I have an EA81 85 brat and the heater blower stopped working. So I took it out but left everything hooked up to it still so I could check the ground connection and make sure I wasn't just getting a loose connection somewhere.

 

What I found out was that if I turned it upside down it worked fine, and then when I oriented it in the way it would bolt back in, it sputtered and stopped turning the little fan in there.

 

I redid this experiment over and over again to make sure I wasn't just pulling or pushing a wire somewhere that had a bad connection. It just matters which side is up.

 

Does this just mean the motor is out? Is this a normal thing for when the motor starts going out or does this just sound completely ridiculous?

 

I would much appreciate any insight into this. I need to get this fixed asap, my feet are getting very cold. Thanks a lot.

It could be that the copper pickups inside the motor are more worn down on the side that faces down than on the top side. When I replaced mine I took apart the motor just to see what was going on inside. TONS of dirt/grime in there and the contacts/pickups were all wore out. Its easiest just to replace the motor.

I would check the motor brushes, they went out on my GL (back when I had it)... perhaps the inversion is enough to make the worn brushes make contact just right....

Ok. Well the only new motor I could find at the local parts stores was from napa. Everything I feel like I've ever gotten from them is total crap and before I cut the wires to fit the one from napa I was hoping somebody might have some more knowlage about these than me.

 

How are the napa motors? Any experience with them? I don't wanna put a $50 hunk of crap in there that I'm just gonna have to replace again in a few months.

 

Thanks a bunch for all your help.

I just rebuilt my blower motor two days ago. It worked intermittently when I hit a big bump and eventually stopped working.

 

The carbon brushes were stuck in their guides and weren't making contact with the rotor. It appears that the brush springs rusted and got stuck. I cleaned up the internals and lightly sanded the rotor surface that the carbon brushes contact with fine grit sandpaper. Then blew everything out with compressed air. The bushings are meant to be dry - no grease. It works like its brand new and cost me nothing.

 

Also make sure you have reasonable voltage at the wiring harness that plugs into the motor. This is how I isolated the problem to the motor and not bad wiring.

 

Rebuilding the motor is very easy. If you have any questions let me know. Also, proceed very carefully so you can put it back together just like it came apart. Do it on some newspaper and wear cruddy clothes because that carbon dust gets on everything.

Edited December 23, 201114 yr by kanurys

i had this same problem with a window motor. the brushes were worn and the springs were weak. so i put longer springs out of clicky pens in place of the old ones. worked ok. and i bet if you look around you can salvage some brushes out of a diff blower motor. might need some soldering tho.

Ok. Well the only new motor I could find at the local parts stores was from napa. Everything I feel like I've ever gotten from them is total crap and before I cut the wires to fit the one from napa I was hoping somebody might have some more knowlage about these than me.

 

How are the napa motors? Any experience with them? I don't wanna put a $50 hunk of crap in there that I'm just gonna have to replace again in a few months.

 

Thanks a bunch for all your help.

 

 

 

So, how did the motor problem get solved? I hope you got it sorted.

Cold for the winter?