[HellaciousA]

Here's my quick write-up of how to take the blower motor out of the car. I didn't have a lot of time as I needed to get it back together to drive to work tomorrow morning. So I apologize as I don't have detailed pictures of how I took the blower motor apart to stop the chirping noise. The bearing that is making the chirping noise is on the bottom of the casing and has a small bearing that looks like a roller skate wheel bearing.

1. Remove the Glove Box Assy. On the right side, pull the draw string towards the center of the car and push the plastic rectangle back through the hole. Then push in on the sides of the glove box and disengage the clips. The glove box is now free to be removed. Also remove the flat plastic trim behind the airbag. It has 2 8mm bolts IIRC and it will drop down.

2. Loosen the lower knee air bag assembly. DO NOT DISCONNECT THE WIRING or you will trigger an SRS light. Remove the 2 12mm bolts and gently pull out on each of the sides (there are 2 metal expanding clips that engage into the dash). You can then pivot the airbag to the right as I have shown.

3. You can also see the cabin air filter location in this area. Note--you don't have to remove the airbag to get this out--only the glove box assembly. Just for fun, I looked at mine and it is disgusting. I have 34,000 miles on my car and its a 2012 as well. I have a new one on order which I will replace as soon as I receive it.

4. Now that the airbag is out of the way, you can easily view the blower motor. I tried to color key the diagram to make it easier for anyone.

Remove the air duct bolt on the right side so you can have some room to move the duct around to get the blower motor out.

Next, remove the 3 5mm bolts (correct me if I'm wrong on the sizes--it's late and I'm tired). Disconnect the wiring connector by pressing down on the black tab and slidiing it out. You will also need to pry off the treenail/ziptie clip that holds the harness to the blower motor body. Take your time and wiggle it back and forth. It can be removed without breaking.

The entire motor assembly will now drop down. It may take some manuvering to get it to free itself from the blower housing.

5. Since I don't have any shots of the motor disassembled, here's the bearing that makes the noise:

On a workbench or table or flat surface. Remove the 3 phillips head screws and take the cover off. After that you will remove two more nuts so you can remove the motor cap/bearing holder off the blower motor itself.

I took some silicone lubricant and sprayed around the motor shaft. Try not to get any on the stator or copper wiring if possible. Then you can put it all back together and reinstall it in the car.

I tested it for a few minutes at all the fan speed and the chirping was gone. I honestly don't know how long this will last, but I will update this thread in a couple days to let everyone know if it comes back or not.


In case anyone is curious, the blower motor part number is 13263279 and goes for around $90.00. It is number 23 in this diagram from GM:

For some reason the forum resized my photos. If you right click and view image, you can view it in greater detail.

More info here: How-To: HVAC Blower Motor Replacement

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Great writeup! Thanks for taking the time to make and post this.

 

[tecollins1]

Great write up. Mine been chirping for a while now. Will prob do this soon.
Does anyone else have a recommendation for a lubricant/grease?


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[HellaciousA]

Well it appears the silicone lubricant only lasted about a month as the chirping started up again earlier this week. I may try a lithium white grease on it now instead. I'll update after I have time to take it apart again.

 

[spacedout]

mine has chirped for 10,000+ miles, unfortunately my bumper to bumper warranty has now run out so it would be an out of pocket fix. Mine only chirps on 1 or 2 fan speed and only sometimes, as soon as it starts all I need to do is increase the fan speed to 3 or 4 and it instantly stops. I can then go back to 1 or 2 for awhile before it starts doing it again.

 

[Ger8mm]

Sweet man, I had same problem in my avalanche but the squeaking noise ended up being leaves hahaha. Glad I have this now for the cruse

 

[Mattyf2]

Thank you thank you I'm interested to know if the lithium grease works for you. I don't want to spend $90 since I'm sure the new one will do the same thing.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Great write up. Mine been chirping for a while now. Will prob do this soon.
Does anyone else have a recommendation for a lubricant/grease?


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I have some synthetic greases...

