Ask Me Help Desk - Sears fifteen gas furnace

It is so old...is it possible to just get a new blower motor installed for it?
A new motor is available for your old furnace but it might be a universal fit. The motor capacitor also will need to be replaced. It is the silver object sticking out of the control box.

Is it something I could do myself or with my sister?

I have no idea what your skill level is but the furnace needs more than just a motor. It is filthy and the complete blower housing along with the combustion chamber of the furnace needs to be cleaned.

Am I going to have to buy a new furnace and ruin my kids Christmas?

That will really depend upon how much the parts cost and who does the work and how much they charge. I have no idea how much money you have to spend to get it fixed up but that is your choice. Have heat or give presents is not a good choice this time of year.

I suggest you try and locate a friendly person in your area that does this type of work or contact a local HVAC company to see if they can help you on the price. Many years ago my small corporation allowed so much free service time and so much money in parts for what I called hardship cases. In many cases a local senior citizen group would underwrite paying us the exact cost of parts and we would provide the labor for free during the holidays and at other times of stress during the year. We found this type of business dealings went over well and while we never advertised this service the local news services ran many stories under human interest category in the local papers and on TV. Some people tried to take advantage of our good will but we always checked out the people we were helping to be sure it was legitimate.

If you are in a financial bind call around and see if any help is available in your area. Many people are too proud to do that but during these times and hand up is better than no help at all.