The SLC blows again!

I had been unable to use the blower in the 450SLC for the last couple of weeks as it was making a terrible scraping sound when I would run it.

About two years ago I ‘rebuilt’ the blower with a new motor, but with my existing case and fan cages.   A new W107 blower motor from Mercedes is prohibitively expensive, but you can get the internal motor on ebay.

The problem with this, is that the fan cages are friction fit on the blower motor shafts so once you have removed them and put them on the new blower motor, they are never as tight as original.

In addition, when I replaced the motor last time, I noticed the gasket was perished, so I purchased a new one for the job:

SLC blower gasket

Removal and replacement of the blower motor is fairly straightforward.   You need a short handled Phillips head screwdriver and a 10mm socket and extension.

The motor case is held together with clips that can be removed and replaced by hand, although care is needed with 30+ year old plastic.

Blower Installed

The gasket is important so water does not get into the blower compartment.

I had to use a screwdriver to carefully re-align the fan cages on the shafts and in the housing.   The blower is working well again, it remains to be seen how long that lasts.

All Finished

Update: 10/2013.   I found a New Old Stock W107 blower motor for USD$200 and installed that instead.   Much better.