Blower not working - fuse ok...

[boerssd]

Folks,
Any idea what to check here? Had to boost the car today - now I have no internal blower (heating / ac). Fuse appears to be just fine. Have I fried the actual blower motor perchance???

Sean.

 

[Keith_J]

The ballast resistor is located in the blower housing. Both are very easy to get to by pulling the lower trim and glove box.

 

[Fahrfuwerfuelen]

Relay? Not sure where it might be located. Would have to refer to the Bentley manual.

 

[boerssd]

The ballast resistor is located in the blower housing. Both are very easy to get to by pulling the lower trim and glove box.

This ballast resistor... How can I tell if it's still good?

To test the blower, can I pull it and simply put 12v to it?

Sean.

 

[Keith_J]

This ballast resistor... How can I tell if it's still good?

To test the blower, can I pull it and simply put 12v to it?

Sean.

The ballast resistor will be visibly fried if bad. It is a series of resistors so if all speeds are dead, it is probably just one. They are replaced as a set.

Yes, 12 volts to the motor for a check BUT be aware it will draw 15+ amperes when starting so use good wires.

Its been ~6 months since I had mine out...had ants building a nest in my AC and flushed the system out so I took that section apart. Ants were BLOWING out of the registers

 

[boerssd]

Thanks Keith - all speeds are indeed dead. I'll take a look at this tomorrow for sure when the temperature climbs to a balmy -26 C. Sigh...

Is it fair to assume that if the fuse is not blown - it's very likely either the resistor or the blower motor itself?

Resistor set is $45 CAD - blower motor is $150 CAD.

Sean.

 

[lglamb]

The switch itself can come apart (which is why I've been driving the Cummins the last week).

I think (typically) if it was the resistor pack, you would have No and High
speeds only.

 

[Deevo_3000]

Folks,
Any idea what to check here? Had to boost the car today - now I have no internal blower (heating / ac). Fuse appears to be just fine. Have I fried the actual blower motor perchance???

Sean.

I had this happen to me last month, it turned out to be the switch console which was a pain in the ass to change. Anyways make sure it's not just the blower motor first, put 12V directly to it, you need a good connection and as mentioned use a decent gauge wire. I'd just get a motor from the wreckers if it turns out thats the problem; they are only $40-50 here in calgary, switch console was $25.

 

[mrGutWrench]

The switch itself can come apart (which is why I've been driving the Cummins the last week).

I think (typically) if it was the resistor pack, you would have No and High
speeds only.

__. Yeah, typical resistor pack failure is only operating on switch setting 4.

 

[Keith_J]

In any case, the motor is far easier than the switch. And it could be the wiring to the motor. Here, working at the motor back makes the most sense. And if working in the cold is an issue, a work around can be made.

 

[boerssd]

Bizarre. Today I go to fix the car - blower is now working... What the heck?

Thx for the replies folks...

Sean.

 

[n1das]

Bizarre. Today I go to fix the car - blower is now working... What the heck?

Thx for the replies folks...

Sean.

I suspect you're going to need a blower motor soon. It's a brush type motor and the brushes are worn down enough to make intermittent contact.

I've dealt with this in my 02 Golf TDI. Mine crapped out in the dead of winter ~ 2 years ago. Fortunately it was just bitterly cold and no storms were forecasted for the next week or so. I had to order a new blower motor from my local dealer and I did the swap myself. It's not hard to do the swap but it's a PITA to get to that area because you've got to partially remove the glovebox to get access to that area.

In my case the motor really was dead. The brushes were worn down to almost nothing and the commutator on the armature was also worn down.

The new brushes in the replacement motor are close to an inch long. In the old motor the brushes were worn down to almost nothing and no longer made contact.

I suspect you're going to need a new blower motor assembly soon.

Good luck.

 

[Keith_J]

The motor may be able to be saved. One of my radiator fans stopped working and the car had temp issues. So I took the fan out and broke it apart as it is a non-servicable unit (break welds on case). Sure enough, the brushes were "hung" on errant grease which formed a sticky goo, inhibiting brush movement.

Careful cleaning restored brush movement and it is still working. I used a bit of low temp solder to replace the broken welds.