[lhw]

Happy to be here. Two part question- I own an old Amana "Air Command" gas fired forced hot hir furnace. Model # GHE140DJ-4. It's circa 1979. Blower is 2-speed, capacity is listed @ 112000 BTU /hr. The fan would not come on during auto, but I managed to make it spin under "on" position by spinning the rotor by hand. Amana no longer makes replacement blower assembly, but I've located an part supplier on line. First question: how do I grease the gearing on the motor? Should I remove the housing to expose it? Where do I apply the sae-20 oil? I need to keep it going until I get the replacement parts. Second question: should I spend the $750 for the entire replacement blower assembly- rotor, housing, motor, capacitor, etc... Or just $300 for the motor and replace it? The motor gets electricity fine but struggles mightly to spin, until I help it with my hand... Many thanks for the help!

[NorthernHeat]

Not all motors can be oiled, some are sealed bearing. I don't suggest you take it apart. There should be small holes (1 each end of motor) usually with caps, or plugs in them if it is able to be oiled. All you need is the motor. Go to local hardware store and ask for Zoom Spout turbine oil, make your life easier and it is the right oil for motors. Number of speeds and BTU doesn't matter, just rpm, HP, and voltage. You will probably need a new capacitor too.

[lhw]

Thanks! I cannot find the specific rpm, HP, and voltage of the motor, I can only read that it's made by General Electric. Any chance you can help me find what they are based on the info I provided? I'll look for the caps and plugs you mentioned to place the turbine oil. Thanks again.

[NorthernHeat]

If you can read a GE part number most supply houses can cross reference it. It could be 1/2 or 3/4 hp for 112,000 BTU, 120 volts more than likely. Is it belt drive?

[lhw]

Nope, direct drive. I found the cap on the back of the motor, when I took it off there was oily yellow gunk surrounding the shaft / spindle. I oiled it with the Zoom spout oil. 5 AM this morning the motor burned out. So now I'm buying a motor from expertappliance.com- I assume they are trustoworthy... Still cannot find the part numbers for the motor, but I gave them all the specs I could and they gave a quote of $370 for motor & capacitor. Sound fair to you? I'll call in a HVAC technician to swap the fan. Any other advice is welcome! We have a cold weekend coming up... Thanks!

[NorthernHeat]

That price seems high to me. We would only charge about 90 dollars more with labor and trip included.

[lhw]

Thanks... after I placed the order Expertappliance emailed me to say the motor is not in stock! Luckily I found a match @ Americanhvacparts.com that matched- called them and a live salesperson p/u the phone! Called a tech and had it installed last Wed. so heat is back in the house... However, the motor is not spinning as smoothly as the first day, I studied it last night and the 2 of the 3 bolts holding the cage to the housing turn easily, and the fan blade is not tracking a true straight line- like a bicycle tire out of alignment. Not a major deal- I'll tweak it after the winter- do you think it's the locking bolt on the motor cage that needs tightening, or should I get a new cage & housing? Thanks again.

[NorthernHeat]

I would make sure everything is tightened, call serviceman back under warranty. Prolonging the problem will only make it worse and could cause more damage.