Blower motor swap

[Rob Gaskin]

The Honda motor description talks about pulse width modulation as the method of speed control. Could you use the Honda speed control and do away with the resistor pack?

I don't know John. I don't have the Honda speed controller, I can hopefully control the motor with the Datsun switch and resistors in the 'housing'. I'm expecting more volume and speed of air. As you know electrical equipment on cars has improved enormously since the 70s.

Datsun rear window demisters, heater fans, wiper motors, column controls, instrument lighting, alternators and headlights are poor and IMO need upgrading.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

I haven't had time to install the motor yet but I have tested it and compared it to the standard motor. Wow it is so much more powerful in all three settings, however I don't know what current it's 'pulling'.

As mentioned on this very useful thread by John: https://zclub.net/community/index.php?threads/heater-blower-wiring.25304/ most wiring diagrams for our Zs are useless, many don't even show a 'blower'.

Basically the 'ground' is switched to the motor via a resistor unit.

Yellow - Fast (no resistor)
Green - midrange (one resistor)
White - slow (two resistors)

 

[MaximG]

hi Zheads here are some picyure of the Kia blower upgrade


As you can see they are very similar . this motor is out off a Kia sodona but its a motor put in many Kia all you needis a PPT20 .
All i have done is trim the housing about 5mm with a angle grinder and dremmel . Then i looked at the fit all the holes line up and the electrical connection is the same on my 280z but if you had a 240z just solder a T plug on.
you dont need to fit the spacer as the fan clears anyway but shorter bolts are required . In the US blogs they say the fan greatly improved . hope this blog helps thanks for looking ChrisView attachment 36616 View attachment 36617 View attachment 36618 View attachment 36619 View attachment 36620 View attachment 36616 View attachment 36617 View attachment 36618 View attachment 36619 View attachment 36620 View attachment 36616 View attachment 36617 View attachment 36618 View attachment 36619 View attachment 36620 View attachment 36616 View attachment 36617 View attachment 36618 View attachment 36619 View attachment 36620 View attachment 36616 View attachment 36617 View attachment 36618 View attachment 36619 View attachment 36620




View attachment 36616View attachment 36616

Chris I’m a little unclear despite all the photos what part of the housing you had to trim?

 

[chris frizzell]

you trim the large hole there the motor fits by about 4mm all the way round its the photo with the mounting hole . plugs into the original wiring loom and uses the control switch on the dash even spins the correct way . its a POP the easist upgrade i have done give it a go if all else fails but the old motor back in . the only down side is you realy need to take the blower out of the car to make trimming a little simpler as sparks go all over the shop thanks chris

 

[chris frizzell]

just plug and play no modification are need as it plugs into the original datsun loom all you are doing is swapping the motor . trim the hole bigger to fit the new motor chris

 

[Rob Gaskin]

6 Jazz motor now fitted to housing. I had to cut about 8mm off the fan. As with the Kia mod this is an easy upgrade. The fan cost me a bit over £8 delivered!

 

[chris frizzell]

S Drive pot on Rob my 280z is slowly turning into a hybrid ie Kia fan .BMW fuel reguator ,land rover window felt runners and heater cables the goverment should be giving me money to drive it with all the enviroment iam saving . Drive a Datsun and save a polar bear . Chris

 

[MaximG]

View attachment 36728 View attachment 36726 6View attachment 36727 Jazz motor now fitted to housing. I had to cut about 8mm off the fan. As with the Kia mod this is an easy upgrade. The fan cost me a bit over £8 delivered!

Rob did you have to cut the housing down like Chris did?

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Rob did you have to cut the housing down like Chris did?

Mike, I haven't altered the fan housing in any way and it would work like this . However the motor doesn't quite fit but it's too big by a tiny amount (1mm?) but I'm going to mount it on rubber washers/seal to reduce noise so it will be fine then. I posted the pictures just to update folks that a Jazz motor (which is easily obtainable) will work.

 

[Turn & Burn]

I thought since the heater is accessible I’d have a go at the blower swap so I bought the Kia unit as Chris has done.
There’s a few things to be aware of here!
The Kia unit spins the opposite way to the Rhd 240/260z fan. I’m guessing Chris has a LHD car, with the blower on the rh side of the car which I believe is why it spins the other way. Check out my photos and the screenshot I’ve grabbed from Chris’ post.
The 280z blower is a 160w motor, the 240/260z (mine anyway) is an 80w motor. I’ve measured running current at 5.5A on my 260z motor which tbh is nearer a 66w @12v load. The Kia unit pulls 10A, so would need a bigger fuse, than the one installed. The Kia unit will not function in a rhd housing spinning backwards as it’s a centrifugal fan and needs to direct the air into the discharge scroll.
If I didn’t have to cut the housing I would flow test the Kia unit spinning backwards, current draw drops to 6.7A so I guess it’s a 35% drop in performance.

