1977-1982 Corvette Air Condition Blower Motor Replacement

You turn your key on and you hear a low rump, rump, rump sound coming from the far right hand corner of the dash. You realize that it may be the blower motor so you turn the fan switch to high just to be sure. It now sounds like a washing machine that has gone berserk! What are you going to do? How can you repair it?

Blower motors do go bad with age. Sometimes the bearings fail causing the low rump, rump sound. They can even cause the motor to lock up. The windings can also overheat or break which will cause the motor to quit working. The repair is fairly simple. New motors are readily available from Zip Corvette Parts, 1-(800)-962-9632. The whole procedure uses common hand tools and can be done in about two hours.

Our Project 1978 had a very noisy Corvette blower motor so we decided to replace it. Follow along as we install a new quiet blower motor.

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Step 1

01: If your Corvette has air conditioning, you will first need to loosen the AC compressor and remove the belt. If your car does not, go to step 4.

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Step 2

02: Now slide the compressor as far as it will go over to the right hand inner fender.  You will need to do this for clearance.

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Step 3

03: Remove the radiator overflow hose and then unbolt the overflow reservoir. The mounting bolts for the reservoir are in the wheel well area.  With the bolts removed, carefully slide the reservoir out. This sometimes sounds much easier than it is, but it will come out.

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Step 4

04: Disconnect the electrical connections to the blower motor. Remove the motor to housing attaching screws. Carefully slide the motor and squirrel cage out of the housing.  In most cases, you will find that the motor will only come out between the air conditioning lines and evaporator housing in one particular position.  If you do not have air conditioning, it will easily slide out. This is one time when not having air conditioning is an advantage.  (Notice the way we had our motor positioned. This is the only way we could get it out as one unit.) You may wonder why we just do not remove the squirrel cage.  The reason is that most of the time the nut has seized to the motor shaft and you cannot remove it without damage to the squirrel cage while it is still in the car.

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Step 5

05: Carefully remove the squirrel cage from the old motor shaft.  Check the cage and look for broken or split areas. If you find any areas that are damaged in the squirrel cage, replace it. Zip Corvette Parts will be able to help you get a new one. Also, remove the ground wire clip. Make a note of its position on your Corvette’s blower motor housing flange. You will have to re-install it onto the new motor housing flange later. You should also remove and clean the blower motor rubber air duct.

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Step 6

06: Slide the squirrel cage stop clip, which you removed from the old motor, onto the new motor shaft.

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Step 7

07: Install the squirrel cage and tighten it onto the shaft.

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Step 8

08: Place the strip putty around the outer edge of the mounting flange. This will form a watertight seal between the motor and the heater plenum housing.

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Step 9

09: Re-install the ground wire clip onto the blower motor flange.

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Step 10

10: Remember to re-install the blower motor rubber duct. This duct allows cooler air to be drawn up into your Corvette’s blower motor for the heater plenum. The air helps to cool the blower motor.

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Step 11

11: Install the blower motor onto the heater plenum and re-connect the electrical connections. Re-install the radiator overflow reservoir and hose and align and adjust the air conditioner compressor and belt.  You are finished.  It is that simple! The noise is now gone and you should be ready for thousands of miles of quiet driving.

1977-1982 Corvette Air Condition Blower Motor Replacement: Replacing the Corvette Air Condition Blower Motor

Source: Zip Corvette Parts

8067 Fast Lane | Mechanicsville, VA 23111 | (800) 962-9632

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One Comment

  1. Richard K

    Wow !! you guys are amazing. Thanks.
    When I saw where the blower motor was located on my 82, I thought- No Way

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