[DeTomaso] GUMBALL PANTERA AIR CONDITIONING

Thu Aug 2 17:24:32 EDT 2012

It could be your blower motor.  Mine started slowing down and blowing at inconsistent speeds, then sometimes wouldn't start, then stopped altogether.

Here are a collection of notes from former posts on the subject of replacement heater fan blower motors:

Heater Fan Motor Replacement
Source: http://realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2009-July/111672.html

They are a bitch to remove with the dash in place, mostly
because of the position you must get your body to access the area, but it can
be done; I have done this twice. Being young flexible and poor helps immensely.
The cuts, abrasions and bruises healed up quickly. It's a whole lot easier with
the dashboard out but that operation also has its problems. 

First, one fan housing must be removed. Along the top of the
fan housings are 3 small Phillips screws. There isn't much clearance so you'll
need a stubby Phillips driver. There are no screws on the bottom- the housing
simply hooks in place.   You'll need a
visual map of where the screws are 'cause they're invisible-you're doing this
by touch. 

Second, remove two screws holding the split-clamp, which
holds the fan motor in place.   

Third, un-clamp the innermost impeller from the motor shaft
(looks like a small fuel hose corbin-clamp) and remove the motor, then the
impeller. The squirrel-cage impellers are made of a very brittle plastic so be
extremely careful when extracting & inserting the assembly. If you crack an
impeller blade, the balance is thrown off and you will get lots of noise and
vibration. Fourth, removing the impellers from the shaft is simple, but they
can be reassembled in two ways- and one of those will not pump air (I had to
remove the assembly a second time to reverse the impellers. Reversing the DC
leads does not fix this- the blades are unidirectional). So mark the impeller
positions before removal.

There are several replacement motors available -'Fridgette'
makes one that works well (see Steve Hawkins' article - POCA Newsletter Aug
2004- but he removed the dash to do it). The vendors also have new replacement
motors in stock. John L Austin wrote a how-to-remove article for P.I in the early
'80s (unknown edition) that shows the whole job in detail, with illustrations,
of how to do this without removing the dash. After all the trouble removing the
assembly, in disassembling the stock motor he found one brush that had 'hung
up' so for him it was a no-cost/high-effort fix. If you are not young &
flexible, pull the dash or pay someone to do this. Good luck- J Deryke

Source: http://realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2009-July/111674.html
Know that there are two different heater-blower assemblies
and they are essentially not interchangeable from early to late cars without
altering lots of other stuff. The '71-72 is quite different from the '73-74,
and I wouldn't be surprised to find the wide-body cars used a 3rd variant. But
if all you want is the squirrel-cage fan assembly that interchanges.

Source: http://realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2009-July/111676.html
I bought one of these 3 speed blower motors from Air-Tique
before they closed. Has more power than stock unit and doesn't deface the
original appearance of the car! The generic name for seems to be BM4320. It is
available from other suppliers at reasonable prices.

Here's one but there are more:
 http://www.nostalgicairparts.com/air-conditioning/dual-shaft-three-speed-blower-motor-12-volt-422.php
Barry

Source: http://realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2009-July/111678.html
>The Euro parts catalogue lists one type of heater
system for cars up to 
>#1285, one for #1286 and up and one from car #1910
and up. 
>
>>>I found out the hard way that the three-speed
motor will NOT work in the 
first series cars; Stephane Bergeron tried to put one in
#1256 with no 
luck.   Fortunately he
was able to sell it to Roger Coates, who (I believe) 
successfully installed it in his GT5-S.

>The first two seem to have fresh air into the heater
box, the third 
>doesn't have it. That means that there's at least
one more version that has the 
>external fresh air ducting to the passenger side fan
intake. 
>
>>>The early cars ducted the air to the center
of the airbox, controlled 
with one of the three levers on the dash.   The USA-modified 'pull for fresh 
air' cars, I can't remember where their air comes in?   Then there was no 
fresh air induction for awhile, and then in mid-'73, air was
ducted from the 
right side of the car above the passenger' feet, into the
right side of the 
fan intake, with a box hung on the side of the heater box.

>The wide body cars have a completely different
control panel and vacuum 
>assisted controls, I assume they have a more or less
different heater 
>assembly too.
>
>>>That's a pretty safe bet--the later cars used
the unit straight out of 
contemporary Maseratis.

Source: http://realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2009-July/111681.html
The Ford parts book shows complete heater/AC assemblies:
D16Y-19850-C for both 1rst and 2nd series up to # 1910. (all
the cars with 3defroster vents)

D16Y-19850-D for #1910 to 5284 (1971-73 with 2 defrost
vents)except for #4974-4978, 4986-5209 & #5218.This is what my 72 pre-L
came with and there is NO provision for ANY freshair inlet into the interior or
the heater/AC unit !!!! none at all.

D36Y-19850-A 73-74 for #5284 to body service #52041. Also
used on the #4974-4978, 4986-5209 & #5218.
I don't know if these cars came with fresh air or not, but
maybe someone whohas one in that series will comment.

D46Y-19850-A 1974 from body service #52041 to the end of the
Ford/MercuryPantera program. These have a fresh air intake to the heater/AC
unit.  Barry

Source: 
I have posted one solution for using a 3 speed fan on the
POCA site at 
http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=9225

This scheme was worked out and implemented by Barry Seib in
2006 with minor help from me. It adds three common relays and provides  lo/med/hi speeds for the AC and med/hi speeds
for the heater  defroster.

Click on the 1515x2175 resolution in the upper right corner
and then save the jpg to your computer. You will get a really excellent drawing
with complete notes.

I am sure other solutions can be implemented, but this is
the one I know about.

Have fun,
 SOBill  Taylor
sobill
at aol.com 

71 Blower Assembly pictures: http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=28703

Source: http://realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2011-January/130909.html
FOR ALL who have asked about the replacement 3-speed blower
motor it came from Nostalgic Air Parts.  The part
# is BM4320 and the current price is $44.99.
My thanks to Larry French for directing me to that product. BTW,
I did get it installed and am putting the dash back in today.
Jim Gray

--- Original Message ---

Hi Bob,
Good to hear your ac is working, it is forecasted to be hot over the weekend.  The blower fan in the Pantera is normally considered to be adequate. 
Maybe you have a flap partially closed, a bad wiring connection (most common is at the blower resistor due to heat and the amperage, a loose 'squirrel cage' on the blower motor or a bad blower motor. 
Measuring voltages across a good ground and the motor power lead will give you something to start with.  Cheers
Brian On Aug 2, 2012, at 1:07 AM, LEVITT1946 at aol.com wrote: >Fellow Pantera Owners , >>First thank you for responding to my questions regarding the AC system in >my car . >>Tonight I changed the receiver drier; added about 2 oz of refrigerant oil >to the drier . Tightened up all fittings and proceeded to fill the system >with  R12. >>NO LEAKS and she held vacuum . >>She took 4 cans of 12 oz R12 and she is BLOWING COLD AIR . Only issue  is >the fan blows like a fart in a windstorm . >>Any ideas on how to get the fan to turn faster? >>Thank you again for your help and advice . >>>Best, >Bob Levitt