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Insulation in blower motor wheel
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GMartin
New User
Dec 28, 2022, 9:22 PM
Post #1 of 5
(2644 views)
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Insulation in blower motor wheel
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2016 BMW X3
Recently my heat wouldn’t put out much air and there was a loud vibration in the dash when I would turn on the heat or air conditioning. I pulled my cabin air filter and gained access to the flywheel above the blower motor. It was filled with pink insulation. Right above and to the right (when looking from the front of the car) of the flywheel is tons of tightly packed in pink insulation. No panel or mesh covering to keep it from falling into the flywheel of the blower motor. It seems like something is missing or has deteriorated and my initial thought was to get rid of this pink insulation, but it seems packed in so thoroughly that it feels intentional. Has anyone seen this before?
I cleaned out the flywheel and it is no longer out of balance, so the heat/ac is working correctly and quiet. Clearly the insulation caused an imbalance that made for the noise and lack of air. Should I pull the remaining insulation to prevent this from happening again? Is there some type of panel or spray sealant that should be put on the insulation to hold it in place?
Any help or ideas would be great.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Dec 28, 2022, 11:15 PM
Post #2 of 5
(2624 views)
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Re: Insulation in blower motor wheel
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Quick read, sorry. Typical critter issues. Pink isn't likely from this car but could be.
Nests like that more common with low use cars can be a horror to clear out in some.
That wheel is balanced notice a weight on it just BTW.
What to do? Clear out as much as you can go easy you can use those lost tool grabbers with claws do anything not to damage heater core or evaporator.
Tricks some say work to stop this AFTER the fix.
1. Park in different spot or reverse how parked?
2. Rat poison - your call it doesn't work well anymore has to be child safe.
Real mothballs hard to find are/were OK look for "paradichlorobenzene" is the real stuff others are fake.
IDK but think critters leave when you run car expect it back??
> No pun on my avatar but install a good barn cat (don't feed it) problem is when they are done they leave - hard to win!
Tom
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GMartin
New User
Dec 29, 2022, 10:46 AM
Post #3 of 5
(2595 views)
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Re: Insulation in blower motor wheel
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I thought of this, but wasn't too sure. This car is moved daily and I put roughly 50K miles a year on the vehicle in my travels.
With all of my research, I cannot see a single instance of this type of insulation being anywhere near air intake to the blower motor. I will remove the insulation and remove the blower motor to clean it out properly.
Thank you for the thoughts!
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Dec 29, 2022, 11:49 AM
Post #4 of 5
(2588 views)
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Re: Insulation in blower motor wheel
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I don't recall pink like used in buildings? Bad luck some critter found some and brought it along no doubt,
T
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santoss2
New User
Jan 6, 2023, 8:06 AM
Post #5 of 5
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Re: Insulation in blower motor wheel
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It is possible that the pink insulation you found is a type of soundproofing material that was used by the manufacturer to reduce noise and vibration in the cabin of your BMW X3. It is common for automakers to use a variety of soundproofing materials in the construction of vehicles to improve the overall driving experience.
https://autothema.de/autopflege/klimaanlagenreiniger-test/
It is not uncommon for some of these materials to become loose over time and fall into areas where they can cause problems, such as the blower motor in your case. If you have removed the insulation and the heat/AC is working correctly and quietly, you may not need to do anything further.
However, if you are concerned about the possibility of the insulation falling into the blower motor again, you may want to consider sealing the area where the insulation is located to prevent it from falling into the motor again. You could use a spray sealant or a panel to cover the insulation and hold it in place. If you are not comfortable doing this yourself, you may want to consider having the work done by a professional mechanic.
(This post was edited by santoss2 on Jan 7, 2023, 3:42 PM)
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