Interior fan on my 06 VW TDI Beetle only works on #4/full blast

[06tdibug]

My interior fan for heat and A/C will not work on 1,2, or 3 Just on 4.
All help appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Nero Morg]

Most likely need a new fan speed resistor. It's bolted to the bottom of the heater box, below the glove box.

 

[Gothmolly]

Are you sure it's not doing ANYTHING? Maybe your cabin filter is plugged up so low fan speeds feel like nothing comes out?

 

[Vince Waldon]

That's the usual sign of a dead fan resistor, which is bypassed on setting #4.

 

[williambill]

Yup, as mentioned above, definitely sounds like a dead fan/blower resistor. Had this exact problem before and posted here about it and was given the same advice. Truthfully, I was skeptical at first till I finally found the wire diagram and confirmed the symptoms schematically. (This was on a Mk4 Jetta).

 

[Vince Waldon]

Tons of Youtube on this... here's one to get you started:

 

[STDOUBT]

The same thing happened in my 1987 Toyota pickup and yep. It was the resistor.
That was before the internet, though, so I have no idea how I ever figured that out.

 

[irvingj]

Hey, Vince, it says Alberta, so how come you sound like a MA guy? Thanks for the video -- haven't needed that yet, but probably will in the future.

 

[jettawreck]

Yep, although it is no doubt the resister gone bad there is often a reason the resister heat protector "fuse" fails. I replaced a couple years ago in the 2001 until one day the smoke spewed out of the dash vents and the blower fan motor suddenly screeched to a stop. When the fan motor bearings (and or windings/brushes) wear out and cause extra amp draw from excess drag it can overheat the resistor. Eventually the motor is toast. Replace the resistor or heat protector "fuse" and see how much time it buys you.

 

[06tdibug]

Thanks for all of the replies. I have the resistor out which is attached to a plastic cover. Resistor is pretty dark and cracked. Appears to be made on to the plastic cover. Does any one know if the new/replacement part is just the resistor or does it come on a new plastic cover?

 

[Nero Morg]

Comes as a full assembly.

 

[06tdibug]

I have removed the blower fan. Has anyone ever taken the plastic piece off so you can clean the blower and oil the bearings?

 

[ToxicDoc]

I have removed the blower fan. Has anyone ever taken the plastic piece off so you can clean the blower and oil the bearings?

This was just posted in another section:

Cabin fan repair for VW New Beetle, Golf MK4, Jetta MK4 and more...

Hello, I was not able to find any info about this repair, so I decide to make tutorial. Cars what have this type of blower as per my knowledge: VW New Beetle 98 - 2003 VW Golf 2000 - 2009 VW Jetta 1999 - 2007 Worn out brushes are very often cause of not working fan. PDF is on the link for...

forums.tdiclub.com

 

[06tdibug]

The brushes on my blower fan motor appear to have plenty of material left how much wear is allowed where the brushes ride on the armature

 

[06tdibug]

Are you sure it's not doing ANYTHING? Maybe your cabin filter is plugged up so low fan speeds feel like nothing comes out?

Thanks it clear

 

[06tdibug]

UPDATE: installed new blower and resistor for less than $100 bucks. Working fine so far. Thanks for all the help.

 

[waymui@gmail.com]

Has anyone ever replaced just the resistor in that plastic housing ? seems that I can find that individual piece much cheaper than the $50-$80 that they want for the new resistor and plastic unit.

 

[jettawreck]

Has anyone ever replaced just the resistor in that plastic housing ? seems that I can find that individual piece much cheaper than the $50-$80 that they want for the new resistor and plastic unit.

Yes, did that a couple times. The resistor used to be available at Radio Shack (remember them?)..
But, what I learned, and probably has been mentioned, is if the resistor is blowing there is a reason for that. Eventually, because the motor is pulling too much amperage from failing bearings, etc causing the resistor to fail, will require a new motor. This became obvious on one occasion when suddenly smoke came pouring out the dash vents. No warning growling or squealing, just smoke and then silence.
You can replace a resistor to fix the immediate issue but typically you will eventually be getting a new blower motor.
Edit: sorry for the redundancy. I see I replied in post #9.

 

[waymui@gmail.com]

I recently replaced the cabin air filter, put in a higher quality thicker filter and had about 100 miles on it with the fan on 1 and 2 settings when it quit. It’s the exact same filter that I have in another MKIV and haven’t had any problems with it.
I turned the fan by hand and don’t notice anything out of the ordinary with it, not hard to turn or rough bearings, etc. the car has 240k and probably the original fan.
Should I put my old filter back in? Is the new one causing a restricted flow?

 

[csstevej]

If it’s new I’d leave the filter in place…. That’s not causing your issue.