Hey all, I'm in need of a Sofica? heater blower motor (fan) for my 82. I know there were two types; Behr and Sofica? I need the second one(I pulled the cover and read the name on it, but forgot how it was spelled), I know they are not interchangeable. Mine runs smooth until it decides to scream like it's going to explode:eyecrazy, which you don't know when it will do that. Some days it'll run fine, other days it'll scream every single time you turn it on. I'm needing to do this because, well it's getting colder and I'm driveing the Bimmer more. I just love to drive this car!!:buttrock Let me know. David

mine did that for a bit and then locked up and burned the fuse out. i pulled it out and cleaned it as well as i can but the bushings are bad so it just fries the fuses each time i turn it on. i need a blower fan also but i don't know the brand. mine is an 82 also

Buseman, they made two different not interchangeable blower fans for these cars. You have to pull the black cover off just below the windsheild, and look for some id number or name. It's pretty easy to take the cover off, it only has about eight screws. Bump for still needing a Sofica blower fan. David

i absolutely need one too! PM me if you are ready to ship!

Can the Sofica bushings be refurbished? They want a stupid amount of money to buy a new one. I was quoted over $300. The nice Bosch unit that is used with the a/c unit under the dash was only about $120 but as mentioned earlier - not compatible.

If anyone knows how to refurbish these please let us know. I'm definitely in a situation as well.
Rob

Looks like we are all in the same boat. Bavauto has them new for $325.00:eek:

Looks like we are all in the same boat. Bavauto has them new for $325.00:eek:

You know, if we can find a third person to go in on this with us it won't be so expensive - sharing could be an issue though........:)

they don't seem to be replaceable. i took mine out right before i came on yesterday but didn't note the brand as i thought when i cleaned it up and greased it that it was fixed. mine worked great for half an hour and then whined and fried the fuse once more. the bushings are brass and are pressed onto the steel shaft that the armature for the motor is wound around. the plastic squirrel cage that is the fans blades is also some how permanently attached to the steel shaft. i looked at it nice and hard yesterday trying to see if it could be easily rebuilt like the power motors for the windows on power window bmws but they are not. you can change the brushes and thats about it

my motor works fine but i have a broken cage and a alignment piece all fubared

and the good news just keeps on coming! :rolleyes

I'm digging into mine this evening but based on the comments so far it doesn't sound good. All these pressed on parts and crap that can't be replaced, what a drag.

Rob

I have removed the small allen screws - the hold the squirrel cages in place on either end. Is there some other trick to removing the cage that I'm missing because the cages simply turn on the rods but don't actually come off??

yup, a drag for sure.

forgive my ignorance but can someone tell me why I can't use the electric motor that was used for the a/c blower in place of the Sofica motor?They do look pretty much the same and although I'm not positive yet, I think I can switch the cages from one motor to the other - or is this just a pipe dream??

the only wa to find out is for you to try it man. no one has probably tried it before

the only wa to find out is for you to try it man. no one has probably tried it before

Previous to today the only blower motor I looked at was from a parts car I have access too. That motor is a Sofica and the bushing was crap so it was a none starter. This car was built in May or June of 81.

This afternoon I actually removed the blower motor from my car which was built in November 81. Wasn't I surprised to find that my blower motor was a Bosch not a Sofica. Also, the squirrel cages were the same size but were pink in color and simply pressure fitted to the shaft of the motor. I compared the part number to my A/C blower motor and they were only slightly different at the end of the part number. Also, one of the two wire connections needed to be changed male/female.

I did a quick test with a buddy and found that when I wired the a/c motor to the car and switched between I II and III the motor worked like a champ!!

From there I cleaned up the a/c motor (which is already in great condition), removed the squirrel cages from the original Bosch blower motor and pressed them into place on the a/c motor (hammer was necessary and you need to be very careful with the shaft). I then measured to ensure I had my distances correct on the cages.
I did the install and I have a perfect fan at all speeds - I am VERY pleased. :buttrock

The long and the short of it is that you CAN use the a/c blower motor. I was lucky to have the Bosch cages as the shaft insert hole is exactly the right size. You can use the Sofica but you will need to drill out the insert hole(and it is doable). The other advantage to the Sofica cage is that there are pressure screws to hold the cage on the shaft.

The Sofica cages were a bear to remove even after the pressure screws were removed. Be careful if you are pounding on the end of the shaft because you can mushroom the shaft which makes for a rather shitty situation.

I wonder if the Bosch blower motor that I found on my car was original equipment in my model and later?

I think y'all have realized by now that absolutly everyone needs a new blower motor, most just live without it. I actually did disassemble the motor and made new bushings for it one time years ago, it didn't last long before it started squealing again and I never bothered to investigate a second time. I used brass, probably a teflon bushing would be better if I ever get around to doing it again. Thats great that the a/c one can work, most of us have one of those lying around and they aren't worn out nearly as much. Be careful when changing those blades though, they are really brittle.

I think y'all have realized by now that absolutly everyone needs a new blower motor, most just live without it. I actually did disassemble the motor and made new bushings for it one time years ago, it didn't last long before it started squealing again and I never bothered to investigate a second time. I used brass, probably a teflon bushing would be better if I ever get around to doing it again. Thats great that the a/c one can work, most of us have one of those lying around and they aren't worn out nearly as much. Be careful when changing those blades though, they are really brittle.

+1 on the brittle blades. You have to use good judgement on how much pulling and prodding you can get away with when dealing with the cages. I actually broke one side on the Sofica.

that is good info on the ac swap. i have a parts e28 that i can pull the blower from to test it out