Heater Blowers

At the end of the fall, I noted one of my heater blowers was not working. Or should I say my wife noticed. Yesterday, I opened up the wheel wells and found that one had come off its mount and disconnected itself. I also looked at the other and although the electrical connection was intact, it was partially separated from the mount.

Upon removing both blowers, I noted they each had one mounting point broken off. It appears that one of the screws comes loose causing the unit to pull away on one side resulting in a broken mount on the other side.

If you have not had this problem yet, I suspect it will happen to most every car at some point, I suggest you pull of the front wheel well shield (four screws) and ensure the two screws securing the blower are tight.

You can buy new blowers but I opted to repair mine. In addition, when I reinstalled them I used bolts instead of screws. As I suspected, they used screws because there is not much room to work in there and putting the bolts on was a PITA.

 

I too reinforced the plastic tabs. I thought about providing additional support and I like your solution. In the end, I figured if it lasted 30+ years, my repair should last another 30.

I think a lot of the problem is when one screw comes loose, it causes the other side to flex and crack. At least that is the diagnosis from examining my two blowers.

 

Another interesting solution, simple, flexible, and easy to replace if they do break.