Do-It-Yourself Story

The problem turned out to be a loose blower fan rattling around inside the blower housing as the fan blade turned. The fan blade had partially separated from its center located silver bushing that screws onto the motor shaft. There was no way to reseat the fan onto the bushing - the opening in the fan blade was chewed up. And there was no way to get the bushing itself off the motor shaft with the fan blade sitting loosely on it. Removal required: 1) breaking the central part of the fan blade apart with pliers (it is soft plastic); 2) taking out the blower housing unit; 3) taking out the motor; 4) the silver bushing still wouldn't screw off the motor shaft - it was frozen solid; so I ended up cutting the bushing off the motor shaft using a hacksaw and making a large spiral cut through the bushing; the bushing is very soft metal, the challenge was to cut the bushing without cutting into the threads on the motor shaft; there ended up being some damage to the motor shaft threads but the new fan/bushing combination still went on easily. Once everything was taken apart, putting it back together was no problem. The new blower housing unit was a perfect fit. And it arrived very quickly via standard shipping, as advertised.