Cool, Bob!  In the IV vein (pun intended), I think you should add a hook
next to your rear-view mirror, from which you can hang a clear pint bag of
wd-40, which will supply a slow but steady drip to the motor...
bmc  :)
"Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel...."

> From: Bob Whitby <rpwhitby@MINDSPRING.COM>
> Reply-To: Bob Whitby <rpwhitby@MINDSPRING.COM>
> Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 19:03:09 -0700
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Front blower fix: Free and permanent (long)
>
> Hola Vanagoneers:
> At the risk of getting off the enlightening topic of Mexicans and insurance,
> I'd like to report my findings vis-a-vis my front blower, and also make public
> a modification that I hope will extend the life of my front blower well into
> the millenium.
>
> First the symptoms: Turned on blower, it made a horrible scraping noise, then
> stopped. The fuse popped shortly thereafter, as did two more. I went directly
> to the archives where I learned that I was in for THE DREADED FRONT BLOWER
> REMOVAL EXPEDITION wherein hapless Vanagon owners disassemble the entire
> dashboard to get to this crappy little DC motor about the size of a baby's
> head. I bravely dove in to the job and am here to report that it just ain't as
> bad as most make it out to be. Laborious, yes. And damn but the van do look
> ugly when all is said and done. Not for the faint of heart. But I had no
> problems, other than a shear bolt that refused to budge from the steering
> column. I tried JB welding a nut to the shear bolt, but that didn't hold.
> Finally I drilled it and used a screw extractor. The metal is very soft and it
> came out, but it is of course ruined. (Anyone got a spare?)
>
> Once you get the blower box out, however, you're only about half way home. The
> blower is sealed in the box like it was the freakin' arc of the covenant. What
> exactly is the point of heat welding this thing together? Is the air pressure
> so great it would blow apart if not for this ridiculous sealing method? I
> ended up sawing the heat-welded tabs off with a hacksaw blade and it still
> took me an hour and a half to get the thing apart. Overkill? Planned
> obsolesence? You be the judge.
>
> Once I got the blower out I immediately noticed it was hard to turn by hand.
> Bingo. A lot of WD-40 and a little persuasion later and the thing was spinning
> like a hippy at a Phish show. I hooked it up to the battery in the Ghia and it
> purred on all three speeds. I have a little experience with this sort of
> thing. I rescued and kept alive a H*nda alternator for 20,000 plus miles just
> by shooting it full of WD-40, and to this day I kept a can in my C*vic to
> squirt in the distributor every now and then. H*ndas have a nasty habit of
> eating their distributors, so every time I hear the death squeal I pull over,
> pop cap and hit it with a generous squirt. Good for another 5k miles or so.
>
> So I lubed up the old fan motor, then had six or seven beers (congratulating
> myself for all the money I saved) and got to thinking: If there was a way to
> squirt the old blower motor now and then with some WD-40 it just might last
> forever.
>
> So I went to the hardware store and got 3 feet of very small pvc hose, the
> clear kind used for fish tanks and such. I drilled a hole just large enough
> for the hose in the driver's side windshield vent on the top of the air box.
> Passed the hose through that, then drilled another small hole in the housing
> right above the blower motor. I carefully positioned the end of the tube right
> where I wanted the juice to flow then taped it to the motor. (God bless duct
> tape.) Run the pvc hose through the holes and eventually it will come out of
> the air vent on the dashboard. Yeah so it will look like an IV hookup on a
> chemo patient. Big deal. My fan motor will be loose and yours won't.
>
> Now every once and awhile, say when I change the oil, I'll give the motor a
> squirt. Blow through the hose and I can "aerate" the lubricant. Little
> particles all over the place. Look it up in your physics book.
>
> So I figure I save $700 or so by not paying someone else to take apart the
> dash, and not buying a new motor from Bus Depot ($100 -- I thought someone
> said these motors were cheap).
>
> All in all I'd say that's worth five hours of work.
>
> Bob W.
> 87 Westy
>