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[HellaciousA]

I used some CRC Lithium grease that came in an aerosol can, and it worked for about a week and the chirping came back. I've been too lazy to go back in and re-lube it. At this point, once it irritates me enough, I'll just buy another blower motor.

 

[Justinus]

I used some CRC Lithium grease that came in an aerosol can, and it worked for about a week and the chirping came back. I've been too lazy to go back in and re-lube it. At this point, once it irritates me enough, I'll just buy another blower motor.

There may be a slight issue with that strategy. I had my blower motor replaced under warranty due to the chirping and about 10,000 miles later, it's back. Buying a new blower every 10,000 miles seems like a silly thing.

I'm going to be attempting to lubricate mine to solve the issue.

 

[ChevyGuy]

I'm going to be attempting to lubricate mine to solve the issue.

Let us know how that goes. While I've not tried that on a Cruze fan, or even a car fan for that matter, my experience with lubricating any fan has dismal.

 

[NickD]

Chirping noise, scrapping noise, mind just started doing this, top of the blower wheel is scrapping against the plastic shroud. Needs more clearance, not more grease. But maybe a different problem.

Haven't studied that lower air bag panel yet, but has screws? Shop manual says a 0.5 hour job to replace it.

 

[NickD]

Using a mirror and a flashlight, sure can't get my head under there, found two black head 7 mm screws on the underside of that air bag panel. Must be the two screws you are talking about, only ones that I can see.

Not being much of a fan of explosives, would prefer to remove the negative battery cable first. Already had to do this several times due to other work and battery problems going dead. All I lost was the clock setting, and one time had to repair my smart phone.

Should have found this thread first, posted this problem in the general section, is play on that blower motor housing and by putting my hand on that motor shaft, don't want to even touch the blower wheel, it will break and pulling it toward me, made noise like crazy. Pushing it forward then starting the motor, was dead quiet.

Once I get this motor in my hand, can study that plastic shroud clearance and maybe shave that edge off a bit. Yes, a very loud annoying noise.

For my size, height, and age. may have to remove the passenger seat first, I don't bend like I use to. No problem with the glove compartment door, as long as I don't cut my finger nails too short. Holding this job until Monday.

 

[NickD]

Not the easier blower motor to remove, not the hardest either. With that noise Friday, pushing the armature shaft forward, access through the removed cabin filter, was quiet all weekend.

But happened once can happen again, glove compartment was easy, two not very easy to reach 7 mm screws to remove the front lower panel. It was hinged, so had to be pushed down just right to remove it.

Exposed two 10 mm head screws holding in the lower airbag, that did pull out, and like the OP said, cable was long enough to be set aside. Is a cable clamp in the blower housing, the kind that push in so easy but will break if you try to pry it out. Just used a small jewelers screw driver to release that tie wrap, should be real easy to snap it in again to maintain OE appearance.

Shop manual lies like crazy to remove that lower heat duct, just remove on screw slide it to the right of the vehicle and it should drop out, no way. Has a 90* elbow up on top and only moves so far until it hits the glove compartment cavity wall, but not enough to drop it. Would be easy if the entire dash was removed. But can be moved back and forth to work around it.

Blower motor plug required a squeeze on the left hand side tab to remove it, never know to expand or to squeeze these things. This left the three screws holding the blower motor up, not the Phillips head screws, those are just for the cap. Of all sizes, these were 3/16". With those out, the blower motor can be dropped, but have to put front tension on that in the way lower duct.

Ran the blower on my bench power supply, started to rotate at about one volt, I consider this good if not great. At 14.5 volts draws 17 amperes, bit smaller than I am use to, but the Honda Accords were about the same.

Posting some photos, the first is what the inside cavity where the blower fits in.

View attachment 167777

My problem was the upper part of the blower wheel was rubbing against that rim, nothing I can do with this, I can operate my camera remotely from my smart phone, couldn't even take this photo without this.

My solution to my problem, maybe yours as well was to add shims to drop that blower wheel about a millimeter, so glued in fiber washers, had to flatten one edge of them for hole clearance.

