Dyson DC14 Motor Replacement

Written By: Miriam Krage
  • Comments: 29
Dyson DC14 Motor Replacement

Difficulty

Difficult

Steps

19

Time Required

1 hour

Introduction

This guide will show you the necessary steps to replace the motor in your Dyson DC14 Vacuum. This is a lengthy process; you should set aside a good amount of time to finish this guide in one attempt.

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    • Turn off the vacuum and unplug it from the outlet.

    • Lay the vacuum on its top so that the brush bar faces you.

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    • Using a quarter, turn the three soleplate fasteners 90 degrees to the left.

    • Holding the soleplate on both sides, tilt it down and away from the vacuum.

    • Remove the soleplate from the vacuum.

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    • Turn down the squared tabs on the brushbar so that they face outward.

    • Use a screwdriver to pry the belt up from the brushbar.

    • Be careful not to cut the belt with the screwdriver.

    • While holding the belt, pull the brushbar to the left and remove it from the vacuum.

    • You can let go of the belt when it's free from the brushbar. The belt will not retract into the vacuum.

    • During reassembly, insert the brushbar with the tabs facing outward, then rotate the tabs up to lock the brushbar in place.

    Some models don't have the clutch mechanism, but are driven directly from the motor (and the belt cover which is shown as the clutch cover is now part of the soleplate); in that case, it may be simpler to just remove the belt from the motor spindle.

    If you've had the vacuum cleaner more than 2 or 3 years, consider changing the belt at the same time, they are not expensive

    Paul Blitz -

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    • Place vacuum upright, with the canister facing you.

    • Remove the canister, setting the canister aside.

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    • Insert flathead screwdriver under each latch and pry up gently.

    • Do not try to lift the latches up very far, they could snap off!

    • Open the cover, remove the exhaust filter, and set the filter to the side

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    • Place vacuum face down.

    • Remove the u-bend pipe that connects the canister to the telescopic wand.

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    • Pull the clear hose out of the gasket on the right side of the vacuum under the axle.

    • Pull the hose straight back towards you.

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    • Remove brush-bar housing by prying the housing out of the clips that hold it.

    • Pull brush-bar housing toward you while keeping vacuum stationary.

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    • Remove the three T15 torx screws that secure the cover to the brush clutch belt.

    Some DC14 units don't have the clutch mechanism (the motor drives the rotating brush directly with the rubber belt), and the "cover" is now part of the soleplate (removed in step 2), so just skip this bit....

    Paul Blitz -

    Ensure that the housing for the brush bar is at 90 degrees to the handle (i.e. what would be standing up position if the vacuum were on a floor), otherwise accessing the recessed screw is difficult/impossible.

    Stuart B -

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    • Pull the cover of the brush clutch belt out towards you.

    • Pull belt to the right to remove the belt from the brush clutch axle.

    • To reassemble your vacuum, pull the belt with your finger towards the axle. (Using a screwdriver, or a similar device, will delay access to the axle.)

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    • Insert a flat-head screwdriver into the two locking rings to remove the rings, which are located above the wheels on both sides.

    • These rings secure the bottom assembly of the vacuum to the rest of the unit.

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    • Remove the four T15 torx screws that secure the motor housing to the vacuum.

    • Remove the elbow-bend pipe on the right-side of the vacuum.

    • Press the two release latches on either side of the elbow-bend pipe. Pull it out and away from the vacuum.

    Don't confuse the top left screw with the (non-recessed) screw that holds on the small piece of pipe.... the one you are looking for is recessed like the top right one.

    Paul Blitz -

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    • Place the vacuum right-side up and leave it standing up.

    • Remove the right side cover by pushing the release latch down while lifting the cover towards you.

    On my dc14 blitz it, not sure where the releasing latch was on this step. I used a flat blade to gently pry back the tab at the very bottom of the cover. That stays disengaged on its own ok. Then flat blade in tab on mid point. The gently pull cover out. I guess there is a lighter grey part which could be the latch at the top edge of the cover. In the photos here that has an arrow on, but mine was a different shape with no arrow. Not obvious where you would press to release.

    Stuart B -

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    • Set vacuum the on its back.

    • Pull away the plastic cover of the motor housing.

    • A bit of force may be needed.

    I found a 5th Torx 15 to the rear of the Right Hand side, holding the Motor Housing cover on. Once this was removed the Housing came off easily

    barrytones -

    Step 11. Remove the colored knob. There are two tabs. See https://youtu.be/MrGcT6CnIEs for details.

    John Saporta -

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    • Insert flat head screwdriver between gray motor housing and black motor.

    • Pry motor cover housing away.

    On some models, the motor cover is white

    Paul Blitz -

    Two flat blades may work better here as the cover tends to pop back in as soon as you move the flat blade.

    Stuart B -

    Also take note of the positioning of this cover before removing. Take photos or consider adding an alignment mark to ease reassembly.

