RHD W123 blower motor location?

[MichaelMB]

For a RHD W123 coupe without aircon, where is the blower motor located and can it be removed without taking out the dash board?
Internet searches only tell me that LHD cars with Aircon have it on the right hand side accessed behind the glovebox. Where is it for RHD without factory air con please?

 

[gassygassy]

Guess! Aarrgh it is indeed hidden inside the dashboard. Mine only works on full blast, and then it makes horrible terminal-sounding grinding noises. I have had this before on W124s, which are easy peasy to get out from under the bonnet, oil, and replace and then life is warm and serene. Not with the W123.
You can get a glimpse of the blower if you look from outside - I can't remember which bit to remove, I think it's the nearside fresh air inlet grille just in front of the windscreen. You can squirt WD40 or whatever you like into the vicinity of the motor bearings but it won't make any difference.
Seems to me that you have to first remove the steering wheel, and that is where I came unstuck. You need a big allen key to fit the bolt in the centre, and I think you would need an air hammer wrench to undo it while you hold the steering wheel still. I do have the required Allen key which fits a 1/2 inch drive socket but using a rachet or power bar just exerts a sideways force on the key so it pops out. You need to hold the key in the bolt while just exerting anticlockwise force on it and no sideways force. There is a special tool of course, which mere mortals do not have access to. Then you will need the two week factory training course in how to remove the dashboard.
I have tried to get at the blower by removing all the controls such as temperature and fan speed panel, the gearbox surround, radio surround but I just cannot. I am going to have to give it to a specialist classic merc chappie, and fortunately there is one about 20 miles away. Not on a bus route though . . . . . .

 

[MichaelMB]

Guess! Aarrgh it is indeed hidden inside the dashboard. Mine only works on full blast, and then it makes horrible terminal-sounding grinding noises. I have had this before on W124s, which are easy peasy to get out from under the bonnet, oil, and replace and then life is warm and serene. Not with the W123.
You can get a glimpse of the blower if you look from outside - I can't remember which bit to remove, I think it's the nearside fresh air inlet grille just in front of the windscreen. You can squirt WD40 or whatever you like into the vicinity of the motor bearings but it won't make any difference.
Seems to me that you have to first remove the steering wheel, and that is where I came unstuck. You need a big allen key to fit the bolt in the centre, and I think you would need an air hammer wrench to undo it while you hold the steering wheel still. I do have the required Allen key which fits a 1/2 inch drive socket but using a rachet or power bar just exerts a sideways force on the key so it pops out. You need to hold the key in the bolt while just exerting anticlockwise force on it and no sideways force. There is a special tool of course, which mere mortals do not have access to. Then you will need the two week factory training course in how to remove the dashboard.
I have tried to get at the blower by removing all the controls such as temperature and fan speed panel, the gearbox surround, radio surround but I just cannot. I am going to have to give it to a specialist classic merc chappie, and fortunately there is one about 20 miles away. Not on a bus route though . . . . . .

Thanks, that's helpful. The info I could find seems to have been for US or other LHD W123s with a HEVAC unit easily accessible behind the passenger glovebox on the right side.
The reason for my Q is that a resprayed W123 coupe has come to my attention. It has no A/C which in a way is good as I hear it is troublesome on this car, but I'd like it. A fantasy is to fit a very aftermarket modern unit and duct it's cold air directly into the standard blower box....but it needs to be fairly accessible. Anyhow, I fear that the seller of the car in question has done a low grade job to turn a rotbox into an apparent gem as cheaply as possible so I may not pursue that car!

 

[gassygassy]

If anything I would say that I think the blower is towards the left side (facing forwards) on my RHD car. But it would be logical for it to be in the centre. Maybe I only think it is towards the left because I removed the grille in the bulkhead and I could see the motor from there.
As I see you are in Summerset I wouldn't bother with a/c. As Charles Faraday would have said : if you are too hot, open the window. Mine also has a steel sun roof. Remember those? they were a very expensive accessory and all the rage in the 1980's.


Actually now I look again at the photo, I wonder if I should try removing the driver's side grille and see if I can get some oil on the bearings from there. If I could even only get it to work quietly on full blast that would be an improvement. I think the speed control resistor (s) has / have gone as well because it doesn't do anything on the intermediate speeds. That however could be nothing more than the bearing resistances preventing it from rotating at lower voltages.