 

[MaximG]

Mike, I haven't altered the fan housing in any way and it would work like this . However the motor doesn't quite fit but it's too big by a tiny amount (1mm?) but I'm going to mount it on rubber washers/seal to reduce noise so it will be fine then. I posted the pictures just to update folks that a Jazz motor (which is easily obtainable) will work.

If I were to try a sway I wouldn’t want to cut the original housing hence my question. Also Turn & Burn has raised an interesting issue with the direction of rotation.

 

[chris frizzell]

hi thanks for the tip about the fuse will use a 25-30 amp . the blog was on a US web site so it was for a 280z missed the fact that a UK car may be different . could you just swap the wiring round ? as for the trimming you can still keep the old motor as the trim is very light . if one thing it says is do the Honda for rhd and the Kia for lhd .So still learning about S30 many thanks Chris

 

[Turn & Burn]

hi thanks for the tip about the fuse will use a 25-30 amp . the blog was on a US web site so it was for a 280z missed the fact that a UK car may be different . could you just swap the wiring round ? as for the trimming you can still keep the old motor as the trim is very light . if one thing it says is do the Honda for rhd and the Kia for lhd .So still learning about S30 many thanks Chris

Chris as u have a 160w motor (stamped on ur case) it’s already more powerful than the Kia unit (which is running at about 120w) you’ve put in, so no need for u to change the fuse. Any increase in performance you get will be down to a more efficient fan design.
The blades are curved to draw the air out from the centre (centrifugal effect), reversing the motor drops efficiency by about 35% so offers no benefit as an upgrade on a Uk car.
I’ll try to get a look at the blades on a Honda as I’ve seen the US guys mention this as an upgrade.

 

[Turn & Burn]

Had a quick look at the Honda Jazz unit, I reckon that these may also suit LHD cars better than RHD. The curve on the vanes is not as pronounced as the Kia one though so they would, as Rob says, still offer an upgrade.
If u have a Rhd car I think u need to be looking for a blade that curves upwards (like a cup) when looking at the fan blades as a clock face in a 3 o’clock position, if that makes sense.

 

[chris frizzell]

how do you know all this stuff ? still learning a good day at school thanks Chris . fan looks to be faster than the original one move more air for sure

 

[Turn & Burn]

Example....

 

[toopy]

The blades are curved to draw the air out from the centre (centrifugal effect), reversing the motor drops efficiency by about 35% so offers no benefit as an upgrade on a Uk car.

I cant remember exactly how the Z fan housing looks and works, but the blades on the fan in that last pic, look like they are arranged to pull air from the outside in, the curve on the blades wont be attacking the air at the right angle if its sucking air from the middle?

 

[Turn & Burn]

I cant remember exactly how the Z fan housing looks and works, but the blades on the fan in that last pic, look like they are arranged to pull air from the outside in, the curve on the blades wont be attacking the air at the right angle if its sucking air from the middle?

The motor spins the opposite way so air is thrown outwards

 

[toopy]

I think your missing the point, this pic that was posted earlier shows the blades/vans positioned in opposite directions, but both still have the part of the blade on the inside almost square on to air flow, therefore far less effecient for moving air inside to out, whatever way they are spinning. Happy to be corrected, but it makes no sense to me given the angle/curve of the blades that they are designed to move air from the middle out.

 

[Turn & Burn]

I think your missing the point, this pic that was posted earlier shows the blades/vans positioned in opposite directions, but both still have the part of the blade on the inside almost square on to air flow, therefore far less effecient for moving air inside to out, whatever way they are spinning. Happy to be corrected, but it makes no sense to me given the angle/curve of the blades that they are designed to move air from the middle out.

View attachment 36754

I think that’s the most efficient design for a ‘forward curve’ centrifugal fan of this type, the air is pulled in axially and flung out tangientally. I think it’s a fan design that’s delivers a very high flowrate for a given size. Try googling ‘forward curve fan’, they’re quite often used for building vent