QuadraFire 812-4400 Blower Motor Differences from 2006 and 2021

[maraakate]

My blower motor started getting a noisy bearing in my 2006 Santa Fe. I needed the fan, didn't have time to get new bearings and replace them. Got it from the dealer. It includes a new housing that uses threaded screws instead of the self tapping sheet metal screws. They're also smaller so if you don't replace the housing (which I didn't because it looks like a lot has to come off, and there is a screw on the other side that I believe you have to take the center fire brick out and/or hopper housing to get to) and try to use the original screws they won't get past the holes in the plate so you can slide it for easy on/off. You have to use those single slots and just line it all up the hard way. The fan blade profile is different. Smaller than the original.

I've attached some pictures so you can see the difference and hopefully this helps someone else out there. If the set screw on the original assembly wasn't rusted I would have swapped the mounting plates, but had no choice at the moment.

 

[maraakate]

Also, if you're back there and replacing the fan, but keeping the housing check in there. I had a lot of old crud in there I cleaned out. Guess that will be part of my yearly maintenance.

Another thing I found interesting is the included gasket is the ceramic fiber in the kit. Yet, the new official gasket individually is the red silicone one. Guess it doesn't really matter which one you use, but the red silicone one is reusable if you handle it OK.

I am curious about replacing the housing, as mentioned in the previous post there's quite a bit of work involved to do so. Has anyone done this before? It also looks like part of the plate that comes off to expose the housing has some black rubber sealant in various spots. I assume this is to reduce vibration? If yes, what kind do you need? I assume it would have to be rated for high temp. Is there any advantage to swapping out the housing with the new one besides just being able to use the newer threaded screws?