Rebuildng Xantia fan motors is possible.

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alan s
RIP 2010
Posts: 2542
Joined: 26 Jan 2001, 15:53
Location: Australia
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Rebuildng Xantia fan motors is possible.

Post by alan s »

O.K. I admit it; I'm cheating here, but I asked a question on a board and then answered it myself, so I'll do this in two parts; ask the question (just like most do when they look at what seems to be a "Mission Impossible") and then I'll give a detailed answer.
I'll try to edit out some superfluos banter if possible without losing the content.
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<b>Here's the Question:</b>
Is it just that I'm dumb, or are these things one of the greatest ********s of things ever created to get out of a car?
I've spent about 3 hours today trying to pull one out that failed and I'm convinced that when they came down the assembly line, they start with these bloody fans sitting there all proud and upright, and simply build the car around them. You have to almost dismantle the entire front of the car to get access and even then it's limited, particularly with a car like mine with climate control!!
Anyway, that's history, it's out now, but here's the crunch; can the motors be pulled apart? They aren't bolted or rivetted, they are kinda burred at the ends where the end plates fit the metal surround of the stator. Is there any way they can be dismantled and reassembled that anyone knows of or am I wading into unchartered waters? Twisted Evil
Any help gratefully accepted as I would like this car for Christmas and I can't see me reassembling so I can pull it apart again in the new Year; bugger that for a joke.
If all else fails we'll give it a go as it'll take days if not weeks to get another motor up here this time of year.
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<b>.........and here's the answer:</b>
Well, what do you know, we got it apart; took about 15 minutes.
The fans ends are held together with the metal from the stator cover (for the want of a better term) pushed through small rectangular slots in about a half a dozen spots on both the front and the rear of the fan motor. They look like a 3 pointed crown in cross section as though a slot of metal has been hit in two spots by a sharp cold chisel.
Setting a punch in the vise after it had its face squared off on the emery wheel, just sit the edge of the splayed out section that pokes through the slot on the punch and with a second, smaller punch, tap from the other side of the slot so as to tap the splayed out part down. Turn it over and do the other side.
When all have been done, tap the lugs through the end plate and repeat the dose at the other end.
The carbon brushes are fitted to a fibre mounting plate at the end and have 4 brushes each 6mm X 8mm and approx 18mm long. Cut the pigtails on the old brushes about 5mm from the brush and solder the pigtails of the new brushes to them; you'll never uncrimp and recrimp the fittings on the originals.
When getting replacements, it's necessary to get the ones with the high copper content rather than the high carbon and the pigtail on the originals comes out the end but some of the replacements have it coming out of the side at the top; in this case due to the way the brush holders are constructed, this is not a problem.
Bearings would be cheap & simple to fit.
My car had supposedly had a secondhand one fitted prior to my purchase & the previous owner charged A$265. The carbon brushes were A$10.50 a pair so for $21 plus a set of bearings, I will have what is effectively a fully reconditioned fan motor. We'll skim the armature just for the hell of it, but at the end of the day, well worth the effort.
Alan S
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