day in the Northeast and with Spring fast approaching I replaced the trunk partition pneumatic cylinders for the Convertible. That was pretty easy. Partially open the roof for easy access.bought an OEM replacement fan from RMEuropean for $180.
Easy access is a relative term
Upside down in the passenger footwell isn't the best way to spend an hour. But it comes out. On your bench, carefully pop the 3 white tabs that hold the fan shroud to the motor to get the electronic controller out. Swap it, then reassemble.
It's so darn quiet I had to take it back out & visually make sure it really was working!
Next up : the radio face plate.
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Member
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2005 320CLK Cab
MBworld Guru
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Likes: 1,011
NO LONGER ACTIVE
Actually, that should have been "C pillars" since the CLK doesn't have B pillars. But yeah, working upside down is not fun. Several times when I've worked under a car dash I just removed the front seat - that makes it somewhat easier!
