Question:
I don't know what this part is called that we are trying to replace,
but I was hoping to get some advice about how to get it out. It's on a 1988
BMW 735i. It's a black plastic peice that is directly under the back of the
radio. It forms the top of a box around the heater core that air blows
through, and it has four or five actuator motors and air doors on it.
We took the dash off (there are lots of wires under there) and got the
front of the part free, but the back of it is stuck (the part closer to the
front of the car). Looking at the new peice, I saw six holes in the back
that might be for screws, but the screws would have to be in from the back.
So, starting from the other side of the firewall, I removed the blower motor
and now we at least have one or two small holes where one can see all the
way through from engine compartment to inside the car, but still can not see
what is holding the black plastic peice in place. The blower motor assembly
seems to be somewhat different from what is shown in the Bentley manual.
We could put everything back together like it was, but we were hoping to
actually get this peice replaced first because the old one is broken
Answer:
we found 4 screws removable from inside the car, one under each air
door on top the thing. We're thinking there are probably four more screws,
but not quite sure exactly where.
Sounds like you're trying to replace the top half of the heater box, due to
broken stepper motor brackets?
Unless you want to break old and new, you need to remove the heater box from
the car.
It's mounted through the firewall. You have to discharge the AC and remove
the lines, remove the heater hoses and remove the 4 nuts surrounding the
blower motor.
Remove the brackets securing the box to the floor inside and pull it out.
Then you can get to the screws securing the top half of the heater box.
