Can a cabin blower on the first gen C4 be lubed?

[Cutac]

Hello

Today, 0°C outside, my blower was rattling for the first 5 minutes of driving.
Are bearings or the shaft of the blower accessible so they could be lubed?

[GiveMeABreak]

Not without extracting the blower motor itself for investigation and disassembly - but there is no technical procedure for this - 'plug and play and 'throw away' unfortunately, as dealers don't do 'repairs' of kit anymore. Probably a job for the summer, or if you had access to a knackered one from a breaker, you could at least experiment with disassembly on that for a dry run to see if it was easy enough / possible to do, before tackling it on your car.

[Cutac]

Yeah, I get it.
Problem is that I can just buy a spare, can't get a hold of a broken one. Or...., could ask a friend to borrow his car

[GiveMeABreak]

He'd really have to be a good friend indeed!

I just thought a broken one shouldn't cost anything and would be a good dummy run. In fact as these are probably all similar part numbers beginning 6441** you could get hold of any broken one from a PSA vehicle for experimentation.

[Cutac]

I agree about the cost, but I don't think it'd be easy to find one. Almost everyone throw their broken items in the trash, only I keep car parts do dissect them

I've been told that it takes a mere number of minutes to pull the fan out. Correct? If so, I could just pull it out to take a look at it, maybe there's a plug or a space to add lubricant.

[GiveMeABreak]

Minutes? Slightly longer than that - and you have a LHD so more to do to get the thing out because of the pedal brackets and steering rig.

[Cutac]

Slightly longer as in 20-ish minutes?
Is it any harder/more demanding than changing the temperature flap cog?

[GiveMeABreak]

Is this on the B7 1.4?

[Cutac]

Nope, VTS.

[GiveMeABreak]

A lot less involved than on the B7, as the inflation ECU and steering column parts have to come off for that - but a lot easier on the 180:

Remove the following components: Console side trim ( 1) Trim under steering column at "a" Lower moulding (2) Note: Remove the steering column air bag (according to equipment).

Removing

Unlock and disconnect the connector at " c". Detach the blower by rotating it (following the arrow "b"). Remove the blower (following the arrow "d").

Refitting

Refit the various components in the reverse order to removal.
Check the operation of the blower.

[Cutac]

I'll take it out tomorrow to see what's what. Thanks

[white exec]

Have sometimes wondered whether, on these difficult-to-remove blowers, once they have been successfully removed and opened up to re-lube the bearings, it might be possible to run in a length of small-bore plastic pipe to each bearing, so that they could be re-oiled at a future date without blower removal. Just an idle thought...

[Cutac]

Well, I'd consider doing something like that if the blower required regular lubing, but it seems a bit too complicated since this is the first time in 12 years a rattle occurred.

[white exec]

Agree with that. A trade-off between the ease of the mod, against likely life of the re-lube!

[Gibbo2286]

This wouldn't be just dried up leaves got in and hitting the fan blades would it?