Morning, figured I would share -

My 2008 160,000 mile USA spec LR3 Blower Motor was 'chirping', mostly in fan speed 2 and 3. This started I guess around 6 months ago, and has been getting steadily worse.

So I decided to take it out, take a good look, clean it up, maybe lubricate if possible, put it back, and fingers crossed.

It worked I think..

This is NOT a step-by-step how-to, but I figured I would mention a few things which may help other people do the same thing.

Link to video I found which does a nice quick job of explaining how to remove the Blower Motor -

• If the link doesn't work, Just do a YouTube search for "LR3 Blower Motor Replacement"
• 12 seconds in, he mentions removing 2 screws (beneath the lowest glove compartment). These are black, Philips head, and you will find that they are 'floppy' when loosened, and obviously still attached to something - Just use your fingers or small pliers to wiggle them around a bit and pull them out. They have an unusual type of thread, some sort of 'cam' thread.
• 54 seconds in, white round plastic plug. 1 of these. This is what keeps the right-angled plastic airflow piece secured. This white plastic piece is actually 2 pieces - Basically a push-pin rivet setup. You may need to pull out the inner 1/8" diameter rivet first, in order to get the 'outer' piece removed or inserted back in - Push the inside rivet in, and it 'expands' the outer piece, so that the plastic airflow piece is held secure.
• 57 seconds in, removal of plastic airflow piece. This actually was the trickiest thing for me to deal with - Slightly more tricky when I was putting it back. I needed to mess around with it for a few minutes before I could get it out, and back in. Just make sure it is properly seated against the foam on the other plastic piece, next to the center console.
• 1 minute 7 seconds in, how to remove the actual motor. I used a Torx T20 Screwdriver. You can use whatever T20 tool is easiest for you. There are 3 bolts. You will need to be at a strange upside down angle to physically see 2 of the bolts, but you can quite easily get to these 3 bolts just by 'feel'.
• I recommend disconnecting the electrical connector with the motor still secured - My connector was tightly attached, and I needed to use a couple of different flat-head screwdrivers to gently pry it off.

Link to a quick video I made, talking about the actual motor, after I removed it - https://photos.app.goo.gl/3wjV1UcFA4UC1isT8

• My motor had zero dirt or debris in or around the fan blades (hamster cage...) - This is to be expected, since these vehicles have a Cabin Air Filter, which should stop any dust/dirt/debris getting onto the Motor.
• I was pleased to discover that I could easily remove a small 'panel' on the side of the Motor housing, in order to easily access the motor assembly enough, to clean (blow out / vacuum).
• I have never used an air compressor to blow out an electrical motor before - I just about freaked when I did it - A MASSIVE black dust cloud surrounded me and my garage workshop area! I therefore recommend that you do this outdoors. Not sure if that quantity of black motor dust is normal or not., but it was quite exciting for a moment.
• As I mention in the video, I used a couple of very carefully placed drops of general purpose oil where I thought the motor shaft joined to the housing. I suppose there is some sort of very small bearing assembly there. Not really possible to see it. Wasn't concerned - If the fix didn't work, I was prepared to buy a new motor anyway. (I do not know enough about motors to be confident that I could take the motor apart and rebuild it, and a new one is not very expensive).

Result - When I put the motor back together, it worked nice and smoothly in the sense that there were no weird vibrations, which was good, however I did still have the chirping. Decided to wait a week or so to see if this changed. Good news - It is now a week or so later, and the car has been driven a few miles at a few different times, with the fan on at various speeds, and the Chirping noise has 100% gone - I am assuming the small drops of oil needed some time to get where they needed to be.

That 'chirping' was kind of annoying - Glad it's fixed. Not sure how long it will remain silent - I'll just swap out with a new motor if necessary. Quick and easy job.

Cheers, Simon

 

Nice write up thanks for taking the time to do it.

Stickied

 

Nice work Simon!

 

LOL... this is my first post, I actually came across this today randomly surfing on the firestick, SO THANKS, quick and to the point!!!

 

Very useful information. Thanks for post. The blower motor in my 135,000 mile 05 LR3 has been making noise for some time. Need to put this job on my to do list. I try to do what ever repair/maintenance on my LR that I can to save some money since shop repair on just about any vehicles is so expensive. Especially since LR's are worth more to the owners when compared to book value. Just recently replaced the original thermostat to get rid of a check engine light. Easy job and cost me $75 for the OEM part. Need to get a code reader. Cost me $65 to get the error code read.

 

This might be the single most concise statement I've ever read on this forum!

 

Figured I would report back, with an update -

• So far, the 'fix' worked - I am now at 180,000 miles, i.e. 20,000 miles more than January 2020, and throughout the Summer, there was ZERO 'chirping' of the Blower Motor.
• I think I recall that it did however occasionally chirp-chirp when it was still Winter, here in Wisconsin, i.e. from end of January for a couple of months.
• Before I pull out the motor and repeat the process (clean the motor assembly and add a little more oil) I think I will wait until it gets cold here, and see if the noises start up again (I would expect it to be noisier in colder weather).

Cheers, Simon.

 

In LR3 there is only one Blower/Fan right ..not one on each side.

 

Correct. Just one blower motor, behind the Glovebox.

 

Does someone know the parts number/name for the plastic airflow piece that was removed for the blower motor removal?
when I was removing my blower motor, I have noticed that this plastic duct was missing but I was not able to find this part.