AzCamel

I do not have any picture, I great the top and bottom with automotive grease I used for bearings. All is well and no chirps at all after a few thousand miles.

Djay441

Ok thanks a million. Hopefully I can figure out the dismantling. I will keep u posted..

amg_w211

A few notes on W211 HVAC fan chirping (or any other electrical fan chirping and squeaking):

1. Use a non-detergent lube to lubricate the bearings. About the only available non-detergent electric motor lube is the BLUE “3-in-1” MOTOR OIL SAE 20 oil. It’s a straight oil with no detergents. Basically all electric fans have been using this type of oil since electric fans have been around and have been using straight oil as a lubricant. All other available lubes (WD40, PB, bike chain lube, and all liquid penetrants) have some sort of detergent in them, and once the oil evaporates off, you’ll be stuck with a seized motor. I got the BLUE “3-in-ONE” from Lowes for around $3. Do NOT substitute with the RED/BLACK “3-in-ONE” lube (or any other penetrating lube) as it has detergent in it and will eventually evaporate off and lead to a seized motor.
2. The 2 lube points are at the bottom motor bearing and the top motor bearing. At the bottom bearing, I placed about 4 drops of oil and spun the fan around for about a minute to work in the lube. I wiped off the minimal excess oil (even as thick as it was) as I didn’t want that dripping down later. For the top bearing, I used a drill bit to enlarge the top fan connection vane to get better access. I was able to drop about 5 drops into the bearing and spun it around for a minute. I used a Q-tip to try to work in some oil there as well.

Here's the latest product link: http://www.3inone.com/products/motor-oil/

I did this fix since the summer, and the low speed HVAC fan chirp squeak has been gone and the fan is still working like a champ. Will update as necessary, but this should be permanent fix.

steveberde

Thank you guys for this great information - Mine is doing it = I'll have the independent lube it and forget it for now rather than replacing it = I am as always indebted to this forum

Steve

Stuttgarten

Noise is back, I cleaned my blower motor about 6 months ago, as it had rust right on top pin. But I am starting to get some noise, so lubricating it must be the next logical step. Great lube idea from amg w211!

Honcho

RUST!?!?! Bummer.... lube may help for a while, but lube won't fix rust.

.

amg_w211

I had a little rust on mine as well when I lubed it. Still running like a champ with no squeaks since the fix.

N_Jay

Sounds like lubing a good original motor is probably as good as buying cheap aftermarket fan assembly.


For those that had some rust, is it just surface rust on the shaft, or any rust on the bearing?

Stuttgarten

No, rust was only on pin head as seen in this pic I just found, NOT on bearing. I would bet all those units have that type of surface rust due to moisture accumulation on top of blower pin head, obviously after unit is turned off.

N_Jay

Now the crazy question. . . . . .


Can you get to the top bearing from the engine side where the filter is mounted?


If so, I may try a drop on the top bearing even before turning myself upside down to drop the fan assembly.

Stuttgarten

That's an interesting question, top rusty pin is easily seen thru the cabin filter route. Let us know how your adventure goes

N_Jay

Will do.


I have a belt tensioner and the fan to fix (two cold weather squeaks) in the next month is so.

amg_w211

Just do a full removal as I did and lube both the top and bottom bearing. Use the recommended lube as others will cause your motor to seize. There is no other shortcut. You only need a few drops on each bearing.

N_Jay

Just not crazy about fussing with hard to reach and hard to replace screws while hanging upside-down under the dash.

15 years ago, I could spend a day with my *** backwards in the drivers seat and my head under the dash wiring stuff.

Now, 10 minutes and I feel like sh-t and my glasses keep slipping so I can't even see what I am doing.

Betting most of the load is on the top bearing, as it most of the contamination/drying from circulating air.

If a few min on top save me from having to remove the fan, I am all for it.


As for the oil, even a few drips of 20 or 30 weight motor oil will work fine.

Stuttgarten

I'm having a new development with my A/C and I'm not sure if it's related to blower motor. When I turn A/C on, it takes like 2 minutes to get going, and if it set to a very low speed, it could take maybe 3 minutes to start. Today, it took about a minute to start, 20 seconds later it stopped, so I had to increase fan speed, and it finally came back on and stayed on. The A/C red light stays on, even when fan is not blowing.

Any idea if this is related to blower fan, or could it be something else....

konigstiger

Common cause, low refrigerant requiring leak test.

Stuttgarten

I had not done anything about getting refrigerant checked ever since my last post on this topic . Now that weather has gotten cold, the same symptoms as listed above are present, but with heater; turn heater on, and nothing happens for a minutes or two. Once heat starts coming in, it continues working. Could this be the blower fan?