Mullendore Port

[Wildthings]

Terry, you keep coming up with weak lame excuses for why this good idea won't work and you refuse to consider how easy it is to come up with solutions to what minor problems do exist. A 12 inch long 3/16 diameter bit could easily drill a hole in the fan hub while its installed in the van. I don't know if all fan hubs have the letters shown in the picture I posted, but for the ones that do, a hole drilled right through the letters will locate the hole very well for lubricating the bearings. For fan hubs that do not have the letters embossed on them, I am sure that some resourceful Samba member will come up with a flawless way to do it and pass his ideas on to the larger community.

[snoop]

Hiya volks folks,

Just another endorsement of Karl's generous and kindly offered fan maintenance technique...worked great on my van!

Not much to add re: procedure, would simply echo Karl when he recommended using a small LED headlamp or flexlight held over the air intake cowling to illuminate the location of the fan shaft and deprivation when he recommended an approximately 12" section of tubing placed over the little red tube that comes with WD-40 cans. I had to drill out the base of the nozzle from the WD-40 can in order to fit it to the silicon lube can's outlet tube so that I could use the little red tube with the silicon lube can, but all in all, it made it pretty easy to deliver the lube to the shaft and coupled with a little rubber cap over the cowling hole, I consider this a wonderful way to faciliate maintenance of function of an important system of my van (no rear heater...12" sub instead ).

THANKS KARL!!!

mike
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87 Westy Camper

[indytriple]

Put another one in the books. Squeak is gone in my passenger van. Used Boeshield T-9 to lube the bearing.

**EDIT**
After using Boeshield T-9, the fan began to squeak again about a week or two after. The T-9 is fantastic for lots of things, but I don't think the T-9 has enough penetrating properties for this application. I then lubed it with Aerokroil (one of the best things on the planet!) penetrating oil, and it has worked quietly ever since.
**END EDIT**

Ran the fan on low when applying to help pull lube in while spraying gently to avoid much overspray.

Forgive the poor quality of the pictures below. It's hard to get arthroscopic surgery pictures with a $200 digital camera.

Here's a picture of the hole with a blurry view of the motor bearing inside:

Here is a another view of the blower fan motor bearing looking through the hole:

I hung my camping LED headlamp over the edge of the sheet metal lip and aimed it towards the motor. This provided plenty of light for the surgery:

I do think that spraying lube indiscriminantly through the hole is a bad idea. To apply lube directly to the bearing I put two red plastic spray tubes together with a 1/2" length of sheathing from some 16 gauge wire I had laying around. This allowed me just enough length to touch the end of the spray tube to the bearing and apply it directly.

With one of the coldest, snowiest Decembers on record here in the frozen tundra, I'm sure glad that my fan is quiet. I was able to spend time with my family instead of pulling the dash. The motor in the Westy is toast, so I won't be able to avoid major dash surgery there.
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"See The Glass As Already Broken."

87 Vanagon Westy Auto Bostig

www.bluegrassbicyclecompany.com

[teej]

Add one more successful operation to the tally. I did this too a couple days ago--worked great. Many thanks to Mr. Mullendore! I used a camping headlamp in the same manner as the previous post. Found a 1/2" hole plug at the local Ace hardware for 23 cents, so I drilled a 1/2" hole for the operation. A couple skinny coffee straws splinted with a bit of tubing made a perfect extension to the Triflow straw.

Did anyone else think it might work even better to locate the hole about 1-1/2" towards the driver? Like on the driver's side of the little vertical rib in the picture? To me it seems that would allow a little more diagonal approach with the straw and slightly better viewing and access of the bearing.

Small matter, it worked as described and I appreciate this tip very much!

[Ahwahnee]

Me too, thanks Karl. So simple & effective. BTW, I used this to drill the hole... a pretty useful tool for quick neat sheet metals holes in a range of sizes:

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-titanium-nitride-coated-high-speed-steel-step-drills-91616.html

[Worms]

Mine has alittle squeak every now and then.

I only use the van occasionally anyway.....

I'm a hospital biomed, I wonder if I could tell one of the OR's that their laproscopy tower needs a service... I could take VERY detailed photos then

It might involve being fired though....

I'd second the Wurth HHS - brilliant stuff - it goes in runny, and thickens to a good high pressure lube.

Allan.

[wiartonallan]

Another one for the list. My 86 Syncro had a heater blower that was U/S for a year or so. Never got around to the dash removal. Yesterday I tried Ken's method but no joy. No joy until I let it sit overnight. Today the blower is perfect on all speeds! Brilliant!
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wiartonallan

85 Westfalia/Bostig
18 Tigun
08 Frieghtliner Sprinter

[buspor63]

I did it too. I just did the quick and dirty spray through the hole way. Mine oil of choice is Justice Brothers JB80, it did have an odor for a couple of days though......now it they was only a topical spray for the rear heater leak
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Imagine that, theres not an "h" in either Westfalia or Syncro?

[?Waldo?]

[Zeitgeist 13]

Perhaps Ken knoweth the frequency
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Ahwahnee]

I think Ken is the voice in Karl's head that comes up with these ideas.

[BlackDogVan]

[wiartonallan]

[SirIvor70]

Another successful bearing lubrication via Karl's method.

Thanks Karl...much appreciated.

[stumpy]

Excuse me if my suggestion is not worthy, but what is wrong with drilling a Larger Hole or two so you can get a view of where the blower is?? You can close the hole with a couple of rubber gromets when you are through and have access for the future!

[dhaavers]

[Wildthings]

[erdonline]

[purplegodzilla]

Oh wow, it works. I blasted PB blaster inside (can't really see it well but in the vincinity) and waited for about 10 minutes. Turned the fan on and I can hear it kicks in. Turned it off and sprayed again. It is running smooth now. I am so glad this works. Poped in a plastic cap from home depot and it sits flush with the hole. I drilled a 5/8 hole with the stepper drill from harbor freight.

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1995 Eurovan Camper (SOLD)
1971 Westfalia (SOLD)
1991 Westfalia (SOLD)
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o292/purpleGORILLA/P1020720.jpg
1985 Westfalia

[campism]

Drilled a hole and sprayed blindly with PB. Works well enough for me. Great idea.