Hello SirJag,

I shall do as you recommend and not disturb what "ain't broke" as you Amerikaners are fond of saying.

I shall however consider embarking on a new business inasmuch as I am now equipped with a multi-purpose camera.

I occurred to me that I might establish a rental company for renting out said camera for purposes of do-it-yourself colonoscopies. Grabber available for modest additional fees. What do you think?

Anyway, good luck with your upcoming foam removal event. Lemme know you you're gettin' on.

Meistro

 

Well, I have to say that I'm a bit jealous of all you "pros" who knocked out the task in 15 mins or less. I went into my hot-as-hell garage... opened the garage doors... car windows... and struggled with what amounted to be a crap snake cam make in China that I bought from Ebay. I would have done better to pull my eyeball out of the socket and dropped it into the blower motor case--optic cord still attached. The picture quality (hooked up to my laptop) was not great, but more so, it was simply too hard to manipulate since the cam was on a regular cable with no rigidity. I wrapped it around a hanger, which helped. It did allow me to see foam, but the picture quality was so bad I couldn't make heads or tails out of it.

SO... sweating like a farm ox... I decided to forego the "high-tech" route and go the "low-tech" Burmaz path. I grabbed that same hanger... wrapped some duct tape around the top... and blindly jammed it into the blower motor box... wiggled it around like I was trying to kill a rat that had crawled inside... and after 2 unsuccessful fishing attempts, I managed to extract a 3" x 1" length of foam and I praised Burmaz's name! I excitedly turned the key and flipped the switch and ARGH... STILL NOISE!

While it sounded the same, I'm thinking that it might be coming from the RIGHT motor. (No, Meistro, I didn't pull the fuses first because it was clearly coming from the LEFT side... the foam seemed to confirm that. I should have done that just to be sure. Dummy me.)

Anyway... perhaps it's in both motors.

Would someone please tell me what fuses to pull to shut off the LEFT and RIGHT blower motors... and the location of those fuses? Mine is a 2001 VDP.

The saga continues. But I will say this. I will use the duct tape on the right side instead of the high-tech (crap) cam. Even with a good cam, I am now of the mindset that you really don't NEED to SEE the loose foam. You simply need to be able to MAKE CONTACT with it, which, in the confines of the tiny blower motor box, is not difficult to do. Of course, if the foam is JAMMED into something and not totally torn off, it's a different matter. And I guess if you have a GOOD cam (like Meistro), it sure can't hurt to know what you're going after.

So any help on the fuses would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading this tedious rant. I'm running on the "I can't believe that duct tape on a friggin' hanger actually pulled ANYTHING out, sight unseen!!" adrenaline. I'm so impressed with the concept, I'm considering subscribing to, "Adhesives Age."

SirJag

 

The blame does not really lie with China or Asia in general. They are willing to compete at all price points.

The real problem lies in what the consumer is willing to pay.

Here's a used one that at least sounds like it might not be made in China:

BOROSCOPE by AMTEC (AVIATION) | eBay

$6800.00

And if they are American branded goods, the blame lies with the importer because the importer decides the price and quality levels they can get away with.

Walmart pays under $3.75 for a jean jacket and skirt "ensemble". That includes cloth, thread, buttons, zippers, packaging, ticketing, boxing and labor. Walmart will take every opportunity to deduct fines for every possible contravention.

The manufacturer is profitable.

They even reduced it to $3.50 when Walmart came back and "renegotiated" the contract.

The upmarket designer brands are no better. They just have better margins.

 

Yeah, but which fuse should I pull?

SirJag

P.S. $6,800? I'm trying to pull out a piece of dirty 11 year-old foam rubber, not remove inflamed endometrial tissue.

 

Hello SirJag,

I am sorry that you are running into various buzz saws. Of course your language appears to turn somewhat more salty as this nightmare is dragging on.

I love the fact that you are blindly jamming and jabbing and shoving and pushing and snapping and snarling; alas, to no avail.

My camera has semi-rigid bendable cable which really made the difference; it stayed put.

My XJ8 is 1998; I would imagine the fuse location on the VDP should be the same: remove the carpeted panel under each backseat; the fuses are visible and clearly marked on the fuse cover. You might remove the fuse from the offending blower motor and just run the car with one blower only just to buy more time to fix it. It actually does a fairly credible job of cooling with just one motor and you'll be rid of the bloody noise.

