![]() 09/27/2014 at 12:44 • Filed to: worklopnik, mazda, mazda3, zoom zoom | ![]() | ![]() |
Changing the blower motor will be fun, they said.
$180 part and 8.3 hours of labor..... I bet this customer was glad they have an extended warranty with a $0 deductible.
#justworkthings
![]() 09/27/2014 at 12:46 |
|
I have never heard of an easy blower motor change on any car ever. And my parents have run a shop for most of my life. Why would manufacturers not make such a failure-prone part easy to replace?
![]() 09/27/2014 at 12:47 |
|
because, reasons...
![]() 09/27/2014 at 12:48 |
|
Holy crap I semi- know your pain. Even just changing the cabin air filter on the Mazda3 took me two hours. It's two filters, and you need to have your feet at the headrests. Pulled a spider out of the filter and slammed my head on where the glovebox was, after I had to take it out to get to the stupid double filter. You hold one up, and have to slip the other under. Who designed that damn thing
Edit: words.
![]() 09/27/2014 at 12:48 |
|
I don't have a Mazda 3 but this makes me want to sell my car as soon as the warranty runs out and walk to work.
![]() 09/27/2014 at 12:52 |
|
Doing it on a Buick rendevouz was pretty easy.
![]() 09/27/2014 at 13:06 |
|
Easiest one I can think of: first-gen Ford Mustang and Ford Falcon:
You take loose these nuts, then split the blower off on the inside, and out comes the blower. If you knew what you were doing, you'd get it done in about 10 minutes.
Here the box is shown off the car, but it wouldn't actually have to come out all the way. Just pop the box off the inlet so it can move aside, and move the heater core a little on its hoses.
Even here, though, the blower *could* come out to the engine compartment and doesn't, making the job longer.
![]() 09/27/2014 at 13:07 |
|
I've heard tales of old Toyota pickups and some Detroit iron where the blower motor is right up under the dash and easy to remove.
![]() 09/27/2014 at 13:10 |
|
A lot of blower motors are that hard to do though. An F150 is way worse.
I loved the Mazda3 that I had, but nothing ever even broke on me when I had it.
![]() 09/27/2014 at 14:05 |
|
I pulled apart the glovebox of the Quest my wife had to do hers. Last person in there had crumpled it and it was blacker than black. Sucked more than the 3 (and 5) because at least those are surrounded by rigid plastic. The Quest was squishy paper and you had to put the first one in, push it up, then slide the second one in below it.
![]() 09/27/2014 at 14:05 |
|
Or get an extended warranty. Costs a bit, but the peace of mind is nice to have, especially if you own a problematic car.
![]() 09/27/2014 at 14:07 |
|
We sell very very few. In the past 10 years I have been here I can probably count on one hand how many we've done. Take two hands to count all the blower motors I had to re-order because they came in broken, like this one did originally. Damn UPS.
![]() 09/27/2014 at 15:25 |
|
I'm hoping it won't be problematic (too soon to tell). The extended warranty's are a little too pricey for my blood. The credit union where a customer of mine got a loan just sold them a 4 year 50,000 mile bumper to bumper policy for 800 bucks. That's dirt cheap but I wonder what it actually covers. Also, there is a 250 deductible.
![]() 09/27/2014 at 16:59 |
|
Dash surgery is the worst type of surgery on any car. I'd rather rebuild an autobox.