Hi Kevin,
I had a similar problem with my blower motor.  When I first bought my
vanagon about a year ago, the blower didnt work, or rather, it worked
intermittantly.  I decided I really wanted a blower to potentially help with
engine cooling and overheating (its debatable how much it does help, but
that was my thinking anyhow).  Anyways, I got a new blower moter for ~$20
from a local pick-and-pull junkyard that has some vanagons.  (new, i think
these motors run roughly $80, ie from busdepot.com)  I then did the install
myself.  About the install:  yes, you have to remove the dash, yes its a
pain in the but, yes its intimidating for your first major repair (it was
mine too), but yes, its doable.  I actually had to do the job twice, once to
get the dash apart in my van, and once to get it apart in the junkyard to
get the motor part.  The second time was a lot easier, and only took, all
told, about an hour.  I remember I wrote up an description of the job at the
time, if your interested, i can post it or email it to you.
-Steve

----- Original Message -----
From: "Harvest" <Harvest@FREDERICKMD.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2001 5:55 PM
Subject: front defroster blower

> Hey everyone, I am new to the list and the new owner of a '90 Vanagon MV.
> Clearly this is a great list and an inspiring resource to the newbie such
> as myself.  My front blower motor seems to be locked up (blows fuse
> immediately if turned on) and the local VW gurus tell me it is a $600
> repair.  I don't doubt there honesty or expertise, but I was wondering if
> there are any alternate solutions.  Has anyone used a 12v defroster
before?
>  Any ideas would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance,
>
>
> Kevin
>