Due to dust and dirt accumulation, my motor furnace motor is whining. How do I clean the internal parts?
The blower motor, squirrel cage (fan) and its housing can be removed as a whole part. Disconnect the wiring harness to the motor, remove the ground wire. Look for a couple of screws that mount the blower housing to the furnace. they will 5/16 head size and usually be at the top. The bottom slides into a metal notch on the frame. With a little work and maybe a few cuss words, pull the whole thing out. A shop vac or air compressor will remove the dirt. Some dirt may be determined to stay, so a stiff bristle brush may be needed. Replace in opposite way you removed it. If the whistle remains, check the duct work and metal panels, and anywhere there is a gap or tape. This may be the cause of the whistling noise, but cleaning the vent holes in the motor and the fan blades cant hurt and will help the efficiency of the system and increase the life of the equipment. If the whining is the little vent motor up top, then try oiling with a thin turbine type oil, or just replace it, as they are relatively cheap. If you are asking about cleaning the internal parts of the motor, I wouldn't recommend doing that. If there is an oil port on the motor housing, use the oil I recommended earlier. Most likely it has a sleeve bearing not a roller type, so that's about it.
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Just an FYI. I wasn't asking how to clean the internal part of the motor, I was asking how best to clean the internal portion of the housing when you take the front cover off. (smile) It's VERY hard to get my hands inside to clean in there; nevertheless a vacuum hose. Also, there is no whistle sound, just a slight odor coming out of the heat registers and a sound when the blower motor kicks on, I'm guessing because of the dirt and debris buildup. Thank you!
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