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E28 blower <Jerry Skere>

Jerry:

The first dashboard heater fan on my '85 528e failed around 50K miles.
Fix it, I said.  Ouch!, I said when I picked up the car -- $325 to replace it!

The second lock-up ocurred around 100K miles.  Can't it be lubed, I asked?
Nope -- another $325!  But this time I asked for the failed part.

The fan assembly has a 1920's look to it, but is really rather flimsy.  I lubed the failed fan w/ 3-in1 oil from an oil can with a flex spout.
Hooked it up to benchtop 12V supply and ran it.

It was fine!  Relubed and ran on the bench a few more times to assure that bearings
were liberally doused with oil, and put fan assembly back into the box.

At 150K miles, when the second replacement fan failed, I replaced it with the
one I had oiled.

A short while back, that fan started squeaking.  Oiled it in place;
still running fine.

What I have learned:  The bearings are lousy.  Oil them from time to time
(especially if a squeak develops), and the fan's life should be determined
by wear on the commutator, rather than by failure of the bearings.

Larry Swain


LSWAIN@domain.elided