Blower motor failure & replacement

[gpl1968]

On Tuesday last week I got in my '97 945 after work and the ventilation fan wouldn't work. The blue light surrounding the AC button on the ECC panel was also flashing constantly.
After reading the relevant section in the FAQ on this forum I checked the diagnostics and it produced the code: 2-3-3 (Starting current too high, motor seizes or turns sluggishly). I thought it was a fairly safe bet that the blower motor was bad.
I checked Vadis and the blower motor part number is 3537857.
After an online search The best price was £104 delivered form Parts for Volvos. I've used them before and found them to be reliable so I fired off an order and the motor arrived on Thursday.
Yesterday I fitted the new blower motor. I was initially confused as the instructions in Vadis refer to LHD cars and my trusty old Haynes manual wasn't clear on the position so I just guessed and removed the glove box and adjacent trim panels and there it was. Three 7mm bolts removed and out came the old motor. It did seem a bit stiff when spun around and the base plate was corroded but it wasn't destroyed (old motor pictured). I guess the ECC detected a problem and shut it off to prevent damage.
The only difference between the original and replacement was the new one had a short lead before the plug whereas on the original the plug was mounted on the base plate. It made no difference to the installation and soon it was in and working like new.