You might be well advised to abstain from removing the eyeball at this point; they tend to be more expensive than the 6800 buck boroscope.

Good luck, SirJag
Meistro

 

Thanks, my ol' pal Meistro. It's a good thing I don't know where you live or I'd drive to your place and cajole you --the demonstrated pro -- into digging out the foam.

But alas... I'm going to go the fuse route next. I might be one of the lucky few who has loose foam on BOTH sides. Considering what else I've had to fix -- due to a previous owner who didn't deserve a Yugo, much less a VDP -- it's very likely the case.

More soon...

SirJag

 

There a power motor connectors (2 wire) clipped directly under the blower motor housing, just unplug

 

By all means, SirJag, start cajoling. My limited expertise and my camera are at your disposal. Just drag your mistress over here and maybe we can perform the necessary surgery. So . . . lemme know your email or whatever and I will give you directions.

The best of British luck
Meistro

 

Meistro, my man...

What year is your car and please tell me which fuses are for the left and right blower motors. No one seems to be answering this Q. Thanks!

SirJag

 

Hello SirJag

My car is a 1998 XJ8. The left blower motor fuse is under the left backseat and the right fuse under the right backseat. Very clearly marked as well. (Not of course the whole backseat, just when you sit down and by back of your feet).

You have to remove the trim under the seat for access; might be held in place with one philips head secrew in the center of the trim and very easy to take off. Good luck.

Later,
Meistro

 

i already told you to just unhook the blower motor connectors under eash assembly. Theyre clipped to the bottom of the curved part of the housing. 2 large wires i believe 1 is blue and 1 red. Theyre easier than the fuses

 

Thanks, I looked at that option thanks to your original post, but I saw more than 1 connector right near the blower motor. The post didn't say which was which. While I can't imagine anything easier than "pull fuse 11," but I'll look again, now that you've added more detail to your post. Many thanks...

SirJag

 

Well... thanks to good ol' Jim L's fuse ID info, I pulled the fuses for both blower motors one at a time and discovered that I fixed the LEFT motor foam issue, but there is an issue with the RIGHT one as well. Thanks, Murphy... you never fail me.

Now I'm faced with having to remove the glove box. Is this pretty easy and straightforward? It's time to go fishing with the old coat hanger and ball-o-duct tape.

Cheers,

SirJag

 

Glovebox removal, easy. from memory there's a row of 4? screws to remove at the top, open up the glovebox and you'll see them screwed to the dash.
Then close it up....
There's also a row along the bottom, I think these are torx head. Maybe 2 to locate it, and 2 to hold it. Once these have been removed, it's free to pull out, but make sure you undo the connector for the light.
Once it's out of the way, you've got the motor to attack, good luck!

 

Hi SirJag
Here is another PDF - Glove Box Removal & Install:

Jaguar XJ8 Glove Box R&I.pdf

Jim Lombardi

 

Thanks Sean. I saw the screws you mentioned, but there seems to also be an interior liner... a fuzzy shelf of sorts... that seems not connected to the glovebox insert. Without pulling out the glovebox first, I just didn't know what I'd be getting into. GB itself seems easy to remove... I'll give it a go... thank you!

SirJag

 

Uncle Jag Jim! Thanks so much my friend. That sure simplifies things. Exactly like Sean said. OK... I'll give it a go! <HANDSHAKE>

SirJag

 

I have a 99 XJ8 with the same problem. As suggested, I went in through the coin try opening with the recirculator door open. I removed the cross members, used an inspection mirror and flashlkight to look inside the motor on the passenger's side, but I can only see a small portion of the squirrel cage fan. Most of the fan is blcked by the fan motor. I am wondering if I am going about this incorrectly.

 

I have a 99 XJ8 with the same problem. As suggested, I went in through the coin try opening with the recirculator door open. I removed the cross members, used an inspection mirror and flashlight to look inside the motor on the passenger's side, but I can only see a small portion of the squirrel cage fan. Most of the fan is blocked by the fan motor. I am wondering if I am going about this incorrectly.

 

Yes, if you cant see the foam on the portion of the squirrel cage you can see, then you need to start/stop the motor till you can see on that area of visibility