    Stuart B -

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    • Release the motor assembly from its housing by strongly hitting the brush clutch axle with a hammer.

    • The rubber grommets covering the motor may be greasy.

    I guess it doesn’t matter if you know your motor is dead and will be replacing it, but…hitting with a hammer was not necessary for me. Just push with both thumbs either side of the belt shaft and it came out no problem.

    Stuart B -

    As Stuart hints, hitting the motor shaft with a hammer DOES destroy the motor. If you think the motor can be salvaged then make every effort to remove it gently!

    Magnus C -

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    • Remove motor from housing slowly.

    • Do not pull the motor completely out of the housing. The motor is connected to the vacuum by two wires.

    Note wiring colours for reassembly as the connectors are identical. Red to brown (live) and black to blue (neutral).

    Stuart B -

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    • Remove the power terminals from both sides of the motor.

    • Do not pull by the wires when removing terminal. This can result in damage to your vacuum.

    • These terminals will only fit one way (i.e. only one end is long enough to reach to the far side of the motor).

    • Remove the motor from the housing completely.

    A tip I saw elsewhere was to disconnect wire from handle switch and feed wire through so that the motor assembly can be pulled out of the machine as a whole. Not hard to do and may make things a bit easier. My wiring was connected with a push connector on live on the switch and an uninsulated spade connector inside a black plastic cover on neutral.

    Stuart B -

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    • Remove the two rubber grommets from your old motor, then transfer them to your new motor.

    The larger piece of rubber is the motor fan case seal. It has a lip which grips the motor. So work around that largest circumference easing the lip back from the motor, then the seal will pull away from the motor ok. For the smaller seal on the other end, make a note/photos of how it attachs to the motor as you remove it to make installation on the new motor easier. In the pictures here it’s fairly obvious, but on mine there was more than one set of holes.

    Stuart B -

    For that smaller rubber piece, take pictures and note that it goes on one way only. The two lobes are not the same size and if you get it the wrong way round, it won’t fit properly back into outer casing when you put the motor back in. It will go in, but not be seated properly and likely won’t seal correctly.

    Stuart B -

    During reassembly, you will need to work the edge of the larger rubber seal on to the motor lip. It needs a thin flat blade or similar to lift the edge over, work all the way round. It took a couple of passes in my case to get this seated properly.

    Stuart B -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Miriam Krage

Member since: 07/10/12

255 Reputation

12 comments

Rather than use a screwdriver for belt removal & risk injury or machine damage, why not use the proper belt tool ?. It saves time & possible injury and is available for not much more than the cost of a decent quality flat head screwdriver.

Andy -

Motor works beater bar does not turn

carlalewis -

What if its not the motor

carlalewis -

Great guide! A useful tip for getting the motor (or specifically the rubber cover) into the motor case: smear some washing up liquid or liquid soap around the inside of the motor case, and the rubber will slip in a lot easier. Keep an eye nf the rotational position of the motor (so that it fits the hole at the axle end correctly), and make sure you don't trap the 2 power wires.

Paul Blitz -

Great tutorial, replacement motor cost £12, Dyson now back up and working. Only issue I had was that when replacing the motor housing in the Hoover, make sure it fits into the bottom groove or else the screw hole on the brush clutch cover won't line up. You'll know it's not in the groove if you're having trouble with the screw. Just go back and under the four screws, lift out the motor housing and seat it in again, that'll sort it out.

Blue -

Belt not broken but brush bar not rotating is the pulley spindle worn or has the belt slipped off the pulley spindle the motor is still in working order.

Any suggestions to diagnose the fault.

Derek Entwistle -

dismantled all the bits and then ordered a new motor. I must say it went back together a bit easier than taking apart. Proper tools helped. As a female I found the instructions very easy to follow! My husband sat and watched and gave the usual male comments. Would know what to do next time. New dyson motor 52.00. Lynda Richards 4th July

lynda richards -

Thanks for the guide, Dyson (Australia) didn’t want to know said the unit was too old and they wouldn’t supply parts anymore (this is our 2nd replacement motor in 10 years) so rather than drop another $1,000 on a new model, I thought I’d have a go myself after sourcing the genuine parts from the UK.

Dom Williams -

My m14 makes a grinding noise from time to time. It sounds like a battery powered drill clutch when it hits max tourqe. Any ideas and how can dyi. Pix w/instructions would help please..

Dyson Lover -

There appears to be a 5th screw holding the motor cover on. It is accessed from the back. More than “a bit of force “ is required to remove the motor cover if this screw is not removed. All in all this was a well documented how to.

Robert Turner 3/30/18

Robert Turner -

Great guide. All done with no issues! Thank you

Dave -

Thank you for the guide. I just replaced mine. A lot of bits when disassembled, but goes back together relatively easily. Satisfying job knowing the saving.

Stuart B -