My 10 yr old Carrier 8000VS furnace has been running all week (heating fine the area near the furnace but not the distant areas of the house)without the blower motor functioning, so I assume I have a bad blower motor.
The cost for a replacement motor is an astronomical $1400 so I am hoping for a cheaper fix. Could there be another (cheaper fix) cause for this problem? If not, perhaps a cheaper solution such as replacing it with a cheaper (non-variable speed)motor?

Geeze, for another 1400 or less, you could have a complete new furnace installed (at least some brands). I think I would get another company in to give you another bid. That sure seems like an aweful lot for just a motor, variable or not. Get another pro in there and see what they say..

Thanks - I was hoping for an answer from an HVAC tech not a plumbing expert. Anyway, I did confirm the price with the Carrier supply house.

From HVAC Tech, or from plumbing expert,the advice is still the same, get another opinion

Fair enough. Im actually with a plumbing AND Heating company. We don't deal with much carrier product, so I guess I was out of line with my original statement. Good to know there are extremely overpriced parts on the carriers these days. Of course, everything is overpriced these days. If that's the price from the supply house, then there's your answer. If you feel comfortable changing it out yourself, you can at least save some money on labor. Good luck, take care.

Thanks wmproop. We know where we stand:)

Yes a non-variable speed blower can be put in its place at a cheaper price. A relay will need to be added and if you use a Carrier thermostat it will need to be set up for a "G" call for heat or air. It should save you around $900.

Thanks everyone. A call to Carrier tech support said that it could be the speed control board (if not the blower itself) but even the board cost $500. I already have the blower motor out so would need to put it back to do the troubleshooting on the board. Also they said it is most likely the blower motor since it is 10 yrs old. I did find the Carrier blower motor online for $969 but that is still an outrageous price. I do however have a spare 3/4 hp universal type(non-variable) blower motor. Can this be used to swap out the 1 hp Carrier variable speed or does it need to be aother 1 hp? I already have the Carrier blower motor out, so I would like to proceed with installeing new blower motor.
T-Top: can you provide more details on that relay that needs to be added?

If you can give the full model # of your furnace. I think with a flip of a dip switch on the control board you can lock your blower in high speed. It takes the variable speed out of the equation.

thanks for your help. The model # 58 UHV / 58 UXV . Can I not eliminate the speed control board and operate blower motor off main control board? Also is 3/4 hp universal blower motor an OK swap for the 1 hp Carrier variable blower motor?

Swap out done - went great - have heat - moral of the story: I did get 10 yrs with no repairs but still - no more Carrier variable-speed furnaces for me - replacement parts are way too expensive!

There is a $1 1A thermistor on the control board mounted on the end of the motor that is prone to failure/melting.
Replace the part.