New blower motor, still seems inadequate

I'm very finicky about things as some of you already know. I just replaced the blower motor in my 1990 because it was making the bearing drag noise and I thought it was really slow, like really slow. It just didn't seem to move very much air, my heat is hot as all get out but you have to be right next to the vents to feel it. But...the brand new one moves the same amount. Is this normal of the older XJ? My bros 2001's blower motor feels like a wind tunnel. It looks like the bolt holes would line up to mine but I have to wonder if there is some built in resistor or something that would prevent the newer ones from working on 96- units? Is anyone familiar enough with the 97+ ones to be able to tell me? Does the amount of air they move matter, as far as like concentration wise, meaning if I put a higher CFM one in would the heat not feel as hot? Could there be another problem that would make mine not go as fast? Any help/thoughts are greatly appreciated.
-Collin

Grounding path.
Try running a temporary ground wire from the ground wire of the blower motor to the battery. I'd venture a guess that it perks right up. Then I'd go through the whole jeep, and clean all of the grounding points, and add an extra heavy guage ground from the battery to the chassis. If you want you could run a heavy guage wire to the blower motor permanently. Blower runs a 30A breaker, so it would have to be a good sized wire, 10Ga perhaps?

My 89XJ also had a poor ground as well, found it after replacing fan. I ran a new wire to a good clean body ground point and all is well.

Sure the mice havent built a home in the ducts somewhere? Its happened to my 95 twice when it sat for a few days, but we do live in the boonies.

Is this normal of the older XJ?

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No it is not, your old motor burned up the resistor pack that controls blower speed.

Blower motor resistor was bad on my 92 model, it was very slow also.

Here is what it should look like.

http://tinypic.com/jtb0y0.jpg

Read this on where to find it.
http://www.geocities.com/chmwatson/FAQs/Jeep/HVAC-fuselink_fix.html

Yeah I've read that write up a bunch of times but it still works on all 4 speeds. Could the resistor pack still be shot? I'm pretty sure my old one did have bearing drag because it blew the fuse every once in a while, the new one doesn't, so maybe it caused strain on the resistor?

Yes that is probably it mine still worked on all speeds but barely put out any air at all.

CollinM said:

Yeah I've read that write up a bunch of times but it still works on all 4 speeds. Could the resistor pack still be shot? I'm pretty sure my old one did have bearing drag because it blew the fuse every once in a while, the new one doesn't, so maybe it caused strain on the resistor?

Click to expand...

If you can hear 4 different speeds then it's ok and you have a vent thats not open.

langer1 said:

If you can hear 4 different speeds then it's ok and you have a vent thats not open.

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Eh, where would I find the "vent" at? I've got all my dash vents open and the blower is crappy on the heat setting too.

tgissel said:

Blower motor resistor was bad on my 92 model, it was very slow also.

Here is what it should look like.

http://tinypic.com/jtb0y0.jpg

Click to expand...

So you had all 4 speeds but the resistor pack was still your problem?

it could be a plugged heater core. if they get moisture, like a pinhole leak, they can collect w/ dust and trash and really reduce airflow. i had an older grand am w/ that problem, i could reach the heater core by taking off the blower motor, and cleaned what i could w/ a toothbrush, made a big difference. i dont know how to get to the heater core on these xj's though. also, could it be a vacuum problem if the baffles aren't moving properly?

Mine only has three speeds, but yes from what I understand the 3 or 4 small coils you see on the back of the resistor all tie in together somehow to produce the highest speed.

tgissel said:

Mine only has three speeds, but yes from what I understand the 3 or 4 small coils you see on the back of the resistor all tie in together somehow to produce the highest speed.

Click to expand...

Alright, I'll take that pack out and see if I see anything that is obviously wrong. I'll get back to you guys, thanks for the help so far.