Installing Blower Motor

[Poobah]

I've got the blower motor and impeller out of my 2000 Deville. Getting it out was a serious test of my patience working up under the right side of the dash where it is difficult to reach much less see. I'm now faced with getting it back in and I'm not even close. The factory service manual simply says, "Rotate the blower motor in order to install the blower motor into the housing." In reality, it isn't nearly as simple as it sounds. The shape of the cabin floor, the other components near the blower housing, plus the shape of the blower motor housing itself all conspire to make this extremely difficult.

If anybody has experience with this and can offer any help, it would be greatly appreciated.

[kigy311]

I,m not sure about the 2000 Deville model but on 97-99 Deville it is A MUST to loosen the engine subframe bolts in order to install it.Make sure you secure the subframe with floor jacks on each side and just loosen the bolts enough to drop the engine as much as you need to install the blower motor.

[Poobah]

Thanks kigy311 for your response. It sounds like replacing the blower motor in a 90's Deville is even harder than in the post 2000 models.

The blowers in 2000 and later Devilles are accessed from under the right hand side of the dash. You have to take the glove compartment and some other small components out to get to it. You have to work in a space that is too dark to see what you are doing and too small to get your head, arms, upper torso, tools, and flashlight into all at once. You'll be working through the right door, on your back with you're feet on the garage floor. You'll need 3 or 4 hands to do the job but you'll only have one because the other one will be holding the flashlight. So what else is new?

Here is what I've learned for future reference:

First, don't replace the blower motor unless you absolutely have to. Check out everything else (wiring, switches, electroncs, etc.) before you resort to taking the blower motor out.

Second, the biggest problem is getting enough clearance below the blower housing to get the impeller out and, even tougher, back in (the blower is located just above where your passenger's toes are and the angled part of the floor makes the clearances extremely tight). The factory Service Manual tells you to peel back the carpeting in the area below the blower. It does not say anything about the rubber matting. The matting appears to just lie on top of the steel flooring. I discovered that there is about 3/4" of foam material under the mat and above the steel floor. With the mat and the foam in place it is possible to work the motor and impeller out of the housing without breaking anything. However, I found it impossible to even come close to getting the impeller back into the housing with the mat and foam in place. I decided to cut out the area of the mat under the entire blower housing. I hate to cut things up like this but it provided almost an inch of critical extra space I needed to get the blower back into the housing as easily as the manual makes it sound. Duct tape does a pretty good job of splicing the piece of mat back place and, of course, the whole mess is hidden under the carpet.