Payne heater fan works only on auto

[Onokai]

We had power surge last May and it blew my heater transformer. I replaced that- now that winter is here I noticed I cannot switch thermostat to fan only. ( we use a pellet stove and like to use the fan only so air return sucks hot pellet stove air throughout the air duct system)
As it stands now the heater works fine except the fan only function is out.
I decided to call in a pro who jumped the thermostat made the crawl and said the fan motor had an OL on one circuit and that I needed a new fan motor in heater to restore the fan only switch to make it work at high speed he also noted a jumper could make it work at low speed. He also thought the job was big one as the fan housing and everything had to come out for the new motor to go in. Its a tight job and some ducting has to be disconnected and moved until new motor is in..
Short story -no call back on quote for motor or job (he really did not like the crawl or job)
been a month I called and got the run around.
so should I call another company
or order the fan motor and do it myself (I have the skill sets) but would pay other to make the crawl and repair if they would.
The heater is a 1989 and its little used and in a very bad spot to replace( I though newer more efficient than this 88% old model) just getting it out and new one in is a nightmare.
any ideas or suggestions
I would just like it back to factory spec so I can do fan only some times as well as use it in the early am to jump start the cold house.
Mark

 

[Reach4]

If there is only the one fan motor, I don't see how a bad motor runs under automatic temperature control but not when switched to always-on. That sounds like a wire, thermostat, or maybe a relay. Do you have a schematic? I have no experience-- just thinking.

edit: I wonder how hard your dirt in your crawlspace is. Maybe you could hire somebody or some bodies to dig buckets of dirt out to lower the floor in some places. Of course if you are on really hard dirt/rock, that would not be so feasible. I have a friend who is having a house built. He paid extra to get a deeper crawlspace during construction. He was inspired to do this after doing some crawling under his previous house.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Cacher_Chick]

If you plan on staying there awhile, perhaps you should look real hard at what options you have for installing new equipment in a more serviceable location.

 

[Onokai]

have been here 42 years an plan on staying a while.
When I did a major remodel in the 80s we dug out much of the under house. The heater is a horizontal model in about 3 feet of space on a raised platform. My digging days are done and really it does not need any more digging. If I had the inside space back then I would have put the heater in a closet-but its not. Yes I have all the spec sheets as well.
Just a new fan motor maybe. This is a single unit fan with 3 speeds.

 

[Onokai]

I pulled this heater our today and am prepping for a new one. The 25 years it worked was a fluke.
Now I'm shopping for a 95.5 single speed unit.
Mark

 

[Jadnashua]

FWIW, I really like the variable speed fan on my unit. It has 16-speeds. It starts out slow so that you don't get a blast of cold air in the ducts before it warms up, and will only speed up gradually if the call for heat is long enough. Then, when it is done, it gradually slows down to purge the hot air there that you paid for...most of the time, you never hear it turn on or off. It works great during the a/c season, too. I think that it is a very worthwhile upgrade.