[mrgoodwx]

I have a Carrier 58CTA135 furnace that is 5 years old. The inducer motor recently failed. A tech installed a new motor today, but after working with it for nearly 2 hours, he told me he could not get the motor to spin without the inducer wheel hitting the housing. He recommended I replace the entire assembly. I paid nearly $400 just to have the motor replaced. After the tech left, I was able to make tweaks to the adjustment of the mounting bolts that go through the grommets and the wheel will clear the housing...but after the unit heats, the wheel will occasionally "tick" the housing...so I make another tweak. I noticed he removed one of the mounting bolts and left it sitting aside, but replaced it with a screw.

Do I really need to replace the entire assembly, or would it be worth a shot to replace the three grommets and mounting bolts?

 

[COLDIRON]

The mechanic might have knocked the wheel out of round when replacing the motor.

Sounds like shoddy workmanship and he was in a hurry, can't say for sure just speculating.

I think I would call the Company and explain the situation and the mounting bolt.

Let them eat it.

 

[Marty S.]

I don't even mess around replacing just inducer motors. Going to be whole assemblies or at the very least motor and wheel.

 

[hvac122]

Ditto that

 

[mrgoodwx]

Thanks for the quick response, guys. Another motor had failed 4 years ago when the furnace was still under warranty, and the tech was able to just replace the motor (without changing out the wheel or assembly), so I thought they would be able to do that again. After looking at it again, I think the tech yesterday stripped the threads on the lower mounting bolt. He replaced it with a screw and original grommet, but no washer of any kind. He just left the original bolt sitting aside.

Do techs carry replacement grommets with them?

I wish the tech would have explained the difficulty in replacing just the motor when he came out nearly two weeks ago...I would have gone ahead and had them order the complete assembly.

I think I'll call one of the supervisors at the company and discuss this with him. Maybe we can work something out... One of the bummers here is that we're having difficulty finding parts in stock. Gee...we waited for 10 days to get the motor.

 

[yuri]

It needs a proper bolt and not that screw. The fan has to float on that bolt with its sleeve and a screw won't do the job properly. I ALWAYS replace the carrier wheel as they are flimsy and bend easily and get out of balance. I would have them replace the wheel install 3 new grommets and a bolt. May need a whole new assembly as the bolt hole/threads are now ruined.

 

[mrgoodwx]

The tech came back this afternoon with hardware (used) to change out the old mounting hardware...and three newer bolts and grommets. It installed very smoothly (much more smoothly than the old one), and seems to be running smoothly. The bolts threaded cleanly into the newer mounting hardware...so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks for your comments. I've learned a few new things from you folks this past couple of days!