Welcome to the list Paul!
My 88 Syncro had a noisy heater fan when I first purchased it a few years
ago.  I figured "no sweat" can't be any harder than a Rabbit... wrong!

In order to change the fan you have to remove the entire dash!  Took me and
my wife a good afternoon to do it.  Just don't put a used fan in there like
we did - squeeeek!

Good Luck!

-- David Marshall - Volkswagen Enthusiast - Quesnel, BC, Canada   --
-- 78 VW Rabbit, 79 VW Iltis, 80 VW Caddy, 84 VW Westfalia        --
-- 85 VW Cabriolet, 87 Audi 5000 Quattro, 88 VW Syncro Double Cab --
-- David's Volkswagen Home Page        http://www.volkswagen.org  --
-- Fast Forward Autobahn Sport Tuning  http://www.fastforward.ca  --
-- david@volkswagen.org (pmail) or vanagon@volkswagen.org (list)  --