View attachment 167785

Motor is still out, ha, have take a nap first, but almost dead positive this will work.

Then photos of the blower motor itself.

View attachment 167793 View attachment 167801

I won't even attempt to remove that blower motor wheel, know for a fact it will break, hot pressed on, why they had to start doing this tees me off, use to use a flat shaft and a thread nut, then a palnut, now this. In terms of the bearing, the one by the blower wheel takes the worse beating, has all the load on it. In 1976, a brand new blower motor for like a Buick with screws, replaceable brushes, and bearings, at dealers retail prices was 6 bucks. This for best price of over 90 bucks is throwaway.

Back then were also using machined wire wound pole pieces, now cheap molded permanent magnets. Should be cheaper than 6 bucks. To see what I was doing, moved the passenger seat way back and fully reclined it. Ha, at my age had a bit of problem getting out, but no problems getting in. Did lay an old pillow on the floor, nice place to take a nap.

Hope this helps.

 

[spacedout]

Nick D, will be interesting to see if your fix lasts. My blower motor has been making the chirping for along time now, but only at 1-2 fan speeds. If I put on 3-4(max for my 2012) its quiet as can be. Allot of the time just switching to 3-4 then back to 1-2 it will quite right down.

 

[NickD]

Got it back together, no air leakage under the blower but adding those shims, can feel that slightly extra clearance through the cabin filter hole. Have to say its working fine and time will tell.

But now I am wondering if the reason for this noise, was that the three 3/16" head screws securing the blower motor worked loose, effortless to remove them. And by sticking my hand through the cabin filter hole, I could feel some play on the motor armature shaft. Not feeling that play now and the three screws are tight.

Ha, according to the shop labor time, should only take 0.5 hours to replace the blower motor, took me that long to get out of the car laying flat on my back. But I think they calculated the labor time with the entire MVAC module sitting on a bench, and not in the car.

Also tells the skill level required to do this job, this is rated at a skill level "B". Here is the chart.

"A = Certified [COLOR=#c80000 !important][FONT=inherit !important][COLOR=#c80000 !important][FONT=inherit !important]mechanic[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR] with at least 10 years of work experience on the
make in question. With all the proper [COLOR=#c80000 !important][FONT=inherit !important][COLOR=#c80000 !important][FONT=inherit !important]tools[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR] and parts access.

B = Good technician that has 5-10 years working on many makes, Has the
proper tools but may not work on just the brand in question.

C = The guy who just moved out from under the lube rack and wants to
advance up. May have the tools but not the practical experience or training."

Personally feel my 5' 2" 120 pound wife would have had a much easier time at doing this job. Am a foot taller plus an extra 85 pounds. So this puts me at a skill level "F".

This was a far easier job for me.

View attachment 167809

 

[ChevyGuy]

Rather than adding shims, I wonder about shaving the wheel so it doesn't rub.

 

[zen_]

Nick, is your fix with the washer offset to fix a blower that is already making the chirping / scraping sound, or to prevent a new one from being damaged (and making the same noise)?

 

[NickD]

Is the original blower motor making one heck of a racket, blower wheel was rubbing against that plastic shroud. Motor with blower ran very quiet on my bench. Shims gave just one mm more of clearance. Had to take a long drive today, nice and quiet.

Feel the designers just didn't give enough clearance, doesn't have to be that tight. Ha, been correctly stuff like this most of my engineering life.

 

[jmooney5115]

Hi all. Our Cruze with 54k miles has an annoying blower motor, talk about convenience. It started after the warranty ran out and has gotten louder. So much so that I want to replace it.

What is a good one to buy, Ebay or generic autoparts store brand? I want to change this once and be done.

ACDelco 15 81637 New Blower Motor with Wheel | eBay
ToughOne or Factory Flanged Vented CCW Blower Motor w/ Wheel 76904: Advance Auto Parts
13263279 HVAC Blower Motor w Jumper Harness Buick Lacrosse Chevy Cruze Malibu | eBay